2004 Volvo S60 intermittent juddering/vibration issue

[Rammy76]

I was wondering if any of you knowledgeable people would have any advice on what may be wrong with my Volvo?

I've owned the car for a year and it is mainly used as a motorway cruiser, which up until now it has been superb at. Unfortunately a few weeks ago it began to judder and vibrate very intermittently whilst cruising on the motorway.

There is no warning of it about to happen, it can be at any speed/revs and on any road surface. It is so random I have no idea what's causing it and it is very frustrating as the car can judder quite badly for a few minutes then it disappears as randomly as it happened!

I have had the wheels balanced and tracking done just to eliminate the possibility of them, I've checked the brakes for binding, the car has been up on the ramps in 2 different garages and neither could see any wear in the suspension or anywhere else.

It's the fact the fault is so random that has confused me and I'm struggling to get an idea what's causing it.

If anyone has any idea/experience of this I'd be grateful for suggestions.

[morgrp]

Certainly check the rear calipers and have the discs off to check condition of the rear handbrake shoes. They are prone to seizing calipers although you'll never know this when the car is cold - what happens is as you drive (specifically at higher speeds) the caliper will heat up and then start to seize up you'll then get the brakes binding on and causing a serious judder (almost as though you have a flat tyre).Once stopped and cooled back down, the caliper will start to work again. Convsersely, the caliper may be seized in position when cold, it heats up, releases and then gets stuck until it cools down again. Many garages miss this problem and will report back to the customer that the caliper is fine. Check the colour of the discs on the rear - A bluish tinge is a sure sign the disc has been over heated. Obviously if the disc is seriously rusty or pitted then they'll benefit from a change anyway and this sometimes a sign that the caliper is not applying even brake force across the disc (another sign of a seizing caliper) They are also known for well documented failiure of the rear hand brake shoes causing big damage.

You absolutely sure it isn't engine related?

Edited by morgrp on Tuesday 18th November 01:21

[Rammy76]

morgrp said:

Certainly check the rear calipers and have the discs off to check condition of the rear handbrake shoes. They are prone to seizing calipers although you'll never know this when the car is cold - what happens is as you drive (specifically at higher speeds) the caliper will heat up and then start to seize up you'll then get the brakes binding on and causing a serious judder (almost as though you have a flat tyre).Once stopped and cooled back down, the caliper will start to work again. Convsersely, the caliper may be seized in position when cold, it heats up, releases and then gets stuck until it cools down again. Many garages miss this problem and will report back to the customer that the caliper is fine. Check the colour of the discs on the rear - A bluish tinge is a sure sign the disc has been over heated. Obviously if the disc is seriously rusty or pitted then they'll benefit from a change anyway and this sometimes a sign that the caliper is not applying even brake force across the disc (another sign of a seizing caliper) They are also known for well documented failiure of the rear hand brake shoes causing big damage.

You absolutely sure it isn't engine related?

Edited by morgrp on Tuesday 18th November 01:21

Thanks very much for that advice, it was exactly as you described. The rear caliper was fine when cold then binding as it heated up at high speed. The shuddering was quite frightening!

Anyway, £81 for a caliper and some new rear brake pads and all is well. Much appreciated