S40 annoying rattle

[alfiembra]

For weeks I've been trying to find an annoying rattle inside the car when driving on slightly rougher road surfaces. Thought it was coming from the infocentre panel then just above it on the dash at the air vents. Then thought it might be someting loose in the interior light panel. but couldn't find anything. Finally tracked it down to the button on the handbrake, don't think it's fixable but easy to just keep a finger on the button for peace and quiet.

So if you are having the same problem and can't find a rattle check out your handbrake.

Alan

[pigapumbu]

Thanks Alan for the tip. I have given up on rattles. I have so many on the V50. From the dash behind the speedo, doors, wind noise from window cause glass has slipped a little down, from the rear, from the seats, from the left front seat belt and the most annoying one, from the cover for the sunroof. Be it closed or open it will start acting up on every journey, short or long.

I suspect there is so much noise in my car, I must have missed the one you mentioned or maybe I just switched off listening to them.

cheers

[alfiembra]

Originally Posted by pigapumbu

Thanks Alan for the tip. I have given up on rattles. I have so many on the V50. From the dash behind the speedo, doors, wind noise from window cause glass has slipped a little down, from the rear, from the seats, from the left front seat belt and the most annoying one, from the cover for the sunroof. Be it closed or open it will start acting up on every journey, short or long.

I suspect there is so much noise in my car, I must have missed the one you mentioned or maybe I just switched off listening to them.

cheers

I also had a noisy rattle that I thought came from the speedo area, turned out to be the bonnet release cable rubbing against the studs on the suspension tower inside the engine bay, the sound was travelling back along the cable and sounded as though it was behind the dash. Funnily enough I didn't realise I had the handbrake rattle until I sorted the other rattle.

HTH

Alan

[pigapumbu]

Originally Posted by alfiembra

... Funnily enough I didn't realise I had the handbrake rattle until I sorted the other rattle.

HTH

Alan

Gosh, thats why I gave up on the rattles ages ago. I was told to take it to MRG to sort out but the way I looked at it, if a car starts to rattle before 3 years, then its only going to get worse. Once warranty is up what do I do? Sticky tape?

A good friend of mine visited last november and he drove up from holland in his 10 year old car. Its done 500,000km, used as a company car but I was shocked when I realised there was hardly a noise/rattle. Everything seemed tightly bolted on. (car was german made).

Its then I realise time to make a step and just move on. These new volvo cars are not as they used to be IMHO.

cheers and happy motoring.

[Clan]

[QUOTE=pigapumbu;453233]

Its then I realise time to make a step and just move on. These new volvo cars are not as they used to be IMHO.

QUOTE]

Whay you say implies all S40/V50's are like this This isnt typical of the V50 / S40 at all . Your car just needs some time spending on it to find out the sources and cures for your particular problems . Its inconvenient i know but should be done ... No they arent like they used to be , that is bad and also good for different reasons . even some of the old cars had rattles just the same, but could be cured . And some German cars have rattles too and some other very serious problems ! Cars are getting very similar these days where ever they are made , The S40/V50 is made in Ghent remember ..

[stevo48]

I have a '99 V40 with no rattles or squeaks although a couple of weeks ago it did develop the most annoying rattle that took me two weeks to isolate and cure, it turned out to be a two pence piece that had dropped down under the rear seat squab and lodged against the seatbelt anchorage, every time i went over a pothole or uneven road surface it would rattle and sounded almost as though something under the car was loose.

[pigapumbu]

Originally Posted by Clan

Whay you say implies all S40/V50's are like this This isnt typical of the V50 / S40 at all . Your car just needs some time spending on it to find out the sources and cures for your particular problems . Its inconvenient i know but should be done ... No they arent like they used to be , that is bad and also good for different reasons . even some of the old cars had rattles just the same, but could be cured . And some German cars have rattles too and some other very serious problems ! Cars are getting very similar these days where ever they are made , The S40/V50 is made in Ghent remember ..

For me the thing is much deeper than just rattles. In all honesty, if I buy a volvo, I would buy any up to say the previous S40/V40. They were pretty good. Where it lacks in one department, the brought smiles in another. Take the 850R. I am sure it rattles a lot and the dash may not be like my V50 all ikea and stuff BUT that turbo car made its owners grin when they put the foot down and the BMW by the side trying to pass never got by.

What I am saying is, the V50 dissapoints in most departments and hence hard to swallow as a good car. It didn't have to excel in every department but just do ok. Sadly it failed. I can list many case examples and this mail will take till the end of the month to finish but a quick summary would be,.
1) absurd dealer serving costs
2) car not fit to be in the upper end market segment but we seem to be paying as if it is.
3) Many other better cars out there for same money or less
4) Design logic is atrocious. My rain sensor is a laugh. I am always having to adjust it when rain goes to drizzle, bright to dark, at standstill. Whats the point of it if I have to constantly keep adjusting the knob? I had a car with rain sensor back in 1996 and it worked a dream. start the car, switch it on and wiper won't work. (no dry wipes). Driving along and it starts to drizzle and rain, it would do the job without me having to intervene. It does what it says it will do, AUTOMATIC rain sensor. Thats a case example, i have more from communication workings to satnav and aircond.
5) In winter my feet are always freezing. No heat seems to get to the bottom. Auto AC? I think not.
6) Buttons fiddly to use. I try and hit the button to shut outside air as some lorry is feeding stinky diesel air into the cabin and damn... hit some other button.
7) For the power of the car, it drinks petrol like hell and that I can't forgive when other cars out there with similar HP are giving better returns. I know a very highly modified older S40 T4 (over 300+ bhp) that can hit 38mpg at 80miles per hour on the motorway. My car at 65mph can only return 33 tops!. I urge anyone to check out what a BMW 3.0cc petrol engine gives for town and motorway. You will be shocked.
8) My T5 auto is 1 point past the Co2 (225g) cut off so its on max road tax like a ferrari. BMW 3.0i, 280bhp, 5 series, is 176g so only need to pay £170 per year.

damn,.. I can list more and more but when i try to think whats the car really good at that I can shout about. It leaves me stumped. Er take lots of household waste to the skip. Yeah put a tick on that. What else can I think about? Performance? hardly. The twin scroll turbo is crap in-terms of modifying it.

There is too many set back. looking at the whole episode, I am able to compare it to other cars that this volvo is trying to be with and it just doesn't measure up. if i came into it from a clio or nova then hey, this t5 is super. And that there lies the problem, hence why I say its my fault. I bought the car with high expectations placed on it. It just could not live up to it and as it drank more fuel than I say acceptable, rattles appearing for a 2 year old car, servicing costs that are shameful (extortionate really), then the ownership slowly soured.

its like taking home the best take-away meal which you are just going to enjoy. You are so looking forward to it and when you get back home, open the wrapping, you find they gave you the wrong take-away. What a disappointment it would be right? Thats me as I sit here typing this out.

My advice to anyone who is going to buy these cars....
1) read the forums before buying.
2) Check out the maintenance costs before buying
3) Go into it with a lesser expectation
4) Never compare it with another car in the same market that volvo UK thinks it can sell in. NO... instead think of it as an eccentric buy. Its not worth it but who cares...!

I don't mean to offend anyone here as I am sure you all love the cars but for everyone that does, I am sure there are others that see it as it is. Like I said, if ever I need a second car, I would love to get the older S40 or S70R or 850R or 145s and so on. Never these so called ikea designed ones. The R&D just aren't up to the cut.

[MavUK]

Pigapumbu:

I have to say that you do seem to have some issues there (don't agree with all of them - seem to be more lack of research, but others are a definate issue).

If your car is under warrenty take it into the garage and get it sorted...

I don't know what you are doing with your right foot - but if you are doing a steady 65 then your feul consumption is way below mine - and I have the AWD on top... (I get mid to high 30's at 65, dropping to low 30's at 75+ (at 140 on the Autobahn it went to about 20ish...)

My rain sensor works fantastically (except for the dry wipe that the dealer warned me about - I can see your point there)

My car is always toasty warm in winter - When I go to squash I drive back in shorts in -10 and shiver for the first 2 mins. After that it's lovely and warm - if your's isn;t I'd say you have a problem.

For a 1350KG car with 320Nm and 220BHP I have to say I think it has a decent level of performance. Whilst this is a very qualia think, if you think you have an issue get your car looked at - you could be very happy with it if they find something and get it back to you as you expect it. As for modifying it - with little work (chipping) you can get the power to 250+ and 400+NM. How easy do you want? Having driving LP and HP turbos I have to say I prefer the LP for the roadd. You get a nice lazy engine that has grunt along most of the rev range. Race track may be different - but where do you use your car 90% of the time? Again my 0-60 is per or better than Volvo figures, as is the 140 top end (on the AWD that is) - if you wanted more then this wasn't the car for you...

Same goes for rattles / wind noise. I had an issue with my drivers window. It was fixed (admitiddly after 2 attempts...). I now have no noise either rattle or wind in a 4 year old car - get yours to a garage.

Fiddly buttons is anther qualia thing - I have small hands so it's no issue for me

I can see that your very disheartened by your car, and nothing will bring you back, but I have to say that I love my T5. Safe, comforatble and a pleasurable place to be in. Way better than the Audi's & BMW's that I could have got for a similar price (I did a lot of searching when I brought it). (And the Fords and VW's are nothing like as nice full stop)

Take it back with your list of complaints and get it sorted before the warrenty runs out.

Good luck!

[pigapumbu]

Originally Posted by MavUK

Pigapumbu:

I have to say that you do seem to have some issues there (don't agree with all of them - seem to be more lack of research, but others are a definate issue).

If your car is under warrenty take it into the garage and get it sorted...


I can see that your very disheartened by your car, and nothing will bring you back, but I have to say that I love my T5. Safe, comforatble and a pleasurable place to be in. Way better than the Audi's & BMW's that I could have got for a similar price (I did a lot of searching when I brought it). (And the Fords and VW's are nothing like as nice full stop)

Take it back with your list of complaints and get it sorted before the warrenty runs out.

Good luck!

Hi MavUk,

actually I use cruise control when I was driving on the motorway. I am sure the car drinks a lot of petrol for some unknown reason. I put it down to Volvo's lack of engine building knowhow. (I am referring to new designers of today and not the great ones of the gone era).

I have MTE done and it helped with fuel consumption ever so slightly. Before that, 33mpg motorway was difficult to achieve.

Not to hijack this thread which is about rattle, when I have time, I will post a thread that compares say a german car with a like T5 in this range and the things I felt were wrong.

I won't be sorting the car out as it will be a waste of time IMO. Tomorrow I shall relinquish ownership of the volvo. Let the next person deal with all the negative design issues, high cost of ownership, etc. I am moving on into a car I am fairly confident should be a joy.

cheers

[DickyJ]

Hi i am not a car mechanic at all i have a volvo v40 which since i bought it i always heard a rattling noise more so when not driving on smooth surface roads... like others report it seemed to be slightly from the passenger side dashboard as though from the air ventilators . i just ignored it and carried on However..

Yesterday after noticing since i had the car that i couldn't get it in gear properly i got a mechanic to change the gear linkage as in this thread http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=43008

now gears are perfect and while i drove it this morning i noticed i have no rattle what so ever like i had before ..which i never expected ...
i'm not saying that this will fix other peoples but its worth a try
maybe this is why people hear it from the dashboard rip it to bits put it back together and its still the same because its from underneath teh car and you hear the noise through the dashboard ?...
any thoughts on this

strange but its fixed i'm very happy
thanks

Richard