Lower steering universal joint.1998 940Celebration.
 

I believe that Volvo no longer stock the lower universal joint for the steering column.Mine is sticking,particularly in damp weather, which means turning the wheel becomes difficult and hairy scary particularly when travelling at speeds.Is there a fix for this,or does it mean the car will have to be scrapped?

Is this accompanied by a shriek, squeal or similar high pitched nose by any chance?

Forgot to say, check and top up your PAS fluid and drive belt tension, if it's damp weather that causes it the chances are the belt is loose and also the fluid is either dirty, low or both.
Ideally you need to renew the PAS fluid from time to time as well but UJs don't go stiff, no matter what the weather, they go loose with wear.

Agree with Dave.
Steering on my 940 is dangerously stiff if engine not running, hence no power assist.
Last year I had occasion to loosen the lowest UJ on the steering column, the one which joins the column to the steering rack, when I had to remove the rack for repair. It’s splined onto the rack pinion and the securing bolt locates through a groove on the pinion so that it is only possible to position the UJ in one position relative to the rack. However, the lower end of the steering column has a flattened side where the UJ locates. When I reassembled everything I found that the steering was a little stiff and the steering wheel was fouling the column covers. It transpired that the column had moved very slightly down towards the rack whilst disconnected from it and I had not realised that. I found that it is possible for the column to slide within the UJ and I had not realised that. I slightly loosened the UJ on the column and placed a thin wedge between the steering wheel and the column shrouds to create a small gap of a few millimetres to prevent the fouling then tightened the UJ onto the lower end of the column.
To date I have had no further problems.

Note: if you have detached the column from the rack pinion ensure that the rack is centralised and the steering wheel is in the correct straight ahead position after sliding the UJ back onto the rack pinion splines. I marked mine prior to removing it.

How do you make sure the rack is centralised on one of these? Some racks have a bung to remove which you can slide a pin in when it is central.

I'm fairly sure i described the method in one of my emails Luke but it's 3.5 turns lock to lock.
From the straight ahead position on the steering wheel, if you slowly turn it to one lock, you should find one of the steering wheel spokes that was horizontal is now vertical (or t'other way round) and it is 1 3/4 turns back to the straight ahead position, likewise when turning to the other lock.

Another method is turn the steering to full lock one way and put a pice of tape on the steering wheel rim at the 6 o'clock position, now turn to the other lock and do the same.
Now return the steering wheel to the straight ahead position and they bits of tape should be at the "quarter to three" position.

If not, take the wheel off and adjust it until it is by refitting it one or two splines differently on the column. Don't forget to tighten the second most dangerous nut in the car, the one on the steering wheel! :tounge_smile: *

Recheck the rack is now central and you can set your wheel alignment correctly from there with the wheel in the straight ahead position.

This is pretty crucial to do right, if not the first obvious symptom will be poor self-cetering, tendency to pull to one side slightly but worst of all, it will be using the power assistance all the time while driving straight ahead. This can boil the fluid, resuliting in it frothing up out of the top of the reservoir. :eek:
Not to metnion the undue extra stress on the pump and rack! :eek::speechless-smiley-5:eek:

Thanks,Dave (and others)The steering seems to be ok when at a slowish speed,but usually when manoeuvring in a car park.I have had the stiff steering too whilst driving on a main road.
I have changed the fluid a couple of years ago and even fitted an inline filter.I added an additive,too....

Sorry Dave: lower u-joints at the Volvo 200/700 and 900 series are prone to go stiff.
I lube them regularly from outside. If they are removed I cook them in semifluid grease for steering boxes. Neverever a problem at my cars. Sometimes they are dead by corrosion.
Have a nice day, Kay

Thanks for the heads-up on that one Kay - i have to confess to being seriously shocked though! :speechless-smiley-5:shocked::eek::speechless-smiley-5

Every UJ i've ever known in the past goes loose because of wear, never known one to go stiff from corrosion or anything else! :nah:



This may or may not work but almost certainly will if your UJ has corroded. Mix some acetone (nail varnish remover) with synthetic ATF (same fluid as you used for the PAS and/or auto box changes) in a 50/50 proprtion in a clean jam jar. Put the lid on and give it a seriously good shake. You should end up with a pinkish mix which you can then brush on to the UJ. Give it a good covering (and put the lid back on the jam jar) then start the car and turn the steering lock to lock several times, returning the steering to centre after.

Give the mix of 50/50 acetone/ATF another good shake and brush more onto the UJ. Refit the lid. Let this lot soak on the UJ. Repeat weekly until the stiffness disappears.

The mix will penetrate into the UJ and the acetone, once it's helped the ATF creep into every tight spot will evaporate, leaving the ATF to lubricate and protect. My experience has shown me that not only will this prevent rust but over time, reverse the rust. I've been using this for several years now and it works. Whether it's too late for your UJ is another matter, if you've caught it in time then it's all good!

If not, have a look at these two threads :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...98#post2563798

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...78#post2564678

From what i know of both threads, i would say the UJ is still available in both, however be patient with the seller in the second one as he's currently dealing with a bereavement so is nowhere near the car he's breaking and is only on the forum sporadically - he's normally on here regularly though.

When i'm next under the bonnet of mine, i'll be giving the UJ a squirt of WMP (my nickname for the50/50 acetone/ATF-U mix, Weapon of Mass Penetration) to make sure mine doesn't suffer! :thumbs_up:

I bought a used UJ for my last 940. Pain to fit, and quite expensive for a used part. Also check your upper column bearing, right behind the steering wheel. Mine completely disintegrated!