340 steering
 

I'm relatively new to 340 ownership and find the steering pretty heavy. I've got a bad shoulder due to a previous injury so am wondering if anyone has ever fitted the 360 power steering setup to a 1086 340? I can handle the pump and drive no problem but do the rack and column fit?
Any comments would be much appreciated

you need to raise the engine a touch for it to clear.

Heavy steering tends to mostly be down to failing top mounts

What is the tyre pressure set to? I have a feeling they are meant to be 28psi but people tend to overinflate a tad to try and ease the steering. Power steering wasn't common when new and is a rare thing now. Bogbasic on www.volvo300mania.com has fitted electronic power steering to his cars.

http://www.volvo300mania.com/uk/foru...p?f=54&t=16751

which engine have you? The B14 has the easiest steering as it has a touch of positive camber, the 1.7 and 2 litre have negative camber which does not help . , yes tyre pressure was designated at 28 psi which is far too low you need 35 psi which will make a noticeable improvement and If you fit new tyres you get that magnitude of improvement again .

Power steering was on the 2 litre GLT from 1987 although light i did not like the lack of feel . You can fit it's power steering rack and column , but there is an alloy block which the end of the rack sits in on the left side mounting , all these parts are rare now . Fitting the pump and reservoir to the engine is the easiest part ! The parts catalogue even listed parts for the B14 for some markets ..

Try 35 psi and new tyres first though 155 x 13 were the original fitment on the 340 with B14 , if someone has fitted 175 or 185 that will spoil the steering feel too .

All but the basic spec 340's even with a 1.4 got 175 wide tyres, it's listed in the brochures. The later cars badged just '340' got the skinnier 155 wide tyres and I believe DL's also. I had 185 wide GLT wheels on my old 343 and it didn't really make the steering much heavier than standard, the usual suspect is as Dai says - failing/worn top mounts.

35psi is the first thing to try I'd say - for a start it's free :D

I'm going right back to 1976 when I first started working on them , 175's and 185's never came for about 5 years later on GLT and GL models , never had stiff struts in the 20 years the 300 range were common .. because raising the tyre pressures always helped a lot .They were heavy from new or should i say got heavier as the tyres wore ! Another 27 years have passed since the 300 series stopped production so maybe some stiff struts today?

I can see where the confusion has come from, you were saying 340 not 345 or 343 had 155 section tyres.

Sagging engine mounts is another problem not sure about 340's but on my first 360 the engine mounts had sagged so the engine was resting in the steering rack.

340 steering
 

Thanks for all your responses. I've not yet got the car home so will check on all the points mentioned as soon as i have.
I'm pretty sure it has narrow tyres; certainly not in the 175 range.
Terry

The 340's do not suffer as bad as the 360 with engine mounts.

What happens with the top mounts is as they get older the center pushes up causing the top spring pan to rub on the stop mount so its binding. The load is taken off teh bearing so it of little help in rotating the strut.

Volvo were aware of the problem during the production of the 300 series and some changes were made but not a total fix by any means.

The mounts I make have load bearing washer to stop the issue.

Using a 240 style top mount have be a decent solution but as you can no longer buy a rubber top mount for a 240 that lasts more than 3 month no point in going down that path. I even tried some BMW of similar design but same issue there

Our 340 was fitted with power steering as an extra. It's a 1.4 1992 manual and believe me the power steering makes a lovely car great. So it can be done.