Last March I had an independent Volvo mechanic replace my passenger side strut mount/bearing. Ever since I've gotten an intermittent knocking/clunking noise when the passenger side hits bumps. When I took it back he said it must be a bad strut, so we replaced that strut with a new Sachs unit. Noise still there. Took it back and we replaced the sway bar link. Noise still there. I've lived with the noise since then, but I'm at the point now where I want it solved and I'm weighing my options. Essentially its annoying and make me hate the car.
I took the car to the Volvo dealer and went for a drive with the tech. He heard the noise, didn't think its was a big deal, surmised its probably a bad strut on that side. They did a four-wheel alignment for me (was getting uneven tire wear on both fronts) and inspected the suspension....said everything is fine. They want $1,300 to do mount/bearing/struts on both sides. I see that FCP Euro has a kit for less than $400 shipped with Sachs struts and Corteco mounts (https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vol...it#description).
I have heard the front struts are a bear on this car due to the springs. I have access to a spring compressor at another dealer....has anyone done this job themselves?? Will I regret trying it??
I went back to the indy mechanic last week just to touch base on the issue again, but he seems very busy and given that he had three chances to fix the issue already I'm not sure I want to go down that road again. It seems my options for Volvo-specific indy mechanics in my area is pretty limited, and I normally wrench on cars myself so outside of the dealer I don't know of another shop I would trust to do this job correctly.
The car currently has 77,000 miles on it. Both front struts/mounts/bearings had been replaced under warranty back at 35,000 miles. By the time the passenger side failed again earlier this year the CPO was over and Volvo said I'd have to pay to replace....hence me going to the independent guy.
Thanks in advance for the advice everyone!