Howard's P2 Volvo Maintenance

Power Steering Fluid

The owner's manual says ATF for the power steering fluid for this car. I did some research and it seems varying opinions exists

Most Volvo mechanics seems to say the manual is wrong and they use a low foam synthetic hydraulic fliud called CHF-11S (cheaptest I found is $15+ from fcpgroton.com). This fluid is green color when poured from the bottle. Appears clear when you see it on the level stick on the PS fluid reservoir cap. And is brownish if you flush it out. But it is definitely never bright reddish like ATF.

ATF seems to have been used for older power steering systems. So some people think ATF is okay since the manual says so. ATF is red color.

Just about everyone say mixing these 2 is a bad idea.

I unfortunately put in ATF per Volvo's manual and eventually my steering rack seal leaked on the passenger side. I think it is leaking on the driver side too but there is much more distance between the seal and the tie rod boot where wetness might indicate a leak. I can't say definitively that adding ATF is the cause of the failing seal (100k miles on the car+steering rack). But I suspect the wrong fluid might have something to do with it.

ATF is not good for the P2 steering racks. Even when my fluids are full with ATF, the PS pump eventually started making noises. After I flushed the ATF out of my PS system and added CHF-11S, most of the noise disappeared. So ATF probably isn't good for the PS pump either.

Before you add ATF to your power steering reservoir, call and check with your local Volvo dealer to be sure.

Volvo seems to have "fixed" the manual for 2005+, you can see their 2004 and 2005 online versions for yourself

http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/2004/2004_V70/04v70_08b.htm#pg139

http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/2005/2005_V70/05v70_08b.htm#pg154

Car Pulling Right

My XC70 would pull right at any speed. Pulling slightly at low speeds and heavier at highway speeds.

Had an alignment done and didn't fix it. Noticed my rear A-ARM bushings were torn and not sure if that was the cause. Finally took the car in for a rotation and they rebalanced the tires. Bingo, the pulling is gone.

Power Steering Rack Replacement

Got a rebuilt and will be putting this in soon. See here for why I needed to replace this. More to come.

Power Steering Pump

Mine seemed to have started leaking ever so slightly right where the spinning shaft is. Finally got a rebuilt power steering pump. Here are the directions


I was replacing my steering rack as well so I just pull the line from the steering rack to the PS fluid reservoir. Hooked it up to a hose to extend it into a container. Turn on the car and pumped out the old fluid. Only about a quart will come out. So I had minimal leak when I pulled the hoses off the PS pump.

Removing the pulley from the old PS pump and transferring it onto the new one was pretty challenging. You might buy a rebuilt or new pump with the pulley already installed. Here are the notes I left for this job

 
A tip is to use a vice or an extra helper to hold the center shaft (of the pulley remover and the installer bolt that came with the rebuilt pump) while you crank the nut to remove and install the pulley. It is hard to do it by yourself torquing/turning the center shaft tend to compress against the shaft itself.
 
Also when you install the pulley, there is a washer with a bearings allowing it to spin smoothly. This allows easier turns during the installation process.
 
There is also a rubber o-ring that seals the pressurized line connecting to the PS pump. Make sure you get this ahead of reinstallation. 

DIY Alignment

If you have recently replaced your steering rack or changed the tie rods. Your toe alignment might be off. Actually, there are numerous ways to take care during dis/reassembly that will get you pretty close to the original. I won't mention them here because of differences on which part you take off and reassemble. There is no way you can eye ball it so we need to measure somethings. A quick search on the internet will provide numerous do it at home procedures to get toe alignments that is "good enough to safely drive to alignment shop". I improvised the following simple way to do this.

  • Jack up the car, take the tire off
  • C-Clamp a 3+ foot long piece flat long piece of straight metal onto the bottom of each disc rotor. A metallic ruler or level would work just fine. Make sure you get metal that don't flex easily.
  • Measure the distance between the 2 pieces of metal at two points in the front and behind the disc rotor. Space the two points at least 2 feet apart. We need to get a slight toe in (like pigeon feet) so the front measurement wants to be a little shorter than the back measurement. Maybe try for 1/16"-3/16" or so. You can only get as close as each turn of the outer tie rods let you.

Now you are good enough to drive to alignment shop to get a precise alignment.