Our 850 makes a clunking noise when you brake. I believe it is associated with the rate of declaration. That is, if you brake gently you may not get it till you come to a stop but if you brake hard you will hear it immediately. My sense is that something is shifting under the deceleration. Is this a common thing? Anyone care to enlighten me? Motor mount?
As far as I know the steering and suspension are all in good shape and the joints are all tight. The car drives and handles nicely. Nothing was obvious to my local mechanics but he is not a Volvo suspension expert.
My V70 had a similar clunk about a year ago. It also showed up when Accelerating hard. Turned out to be the top engine mount, right on the back of the engine. Mine's a diesel, and the mount is behind the engine, where the turbo fits. It ties the engine to the bulkhead. More of a support/steady than an engine mount. The part which needed replacing was a bush, and I made a tool for pressing the old one out, and pulling the new one in, without having to remove the turbo, which is sort of in the way. If your clunk sound proves to be this mounting worn, I can give you a drawing of the tool I used to replace the bush. If you're in the UK, I could post you the tool so you can use it.
If it isn't this bush, check brake calipers for movement. Hopefully the mounting bolts won't be loose. Also, check the pads aren't floating around in the caliper. I once fitted some after market pads, and they didn't have the correct shape of 'ears' on them, and they managed to rotate in the caliper.
If nothing on the braking, or suspension setup looks suspect, check for objects floating around in the boot/trunk. A wheelbrace which wasn't tied down gave me loads of stress once! p.s remove NO.SPAM to reply.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.