Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - Power steering balancing adjustment

345DL · Feb 11th, 2018, 15:32

Hi all

A few months ago, I had to have a new steering rack fitted to my 1982 car as the old one was leaking. I found a recon unit on ebay. There are three different PAS racks fitted to 240s, but the one for my car is a Camgears made rack, Volvo part number 1272461

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment\ by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Anyway, as soon as it was fitted, I could tell all was not right with the world. The assistance was much more pronounced for turning right, and actually turning left was really heavy. This made the car really unpleasant to drive, particularly on country roads. I had been told that there was some way of adjusting the power steering by 'turning a bolt', but no further details were forthcoming. Googling also didn't come up with any answers, other than about changing tie rods. Luckily, I have some green books and there is a whole chapter there on power steering balancing (for that is what this adjustment is called). So I thought I would put up a little guide, in case someone else wants to tackle the job - it's actually pretty easy when you know how.

You need to locate this cap, which is on the bottom of the steering rack, directly underneath where the steering column is:

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr
To get at the lower bolt on mine, I had to use a large screwdriver to just prise away a small part of the crossmember which was fouling on my spanner. These are both 13mm bolts.

Inside, there is a 16mm nut, and a locking washer with 9 tangs.

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

There will be 2 tangs bent towards the nut, which keeps the nut from turning. You need to prise these away from the nut, straightening them out. A small screwdriver and patience is needed here, and a small hammer if necessary. Once you get these 2 tangs out of the way, you can get the nut off. Make sure the key is out of the ignition and the steering lock is activated, as twisting the nut also turns the wheels. Eventually using a breaker bar and 16mm socket, it will un-do, even though you will be turning the wheels slightly as you do so.

Once the nut is gone, you can see the lock-washer, and one of the tangs is bent upwards towards the inside of the mechanism - it is this tang which keeps the location of the bearing steady. You can change the tang, which then changes the balance of the steering.

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Prise off the washer with a small screwdriver - you will see there is a central tang which keeps is aligned with the thread.

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

This is where the tang was on my car

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

So time to adjust. On my car, it was harder to steer to the left. With a bit of trial and error, I worked out that to correct that, I needed to go to the next tang clockwise. So straighten the existing tang using a pair of pliers to keep the washer steady, and another to straighten the tang (in fact take the time to straighten them all out, as the ones which held the nut in place are likely to still be a bit proud):

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Then bend the next tang clockwise down from the current tang.

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Next job is just to turn the part of the bearing on the car into which the tang slots. It is currently aligned with the old tang, so just a screwdriver will push it along to the new position

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Then put the lock washer in place (sorry for blurry pic, best I had!)

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Now you are on the home straight - re-fit the nut, and tighten as much as possible again with a breaker bar. Then find 2 tangs on the outer edge which look like they are against a flat side of the nut, and bend them down with pliers or a screwdriver so that they prevent the nut from turning.

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr

Then put a bit of grease over the whole mechanism, and refit the cover.

Then take the car for a test-drive - if the steering is worse, you have adjusted in the wrong direction and just re-do it, but this time take the next tang in the opposite direction from the original one. If the steering still is not perfect, you may need to go one further tang in the same direction (I did on my car).

I hope that this is useful to someone in the future! It's actually easy, but took me a long while the first time as I was doing it without pictures and had to figure it out as I went along. The second time was 20 minutes.

Feb 11th, 2018, 15:32	#1
345DL VOC Member Last Online: Jun 10th, 2023 18:18 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Cambridge	Power steering balancing adjustment - Camgears rack Hi all A few months ago, I had to have a new steering rack fitted to my 1982 car as the old one was leaking. I found a recon unit on ebay. There are three different PAS racks fitted to 240s, but the one for my car is a Camgears made rack, Volvo part number 1272461 Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment\ by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Anyway, as soon as it was fitted, I could tell all was not right with the world. The assistance was much more pronounced for turning right, and actually turning left was really heavy. This made the car really unpleasant to drive, particularly on country roads. I had been told that there was some way of adjusting the power steering by 'turning a bolt', but no further details were forthcoming. Googling also didn't come up with any answers, other than about changing tie rods. Luckily, I have some green books and there is a whole chapter there on power steering balancing (for that is what this adjustment is called). So I thought I would put up a little guide, in case someone else wants to tackle the job - it's actually pretty easy when you know how. You need to locate this cap, which is on the bottom of the steering rack, directly underneath where the steering column is: Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr To get at the lower bolt on mine, I had to use a large screwdriver to just prise away a small part of the crossmember which was fouling on my spanner. These are both 13mm bolts. Inside, there is a 16mm nut, and a locking washer with 9 tangs. Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr There will be 2 tangs bent towards the nut, which keeps the nut from turning. You need to prise these away from the nut, straightening them out. A small screwdriver and patience is needed here, and a small hammer if necessary. Once you get these 2 tangs out of the way, you can get the nut off. Make sure the key is out of the ignition and the steering lock is activated, as twisting the nut also turns the wheels. Eventually using a breaker bar and 16mm socket, it will un-do, even though you will be turning the wheels slightly as you do so. Once the nut is gone, you can see the lock-washer, and one of the tangs is bent upwards towards the inside of the mechanism - it is this tang which keeps the location of the bearing steady. You can change the tang, which then changes the balance of the steering. Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Prise off the washer with a small screwdriver - you will see there is a central tang which keeps is aligned with the thread. Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr This is where the tang was on my car Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr So time to adjust. On my car, it was harder to steer to the left. With a bit of trial and error, I worked out that to correct that, I needed to go to the next tang clockwise. So straighten the existing tang using a pair of pliers to keep the washer steady, and another to straighten the tang (in fact take the time to straighten them all out, as the ones which held the nut in place are likely to still be a bit proud): Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Then bend the next tang clockwise down from the current tang. Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Next job is just to turn the part of the bearing on the car into which the tang slots. It is currently aligned with the old tang, so just a screwdriver will push it along to the new position Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Then put the lock washer in place (sorry for blurry pic, best I had!) Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Now you are on the home straight - re-fit the nut, and tighten as much as possible again with a breaker bar. Then find 2 tangs on the outer edge which look like they are against a flat side of the nut, and bend them down with pliers or a screwdriver so that they prevent the nut from turning. Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Volvo 240 power steering balancing adjustment by Siôn Hudson, on Flickr Then put a bit of grease over the whole mechanism, and refit the cover. Then take the car for a test-drive - if the steering is worse, you have adjusted in the wrong direction and just re-do it, but this time take the next tang in the opposite direction from the original one. If the steering still is not perfect, you may need to go one further tang in the same direction (I did on my car). I hope that this is useful to someone in the future! It's actually easy, but took me a long while the first time as I was doing it without pictures and had to figure it out as I went along. The second time was 20 minutes. __________________ Current Volvos: 1977 343 DL Vario; 1979 343 DL; 1980 345 DL; 1982 Volvo 245 GLT; 1985 340 DL Vario; 2014 V40 R-Design D4 Last edited by 345DL; Feb 11th, 2018 at 15:35.