1998 V70- 100,000 miles Squeaky brake(s)(?) so had new pads installed & rotors machined by non-Volvo shop. Next day still squeaky - back to shop, supposedly fix, no squeaking One weeks later minor squeak started which now is at a life-threatening level. Can't & wouldn't take it back to old shop. Additional info: Sounds like passenger side is louder Only starts to squeak after driving 1-2 miles & brake pedal in use, then only continuous when pressure applied to brake pedal - something heating uP? ABS & track light was on - fixed by dealer two weeks BEFORE squeak started - cause and effect? Is it true that the V70 had a stabilizer recall? Could the stailizer cause squeaking from forward pressure when brakes applied?
I'm not exactly sure what your problem is, but on my 1998 V70XC (basically the same model) the brakes have been emmiting more of a low-pitched "hum"-ish noise for about the last 80,000 miles...pretty much forever. After talking to my mechainic a few times and the dealer at a free diagonostic clinic, I have found a striking conclusion: With Volvo's commitment to safety, they are using bigger and bigger braking systems, especially on the super-safe V70s. However, a normal driver does not need anything close to that sort of power in day-to-day driving. With these modern braking systems, a sort of cleaning system is built in to eliminate road dirt, which can cause squeals and squeaks unneccessarily. However, for that cleaning system to work the brakes must heat up to burn off that road dirt -- and for such heating to occur, they have to be applied near maximum power. It's kind of dumb, isn't it? So the only way I've found to clear my squeaks and clean my brakes is once a month, I take it to a large open parking lot, accelerate as rapidly as I can, and then slam on the brakes all the way. It must look kind of funny from outside the car, but it works.
Many aftermarket pads are noisy on certain Volvos. Personally I had good results with Raybestos QuiteStop pads on my 850. I also had good results with Volvo OE pads. Some other aftermarket pads were very noisy. Most non-Volvo shops will install the cheapest pads they can get, which almost always means noise! John
This is true. To make brakes quiet, car manufacturers spend a lot of time matching the pads to the metal on the discs. It is not trivial. It is not a one size fits all solution. The car manufacturers want a pad that lasts, but to increase sales and customer satisfaction, they put a big priority on having a quiet combination. If you use after-market brake rotors, the pads you use will need to match that rotor. Volvo pads may not be the best match in that case.
