Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side

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Wed 3 Oct 2012 22:06
Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side - evilmoo
Hiya

Went to look at a 53 plate Volvo V70 2.7 D5 auto today - it's done 178k but has a full volvo service history and only one owner from new. Very nice condition and well looked after

When we test drove it there seemed to be a slight vibration felt through the passenger footwell which felt more like a wobble when I accelerated hard. It was almost as if the tyre was out of shape if that makes sense. There wasn't any movement in the steering wheel though so pretty sure it wasn't wheel balancing

It felt like the wheel itself was bent or maybe an engine mount gone and as we accelerated it was wobbling on the passenger side. Hard to describe really

I don't want to lose it if its something minor but also don't want to end up with a massive bill if its something to do with steering, suspension etc.

It definitely got more distinct the faster I went

Any ideas?

We managed to haggle him down by £400 to cover it needing a cambelt and service and have a bit of money left over for repairs if its something minor

Thanks :-)
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Wed 3 Oct 2012 22:56
Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side - evilmoo
I've put this in the wrong forum - should've been technical :-/
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Wed 3 Oct 2012 23:23
Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side - Avant

Moved for you: my (strictly non-technical) advice would be to find another Volvo. There are plenty of V70s which last well and won'lt have that problem.

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Wed 3 Oct 2012 23:25
Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side - evilmoo
Thanks for moving me to the right place :-)

I know we should keep looking - just a shame cos it was cheap and there are so few in Norfolk - I am starting to lose the will to live from scouring the Internet!

Might look at an Avensis d4d estate instead - seems to be a few of them around at reasonable prices
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Wed 3 Oct 2012 23:40
Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side - Peter.N.

I would strongly suspect that your diagnosis is correct, tyres can bulge due to ply seperation, if you jack up the wheel just clear of the ground and rotate it you may find the the clearance varies according to the position of the wheel.

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Thu 4 Oct 2012 00:02
Volvo V70 - vibration/wobble on passenger side - evilmoo
Well the tyre on the front passenger side was flat when we got there but he said kids had let it down (and kindly put the valve back on)

He pumped it up but I think he put too much air in it cos his gauge didn't work properly and the tyre was absolutely rock hard. He thought that was causing the wobble but I wasn't so sure

They are quite new tyres but maybe if it keeps going flat it does have a problem

I would rather he was just honest and told us the issue so at least we could budget for it if we so wished. I didn't expect perfection from a car with so many miles on!
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