Power steering fluid

[Clan]

Originally Posted by RM955I

In readiness for a weekend of giving my new baby a thorough service, is the PAS fluid still CHF-11S or has it changed from the later P2 models?

There has only been one power steering fluid for volvo since 1995 ish . the green stuff . It also is used in the C70 roof hydraulics .

[RM955I]

CHF-11S then I'd have sworn that on the P2 forum some people reported the old red (ATF?) fluid being used in early P2 cars, but I' must have got that wrong.

[Croft]

Originally Posted by Clan

If you have the front wheels unloaded , the torsional hydraulic valve in the pinion shaft will not direct fluid from the pump to the ram you will just be moving the rack back and forth as if you had no assistance . A bit of load makes the fluid take the full route around the rack and ram and back to the reservoir which is what you want

When I did mine, I parked the front wheels on some old sections of laminate from old shelving. Using 2 pieces per side, one on top of the other so that they rotated easily as the steering was used. Made the whole operation easy and provided a light load to ensure the fluid was circulated. Worked a treat.

[David737]

Having looked in my 2005 XC70 reservoir I have red fluid which needs topping up. Should I stick with ATF or do a empty/flush and fill with CHF11S?
Cheers

[Tatsfield]

Originally Posted by David737

Having looked in my 2005 XC70 reservoir I have red fluid which needs topping up. Should I stick with ATF or do a empty/flush and fill with CHF11S?
Cheers

While that sounds reasonable, you are on this forum - S80 '06-'16 / V70 & XC70 '07-'16 General Forum for the P3-platform S80 and 70-series models and you should be on this one for your 2005 car - S80 '98-'06 / S60 '00-'09 / V70 & XC70 '00-'07 General Forum for the P2-platform S60 / V70 / XC70 / S80 models

[David737]

Doh! Thanks you Tatsfield I didn’t NB that after my search.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by David737

Having looked in my 2005 XC70 reservoir I have red fluid which needs topping up. Should I stick with ATF or do a empty/flush and fill with CHF11S?
Cheers

Both will work as just as well - it's not a system that is stressed by heat or huge pressures - but if you have ATF already and you are just topping up you should use the same.

[BlueRubber]

Originally Posted by David737

Having looked in my 2005 XC70 reservoir I have red fluid which needs topping up. Should I stick with ATF or do a empty/flush and fill with CHF11S?
Cheers

I would strongly suggest flushing the system with CHF11S as that is the correct fluid. I have heard reports of problems when using AFT in the long term.
It's a very cheap and easy job to do.