Repeated Engine Mount Failures in Volvo S80 T6 - 3rd time in 62,000 miles

Does anyone know of any secret warranties on the Volvo S80, for engine
mount failures. Among its many problems, our 1999 S80 has had to have
these replaced 3 times, yet the car has only 62000 miles on it, and has
been driven very gently. The first two replacements were done under
warranty, but now the warranty has expired. Volvo is being less than
helpful - Engine mounts should not wear out every 20,000 miles like
consumables. Has anyone had any luck in getting Volvo to fix these
engine mounts under a secret warranty?

 

One of Volvo's big problems these days is that even when they have an
obvious design/manufacturing weakness they are sticking it to the
customer for the cost of dealing with it after the warranty expires.
Automatic transmission problems, ABS/Tracs problems, early generation
all-wheel drive problems, ETM problems and more have stuck a lot of
customers with very expensive repairs which would not have been
necessary had the design and manufacturing been right from the start.
The State of California finally bullied Volvo into sort of dealing with
it's ETM problems, but they are still sometimes less than upfront about it.

The best of Volvo's competitors like Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura have
far fewer of these systematic problems and most often will take care of
them after warranty. I had an electrical problem with our Honda Accord
18,000 miles after warranty and Honda paid for the repair 100% with no
hassles because they had already determined that the component which
failed wasn't up to snuff. An improved version had been developed and
released and was installed for us at no charge as a routine customer
goodwill adjustment. With that kind of customer care attitude you
don't have to spend nearly as much money on advertising!

I think that with Volvo USA of today you are SOL. Think about it the
next time you lay out your hard earned money for an automotive product.

John

 

There are no secret warranties I'm aware of. If you are annoying and
persistent enough in your complaints and ratchet them up the chain then
they might settle just to get rid of you. Otherwise consider a suit if
the $$ would warrant it.

BTW, we have had a 2000 S80 with 70,000 miles and haven't had a single
motor mount go out. I haven't read of a recurring problem like this.
I wonder if there isn't something else causing the mount to break. Is
it the same one breaking?

 

Thanks for the reply - It is indeed the top engine mount breaking each
time (item 8671633 on the bill), at 21492, 45427 and 62,100 miles,
respectively. On several internet forums, other 1999 S80 owners have
reported the same problem, some with multiple engine mount replacements
(perhaps the problem was corrected for your 2000 S80). I'm not sure
what would be causing it to break - we live in a slightly hilly area,
but this is the first and only car we've owned that had an engine mount
failure, let alone 3 failures. Incidentally, on two of the invoices,
the "21822-2 Engine mounting/torque arm upper" also was mentioned as
being replaced (twice).

 

<snip>

What are the symptoms of a motor mount break? Shaking of the engine?
Our '99 S80 shakes at about 75 mph. The shaking seems to come up
through the steering column. Our local Volvo dealer has replaced the
"rack" 2 or 3 times under warranty. Unfortunately, we got worn our
TRYING to get Carmax (where we bought the car and got the warranty
through) to fix anything (note: they even lied on one repair [the
service MANAGER said that one BOTTOM hose on the radiator was leaking,
an approx $200 repair, but when I insisted on speaking with the
TECHNICIAN, the tech said it was the UPPPER hose, a $10 repair (hoses
weren't covered under the Carmax warranty)].

The windshield wipers stopped working suddenly (like a linkage fell
off), but I've not figured out how to remove the grill in front of the
windshield - where I suspect the problem is.

Any suggestions/ideas for EITHER issue?

-Bill

 

They replaced the rack? That's odd. Shaking through the steering column
is almost always tires out of balance.

 

<snip>

The tires were replaced and the shaking continued.

 

My wipers on my V70 jammed too. There was a bolt at one of the pivots
in the linkage between the motor and the actual wipers that had snagged
on the linkage. It was not difficult to remove the cover panel (grill)
in front of the windshield and replace the bad bolt. No problem since.
About 1 hour labour plus bolt.

 

The top mount on the 850 was also prone to wear out quickly. Volvo
redesigned it a few times, and eventually many people installed sturdier
aftermarket urethane mounts in place of the original Volvo rubber ones.

I have no idea why Volvo had so many problems engineering a durable
upper engine mount. Transverse mounted engines from nearly all
companies require some structure like this. I have noticed that GM's
solution is two big sturdy mounting bars (sometimes called dog bones due
to their shape). It seems that Volvo simply under designed many of
these things. The GM dog bones are long lived.

John

 

Consider changing dealerships you go to. Remember that the Volvo dealer
shop has nothing to do with the Volvo that built your car. This is just
a joe blow that runs the repair shop with the Volvo sigh on top. They
can use any car mechanic they can find in the street and if he makes
mistakes they pass the cost on the Volvo during warranty and you -
consumer - after that. Try to call Volvo cars office in your country
(like USA) and you will quickly find out that there is no relationship
of any kind.
My 99 V70 T5 that was repaired at Volvo in Pleasanton, CA was regularly
butchered almost to the point of invoking a lemon law. When I stopped
servicing car in there most of the repeat problems went away.
The final solution was to take over the maintenance and all repairs all
tougher. Now I keep finding strings and masking tape in places where
Volvo dealer mechanic had his hands in.
-Peter