S60R problems

[Libra]

I have a 2003 S60R and I am finding that the car will break traction very easily which I would of thought that with the car being AWD it would not do that. like for instance last night on my way home from Harpenden Classic cars on the common, I went on at Jct 10 of the M1 and accelerating off the roundabout onto the slip road down to the motorway, the car just AWD drifted towards lane 2 from lane one, I had to back completely off! I was in 'Sport' mode at the time.

My tyres are all good - Pirelli PZero Rosso with about 5mm of tread and pumped up to the correct tyre pressure of 35psi.

Another problem, being my first Volvo the car shimmies over bumps, rough road in comfort and sport. Is this normal? Because its is very un nerving and making me not enjoy driving the car quickly, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a R.

Could this be problem be solved buy purchasing some performance suspension, bushes and the likes?

Last thing, the Bi-Xenon bulbs as fitted to the S60R as standard are two blue in colour temp and I can hardly see where I am going at night. Can I buy some whiter colder temperature bulbs to replace the oem items?

Sorry for the list of concerns, but, I want to be happy driving the car and currently, I don't.

Btw, I do have a 12 month volvo warranty.

Thanks in advance

Darren

[volvokid]

Not sure about why you are losing traction I’ve never had this problem I've one seen my stability control light flash twice but it never lost grip.

Your side step is a issue all the S60R have and YES it can be nerve-racking there is a solution here http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15057&highlight=side+step, you have to change the angle of the wheels or something like that and it goes away, Volvo have never admitted fault to this problem I assume that’s why there has never been a recall.

[Justin]

Also sounds like your DTSC isnt working right, which may or may not be assisting the "skipping" Get the codes read :)

[thebadger]

I had an issue of DSTC going mad for a while, turned out to be the front tyres had balded on the inside edge!

Wheel alingnment and two new tyres fixed it!

But agree with J, probably a DSTC issue if the car is good for boots & driving straight.

[Libra]

I read that thread you posted volvokid and a good starting point is to have the geometry checked. I will get that done.

The DSTC light does come on when it wants to, but does not seem to limit power.

[Libra]

Just thought I would up date you all on this.

I phoned up Pilling Volvo, MK on Monday and told them the problems I was having and booked the car in for this morning. I drop the car off at 8:20 ish.

They where going to carry out a free health check and go from there, plus look at the problems I was having.

I get a phone call at about 3:30 and the service receptionist informs me that the angle gear collar is Knackered and also possibly the angle gear itself, plus they found that I have a rear bearing worn. they have onto Volvo used car warranty people to see if Volvo knew of this problem or not. Due to this I can't drive the car as it is in a dangerous condition.

This might explain some of the problems I was experiencing.

It looks like Pilling Volvo, Welwyn Garden City did not check the car over throughly enough. Kinda makes you mad.

Pilling, MK are going to phone me tomorrow after an assessor has been out or something. I will keep you informed as and when I know any information.

[Al115]

Pillings WGC are a waste of time IMHO. Their parts people are nice though :)

Amazing as they are part of the same "group"... but it just goes to show!

Good luck.

[jay30h]

I looked at two second hand volvo S60R,s early this year, one had the angle gear/collar failure ,It was easy to spot as it was wet and had no traction at all,a lot worse than my 850 t5. Rear hub bearings are also a common failure, aswell as knocking struts

Have a look on here, the volvo owners club (performance car and xc90 forum) and sweedspeed, thers a lot of info out there including modified angle gear collars .They are fine cars but some of the components seem to be a bit fragile .

[Libra]

before I brought the R I did some research and found lots of threads about the angle gear and collar breaking.

You would of thought that Volvo would make a stronger car, especially a performance version.

Perhaps I would of been better getting another Impreza and be scared owning it being such a in your face car.

[Justin]

I have had 2 S60R's and the latter one had the angle gear fail, Volvo went halves with me on the repair even though it was out of warranty. It comes down to brand loyalty in most cases.

The gear doesnt fail its the collar and seal that weeps oil and eventually dries the gear which chews itself to bits. Tell tail signs are noise on acceleration like a drone or grind.

The issues Libra has with DTSC are possibly related but could also be the traction module which also fails.

I personally had no other issues with either of mine, except for turbo failure on the latter which i believe was caused by an object in the intake, it happened less than a week after Volvo had the car.

Other than that, they are a great car if not slightly under powered compared to thier rivals :)

[cookie]

AFAIK, angle gear has been modified, not heard of any car thats had Angle gear replaced have a subsequent failure, and some have been subject to some serious abuse

[Libra]

Justin, when I was driving the car, I never heard any noises like drone or a grinding noise. The only noise I noticed was a drone coming from the rear of the car which turns out to be a rear wheel bearing.

I am glad it is hopefully getting sorted.

[Justin]

Have the angle gear checked independently and see if its weeping, if you have a Volvo warranty. If it is get it replaced :)

If the bearing is shot at the rear it may explain the DTSC issues, it may not.

[Libra]

A little bit of news. They are replacing the Angle Gear which is being flown out over night tonight as I need the car for Friday. Apparently this part usually take 3 days. Plus the other parts, rear bearing.

When I get her back, I should feel what an AWD S60R feels like, because I am pretty sure now that it was not even working when I picked the car up/test drive.

The Service receptionist also said that the assessor is coming out tomorrow morning to look at the part to see if the warranty people are going to take the bill, if not, they will look internally.

This is just a hunch, but maybe I was sold the car without it being properly look at before it was sold to me.

[cornclose]

This is just a hunch, but maybe I was sold the car without it being properly look at before it was sold to me.

That doesn't suprise me... The usual way with these things to let the customer find out all the issues rather than the dealer having a proper look. At least that's been my experience over the last 23 years of motoring!

[Libra]

Up date for you.

Pilling phoned me early this afternoon to tell me that the assessor (warranty guy) came and saw the angle gear and are going to pay for it. What a relief.

The bearing that needed replacing is going to be paid buy Pilling WGC as they should of changed it before the car was sold.

They phoned me again at 5 to tell me that the car is ready for collection. I will be picking the car up tomorrow morning. I can't wait.

[Justin]

Great news, hope all is well now :)

[Libra]

Picked the car up this morning and it feels really good now and much more planted/surefooted. The AWD badge on the boot lid, now the car lives up to its badging.

I have not got the paperwork as they are trying to get that sorted internally and charge the right people before I can have an invoice of what was actually done for my records.

I was very happy with the dealing with Pilling Volvo, MK and especially the service receptionist. I will be going back.