Hi,

Been running into the same problems here and have replaced both 'christmas tree' mounts, but as stated before, was not entirely clear on which one belongs where. As far as I could feel, the rear one 'felt' a bit softer than the front one. I have tried both options (Ahhh, what a job without the possibility to drop the subframe, bit that is another story). Approx 2 years ago, I also replaced the right lower engine mount, as this is prone to collapse due to oil leaking down and affecting the rubber. Made no difference; in fact, it became slightly worse but that could just be the difference between my expectations and the real world. One thing I had noticed was the fact that the gearbox did 'sit' on the small rubber stop. I must have hit something and bent the subframe lip on which this stop sits a bit but after adjusting it, no difference. In my case, the engine seems to be tilted more forward than original, as the top mount seems to be slightly awry. As far as I can see, there is no stress on the top mount though.. I also experience slightly lower Mpg but have checked MAF, etc. The injectors may be the culprit, as they have done well over 500.000 KMs, but when doing longer trips with rpms generally above 1500, I don't experience any problems and it is still puling very strongly. Next thing to try for me is to pad the front lower mount with some felt (or rubber) to see if changing the engine angle makes a difference. I suspect that the foot on brake position may also have to do with the mountings of the subframe to the rest of the car but at the moment I have no way of checking that.

Rather interesting to find someone with exactly the same problems. Mine is a V70 TDI from 1998 and, appart from this miffing issue, still a fantastic long distance mount. I guess I'd better keep an eye on this thread :-)

Cheers!

Hi; I just discovered this thread after only posting a similar question about vibrations on another title (V70 etc >99).
Seems I`m not alone with this "tick over/holding on the clutch peculiarity"

I`ve only had the car a few months, its covered 131K

Hi Sgefgoosen,

I still have the vibrations in my tdi, I'm sure they change in intensity during the month.

Rang FRF in Swansea (main dealers) to see if the 2 'christmas tree/ rubber doughnut' mounts were the same (they look identical, but have diff numbers). They couldn't tell me, but suggested I ring the volvo technical helpline at £2.50 a minute!

Would love to get the car sorted as they are fantastic cars for a long trip, but just not in stop-start traffic.

Hopefully, might be able to compare it to another tdi soon.

Cheers,

RIch

PS: One strange thing I've noticed. When in drive with your foot on the brake, but ease your foot off the brake the vibrations lessen noticeably...any ideas?.

Weirder even
 

Hi RIch,

Further to looking into where this strange vibration comes from.
One thing I recently realised is the following: if I drive for approx. 15 minutes or more, then stop the engine and restart her after a couple of minutes, the vibration is far less, indicating that it may well have something to do with the engine itself instead of mounts..
I have also checked all exhaust related rubbers (they are still the originals, including the exhaust itself) but they all seem to still be in perfect condition. Good old Volvo quality; can't beat the old quality..
Next thing for me to check is wheel tracking to see if due to misalignment of the wheels, undue stress is experienced from the suspension through the drive and connecting shafts to the diff/gearbox. Even though she doesn't pull in any direction, I am not 100% clear on that as I tend to align the wheels myself, based on road 'feel' during acceleration, cruising and braking (One gets used to that when also hosting a Land Rover and having well over one million Ks in 850s and V70s :-).
I have tried lifting the front end of the engine a bit using a thin rubber ring under the lower front mount as well and even though this did help reduce the vibration from the upper mount through to the firewall, it did not completely solve the problem.. I still intend to try again and make a new rubber insert for the mount of a piece of car tyre as this is at least half-durable.
Have to solve this though, as I'm most certainly not going to give up on my trusty old V70 over a small issue...

Anyone else made any progress lately?

Cheers,
Sjef

Hello Rich,

I spoke with a friend of mine today (Volvo technician) and ran the symptoms of your car by him. I told him the belts were just replaced and that the vibrations were there before the change. First thing he asked me was if the dynamic pump timing was set using VIDA. He reckons the pump timing was out a few degrees prior to the change, the garage just marked up the pulleys and banged on the new belts, never bothered to correctly set the timing, hence the drop in MPG and the continued vibrations.

Have you considered having it re-timed?

Liam...

Saw this car today, nice chap. IP timing is retarded by about -5.0 degrees, however this wouldn't nearly cause the kind of vibration he is experiencing, it is particularly bad.

Suspect is a shot front engine mount (the one directly below the crank pulley), there is a LOT of engine movement on that end.

Was advised by my Volvo repairer that the front lower engine mount on my car is beginning to split (1999 V70 D5 manual 131k). They are not sure whether a new replacement (this is the expensive one!) will solve the vibrations on tickover (idle). As previously posted my car runs very well in all other conditions.
My tacho shows 800rpm at idle and I know that the specifications say idle speed is 810-840rpm for this engine. I`m thinking that my idle/tickover speed is maybe a gnats too slow......If I gently increase the rpm by 20 it smooths out......going to see if the idle speed can be increased a touch.

Hi Rich,

Bizar as it may sound, I believe I may have found the problem: When checking the front wheel alignment again, they were a touch too much toe-in. Adjusting to a bit more toe-out (correct settings) did the thing. It also solved another problem, which was notchy gear selection. Seems to me that the engine/gearbox/diff was put under a bit of stress (e.g. old bushes?), resulting in the subframe and hence the whole car vibrating. When setting back to slightly more toe-in again (for my own onderstanding) the vibrations were back immediately. I could see/feel the vibrations in the subframe again, whereas proper alignment obviously does not cause that. Applying the brakes locked the wheels to the rest of the suspension and therefore increased the droning. Try backing up a few inches prior to applying the brakes in idle (T-lights) to see if that does anything. Hope I haven't busted my bearings over the last 6 months or so, as I have had to replace these before. Oh well, good to know that one is not always correct in assuming that what works well in a straight line also works well in all other situations.... Hope your fix is similarly easy in the end and also hope you have a nicely warmed garage to work in :-)

Cheers,

Sjef

Vibrations
 

I`ve had the front engine mounting renewed and the idle speed increased by just a little...the improvement is really noticable and there is no longer any discernable vibration

How much did it cost to do the front engine mount ? I need to get mine done