Thumping on the driver's side floor

I have a 2012 Volvo S60 with an intermittent problem. Sometimes when I am moving slowly (probably 5 to 10 mph) and turning the wheel, I’ll feel a thumping under my feet (more to the left side of the floor). It has happened when I start moving, but I seem to notice it more often as I’m stopping – perhaps only because I’m more likely to be turning at slow speeds when stopping (e.g. pulling into a parking space).

The dealer looked for the problem, but found absolutely nothing. This has been going on for over a year now and I’d like to figure it out in case I’m heading to a bigger problem. btw, when I say intermittent, it may happen a few times over a day or two, then nothing for the rest of the month.

Any thoughts?

Have a competent mechanic check the motor mounts and the transmission mounts.

Will do. I was just wondering. I had a tire replaced about a year ago and they rotated my tires as well. Wondering if they might have done something.

Hmmm…Is your S60 equipped with AWD?
If so, were the tires rotated on a consistent basis?
If it has AWD and the tires weren’t rotated on a consistent basis, then there is also the possibility of damage to the AWD system as a result of one mis-matched tire and/or failure to rotate the tires.

If your car doesn’t have AWD, then you can ignore the above comments.

This car is very, very young for this, but my first guess would be a bad inner CV joint. The dealer can check this out specifically. I assume it’s still under warranty?

You don’t really say …but… is it a single thump ?
as you get to a stop or begin goinig ?
motor/transmission mounts will do that.
A loose or bad suspension arm would do this and be near impossible to repeat the noise on a hoist due to the force needed to get it to move.

I do not have AWD. The car is under warranty for another 12,000 miles, so good there. It’s multiple thumps and happens both starting and stopping at very low speeds and only when I’m turning the wheel.

Have someone check the engine cradle mounts for loose hardware or wear.

There’s four of them. And one is located directly where you hear the noise coming from.


An under-car visual inspection is probably the first thing to have done. Be sure your mechanic checks the integrity of the front axel CV joint boots, if your car has those.

Thanks all!

Did you figure out what was causing the thump? I recently had axle work done and now experience the exact thumping you describe but it occurs when I am braking.

Mine does it while I’m parked. And my whole dash clickes and pops.

Can you identify your mystery vehicle as to the make, model, model year, and odometer mileage?

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Please start a new thread. State all pertinent information.
This will get you better results than tagging on to a five year old thread about a problem unrelated to yours.

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My car was doing the same thing and thought it might be a cv joint. However, the floor mat on the driver’s side was moved some from getting in and out of the car, and the mat was rubbing against the drive shaft. Check and make sure your floor mat is secured with the hole in the floor. Who would’ve thought??

That had to be one hell of hole you had in the floor board.



My brother discovered the cause. In my Volvo S60, apparently there is something that docks in the floorboard that keeps the floormat in place. This is what he told me he did, after driving it around the block, and now the thumping under my foot is gone when I turn the steering wheel.

The steering column shaft.