The noise I experienced can be best described as a creaking old pirate ship. The noise seems to be coming from right under the driver’s floor, or maybe it’s the passenger’s floor, or the floor under the backseat. It depends on where you are in the car. These noises travel along the chassis and can drive a person insane.
My noise was intermittent though and in an effort to track down why it was intermittent I managed to keep records of humidity, driving patterns, fuel level and various other statistics. Sure, I could have just given it to the dealer but I have had noise problems in a new car before and at that time, the dealership replaced almost the entire front end before finding it.
Throughout the two weeks I kept records of driving habits and environmental changes I was never able to find a pattern, that is until I washed the car at a car wash. I drove through the car wash and the noise vanished afterwards. After that I was able to determine that water on the underside of the car made the noise go away. Armed with this information, I finally brought it into my local dealer.
I had a technician come with me on a drive around the parking lot. I drove in a tight circle turning left and my pirate wagon made it’s noise. Immediately the technician said it was the front right strut. I was elated that someone knew what it was. I brought it in the next day and the technician replaced the strut and then tested the car. It still made the noise. The technician was now sure it was the left strut but didn’t have time to replace that strut that day and requested I bring it in two days later.
I became a little paranoid about the path I was going down with the dealer. I didn’t want this to turn into a week without a car and get it back with 20 parts replaced. The day before I was scheduled to bring it back I made the decision to track down the noise myself. So I put the car on ramps and used my garden hose to spray down certain sections of the underside.
After each spray down I would then drive the car in a circle and see if the noise occurred. After several hours of doing this and getting multiple false positives I was finally able to track down my problem. It was a subframe to chassis bolt on the subframe reinforcement over the exhaust canal in the rear of the front subframe. There is also a bushing up there to allow some movement, it’s my best guess that this bushing may not be allowing enough movement, hence the noise. It’s located right under the driver’s foot, just about.
Excited as I was that I found this, I ended up at the dealership the next morning. I met with the technician in the service bay and told him I had found the exact place the noise was occurring. He nodded and asked for my keys.. and this is where it gets weird. The conversation went like this:
Tech: Give me the keys
Me: Yea, sure, let’s go get the car and I can show you where it is
Tech: No, just give me the keys.
Me: ok, here
..a few seconds..
Me: So, do you want me to wait here while you get the car, so I can show you where it is?
Tech: No, just let me do my damn job.
At this point I was a taken aback. The only thought in my mind now was to get out of there without causing a scene. I asked if I could have my key back for a moment to retrieve some belongings from the car. The tech gave the key back and I fled the dealership. Never told anyone I was leaving.
I found out the dealership was closing permanently on Oct 31st, just 5 days after this occurred.
As for my noise, a dab of grease and its now more quiet than the day I drove it home.
The downside to greasing my own car is that in order to get this “fixed” under warranty the vehicle has to be making the noise at the time it’s brought in for repair. Now it’s not, and it may not for a while or may not for as long as I own it.
The problem is not a safety issue and does not affect driving. Greasing is just one of three solutions the dealers will actually do for this, as I have been made to understand. The others are grinding down or replacement of bushing or bolt.
For those interested, I live in Atlanta, Georgia. The dealership I purchased my Volvo from and where this incident occurred is Nalley Volvo. They are now closed. A new dealership is opening down the street and I have it on good authority that the technician who treated me rather poorly will be working there. I will be finding a new shop for my XC’s repairs.