steering rack noise

driving a 1996 940 estate. I had a small steering fluid leek some weeks ago, the steering became heavy and shuddered as you neared its limits (left & right). So i topped up with ATF and all was well (the leak never came back!). However the pump was very loud and I ordered a replacement (used) which I have not fitted yet. In the meantime the steering sounds like an old creaking door that needs to be oiled, and as I suspect there might be a problem with the rack my question is this: has anybody re-built a rack from a 96 940, and if so how difficult is it. I would shudder to think how much a new one would be from volvo!

Did you bleed the power steering? If not try that first

Seems new rack not too bad from german swedish anyway - £110, not too bad!

Got this from their website:

V43811 POWER STEERING RACK 940 90>98 CAM/TRW Racks (4 Door >Ch.173671 5 Door >Ch.116922) £110.00

V43815 POWER STEERING RACK 940 90>98 CAM/TRW Racks (4 Door Ch.173672> 5 Door Ch.116923>) 110.00

http://www.gsfcarparts.com/

Pete

pete, no i have not bled the system, only topped it up. I am going to change the pump anyway (the old one is quire rough sounding), so i will be changing the ATF. Can air get trapped in this system?

Hi there,

Yes, air could be in the system. You said you had a leak and you topped up the fluid so I assumed the fluid was maybe below the min level in the reservoir and anyway maybe it sucked air in through the leak (depends exactly what was leaking etc.)

The first thing would be to make sure definitely there is no more leak. Remember the system will run at high pressure so won't necessarily leak if car turned off.

If you're going to change the PAS pump then do the bleeding after that.

But are you dead sure the PAS pump is making all the noise? With all the other stuff being driven on the same belt and all connected to the engine the noise can be transmitted all over the place. Previously on my Rover I fitted a new alternator then we were sure the PAS pump started making a row but after much listening we thought it was the *new* alternator. So we gambled and changed it. And it was the alternator! Took months to get the £440 (yes for just two alternators!) back from Rover though

Anyway, I digress. To bleeding the PAS....

To bleed the system, the general procedure involves turning the steering from lock to lock and the idea is that you'd see the air bubbles coming up to the surface (i.e the reservoir). If you can raise the front of the car it is easier to do, but basically (this is pretty much how it's described in any haynes book for PAS and I can't see why yours wouldn't be any different):

1) Undo PAS reservoir cap and make sure fluid up to max
2) With engine off, slowly turn steering lock to lock several times (or maybe up to 5 - 10 times). Check that as air comes out and fluid replaces it that the level in the reservoir doesn't drop below minimum else it pulls more air in.
3) Top up again as necessary
4) Start engine and check the level doesn't drop below the minimum
5) Turn steering lock to lock slowly a couple of times. Don't hold at full lock as it strains the system
6) Repeat if you still see air bubbles coming up in reservoir
7) Turn off, make sure fluid topped up if necessary. Put cap back and you are away.

Obviously if you turn the steering with the car in the air make sure there's no risk of the wheels fouling e.g axle stands etc. or the ground, even on full lock.

Cheers,
Pete

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I had similar symptoms on my 960 at 120,000 miles some years ago - a top-up of power steering fluid was all that was needed at the time, although a new rack turned out to be required only a few thousand miles later. I forget the cost, so it can't have been too bad.

The car has now done 240,000 miles and this time the steering rack replacement was eye-wateringly expensive - around £800 altogether. The fault is definitely dealer chargeout rates, which have gone through the roof over the past two years. The part itself was expensive too, however, about half of the total as I recall.

I hope that it doesn't come to that too quickly, but if you do need to replace the rack I would suggest that you buy a cheaper part and fit it yourself, or at least shop around to get the job done. Quite frankly, although my car has been well maintained and I have had excellent mileage out of it, there is definitely money to be saved!

i will tackel this at the weekend. I am pretty sure most of the noise is coming from the pump., While the enging is ticking over and sombody slowly turns the steering there is a awful whineing noise from the pump, and if you hold a piece of wood between the pump and your ear the noise is really clear, as you move the wood away from the area of the pump the noise lessens. Still confused about the leek though, it never came back after topping up! (even with the engine running). However there is still a "shudder" from the wheel sometimes, specially when parking (not even on full lock). I'll replace the pump, new atf, bleed and hope for the best. I'll post the results (also have a noisey bearing on the AC unit, but thats a different storey)

excuse the typos in the last post, working for the last 14 hrs, cream crackered

If you can find a dealer with the right equipment you could have (at least part of) the system pressure tested which would show up a faulty pump and confirm if there was a leak or not (in the area being tested). Pump pressures ought to be very high, maybe up to 100bar, so it can be difficult to trace leak if it only leaks if e.g when steering. But I think you will find most volvo places won't have the necessary equipment to do this sort of thing.

Anyway I hope you get it fixed, because these parts are quite expensive to follow the old "trial and error" approach to swapping bits.

Pete

to close this post: it was the rack in the end. however (on a different note) upon inspection several bushes were worn (and some were not), so I replaced the lot (€400 worth from volvo), and what a difference, the car drives like new (also did all belts, gear box oil, engine oil, diff oil plugs filters etc..) should be good for years yet