[KevinR]

I'm still sorting out the new-to-me '02 V70 XC (115k miles) I bought last week. FYI, the car's transmisson falls into the B4 servo cover problem range, but I have no idea whether or not it has been replaced. The fluid looks to be a bright red, so someone has been servicing the car regularly. I am planning on checking with the dealer on software updates, as it appears this car hasn't been to a Volvo dealer in quite a while.

That being said, I've been feeling some clunks in the drivetrain that I think are from the mounts. My unscientific test was to grab hold of the upper mount and the lower mount and move them as much as I could with my hand. Then I did the same thing with my wife's '04 C70 and compared. I can get no perceptible movement from the C70's mounts, while I can get significant movement out of the XC's mounts. This leads me to believe it's time for replacement. A couple of questions:

Should I stick to official Volvo parts, or are aftermarket (such as Hutchinson or Febi-Bilstein) up to the task?

The C70 has a round upper mount and the XC has a square upper mount. Is one style any better than the other?

How often do the other mounts go bad? Should I consider replacing them as well?

Any opinions on the various strut bar conversion kits the vendors sell?

 

[BellevilleV70]

Only use OE, aftermarket is junk. If has square upper, should be fine, thats the new style. Look close at bottom one, they are fairly soft, but if rubber isn't torn, its probably fine. I changed both big front and rear ones on mine, they were torn, hard to see as they have a cable on them. I also changed the oneunder the crank pulley but it was in good shape. car has 337k on it (KLMs) mad a noticeable differnce, much smoother. Order from Tasca, they are the cheapest

 

[JRL]

I disagree
It's VERY hard to tell if the lower (rear) mount is bad until it's removed
Over 100K on an AWD, replace all three mounts

 

[BellevilleV70]

Thats what I said, very hard to see if they are bad.

 

[KevinR]

Thanks for the input. I will definitely replace all three.