Volvo S60 2002 2.4T AWD Steering wheel trembles

[Jaak Beentjes]

I know what you are thinking -warped discs- …

I had changed the original Discs to Brembo’s and Brembo pads.
(Pads where worn but discs where still ok but though would do both at the same time…can’t hurt can it..

I did as described with the discs and pads for the break in period and after 300km all is well.
Then I drove to Holland (1000Km) and while driving there I noticed the steering wheels started the tremble under braking.
More and more…first only at high speeds then also lower…sometimes bad sometimes not noticeable :blink:

Very weird but ok had the discs resurfaced and changed a slightly worn balljoint and tie rod end and some suspension rubbers. yay all is well again…for about 500km :dry:
Then it started again…getting worse and worse again.

So I changed back to the original discs and yay all is well again….for a few 100km…
Guess what ?!?!?! it started again.

Does anybody have any clue what could cause this?

2002 Volvo S60 2.4T AWD 110K Km

Topic

[dan]

this happens when you press the breaks correct?

several things can cause break pulsations and steering wheel shakes

.lateral run out
this is caused buy incorrect installation unpropper torquing of wheels sometimes warps where the rotor mates with the wheel hub, warpage from hard breaking or from the rotors getting hot and then cool rapidly, very odd run out, warn out wheel bearings, wheel hub bent.

.thickness variation “parrallelism.” think thats how its spelled
this is caused buy things such as warpage from hard breaking, hard spots that develop when for example the break rotors get very hot and rapidly cool in certain areas so the rest of the rotor wears out faster, sometimes when a car sits for a very long time the pads cover parts of the rotors an the rest of the rotors rust badly, when the car is driven the pads scrape away the rust on the rest of the rotors and the parts of the rotors the pads where covering are not as badly rusted therefore they are thicker.

do you drive your car hard?

keeping in mind that your front brakes are probably causing these issues since your steering is on the front wheels…

if this happens weather or not you are breaking it could be caused buy a wheel or wheels or a tire or tires being un balanced.

here is this on steering wheel vibrations
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/determining-the-causes-of-vehicle-vibrations#SteeringWheelVibrations

here is this on breaks
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems?start=1#BrakeVibrationsWarpedRotorsorDrums

[Lorrin Barth]

The only other thing I can think of is pad transfer. Pad material melts and sticks to the rotor. Then as you brake, every time this spot passes the pad braking power is intensified.

Some high performance pads come with instructions on how to cause pad transfer all over the disc at initial use. See the instructions that came with your Brembo pads.

[Jaak Beentjes]

Thanks for your input guys, much appreciated!

Ace yes it only happens when I brake and not always…meaning sometimes severe and sometimes not and it is not speed related..meaning it sometimes happens at 80 then after it does not another it happens at 30 and sometimes not.

I should also have mentioned that the wheels have been balanced twice and that they also have been outlined twice.

Also the two times I did the disc change and once had it done while I was in Holland and had no tools etc, at my disposal.
In all occasions I had the wheel bolts torqued down to the recommended 140Nm in a cross pattern as I had a discussion with the mechanic about the required torque needed.

I am very aware of this since after a tire change at a cheap tire center the guy who did it apparently used a air hammer and bolted them down as much as he could.

Ofcourse not much later I had a leak tire and could not get the bolts loose..
I actually broke the tire wrench that was supplied with the car.

Barney I read about this pad transfer and I broke in the new pads and discs as described by Brembo.

[Jaak Beentjes]

Forgot to mention.

I sometimes do drive the car very hard but the first two occasions it happened I had not as I had just run in the brakes before we left.
And after the resurface in Holland/Netherlands I drove the same journey back and it started again after about 700km into the 1000km journey.

I also never hold my brake at the stop lights and when I brake I do this by pumping the brakes.

[EricTheCarGuy]

A couple of things come to mind. You have an issue with the brakes hanging up. It could be a caliper, brake hose, or master cylinder problem. It could be the aftermarket parts. Some parts are better than others. Perhaps for your type of driving you need something more substantial like cross drilled vented rotors. You already covered the wheel torque.

Pretty much the only thing that can cause the steering wheel to vibrate like that when braking are the front brakes. More info here.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Jaak Beentjes]

Thank you for thinking along Eric much appreciated.

At the moment the only part that is still on the car that was changed before the issues started are the Brembo pads.

So I am thinking it is either the pads or the calliper, brake hose, or master cylinder that is causing this.

I do not have the money at the moment to get new discs or pads or anything else but when I can I will be getting OEM discs and pads and check the brake hoses calliper and master cylinder before installing.

The problems occurred when I had not driven the car hard once and before I changed with the old setup I did drive the car very hard so I am sure that is not the cause of it.

I checked the wheel bearings too and there is no play or noise.

[Jaak Beentjes]

Ok so not sure what to think of this but I checked the ABS sensors even though it gave no warning lights.

One had a little dust blanket on it covering the opening side which might have cause the ABS to partially work on one side.

I cleaned this now and the trembling seems less but it is still there.

Could it be that the disc has been damaged due to this ABS working on that side?

Drove more then 3k with this issue now and also been to 3 garages who can say nothing but change the disc and pads.
After changing those 3 times I am sure the issue was caused by something else…

Could it have been the ABS Sensor and that that messed up my Disc.?

Really want to narrow down the issue before spending on a new set of Discs and Pads again. :dry:

Also looked at the bearing and there is no side to side play anywhere..

[Lorrin Barth]

The only way I can think of that the abs sensor would damage the disc is if it was rubbing.

[Jaak Beentjes]

Thanks for your input Barney.

What I mean is can a disc be damaged because the ABS is working on one side improperly.
Meaning it starts working as ABS and causes a trembling in the steering wheel.

Another things is that after jacking up the car on the front and putting it down the trembling/shaking stays away for a while…

[Jaak Beentjes]

Also found a very small play at the inner tie rod today….not sure if it is new or the cause.

[Akshat Goel]

Hi,

I advise you to use BitKar for troubleshooting the problem with your car. You can manage the maintenance and repair life cycle of your car, search for local repair shops,diagnose car problems, estimate repairs, track your maintenance service history.

Here is a link to the BitKar website – bit.ly/1n3yoDG

Link to download iOS app – bit.ly/Sv72N5

Link to download Android app – bit.ly/1u1vt12

[EricTheCarGuy]

Loose suspension parts don’t normally cause vibrations but they can make them worse. It’s usually rotating assemblies that cause vibrations.

[Jaak Beentjes]

Well I ordered a new passenger side drive shaft and tie rod end.

One step forward two steps back…
Gave all the details rechecked all information twice and asked my wife to check if I missed something..
This is what I got send home :pinch:

All measurements are the same except for the fact that the original has a narrow end and the new one does not…pictures explain more then I can in English

[Its me]

As long as the carrier bearing location is correct, the overall length is correct and the spline sizes are correct, all should be fine.. unless the wider part of the shaft cannot fit through something..

Karl

[Jaak Beentjes]

Thanks for the reply Carl.

The issue is that it does not fit trough due to the wider part and I am searching/looking now to see if I need to take something more out to get it in or if it is completely the wrong axle.

[Author]

Replies