Volvo 940 steering gear replacement
#1
09-25-2015, 05:30 AM
Volvo 940 steering gear replacement
I tried without any luck to find a guide that describes how to replace the steering gear (or steering rack as they say on the other side of the ocean) , furthermore the instructions in the Haynes manual are really synthetic so I’ve decided to write a guide by myself.
This is the english translation of the italian guide I've published on volvoclub.it as thanksgiving to all my “unknow firends” that taught me a lot of things about the fantastic Volvo 940 writing many guides and howtos on many forums around the world (obviously volvoforums.com, but also volvoclub.org.uk, turbobricks.com, matthewsvolvosite.com, forums.swedespeed.com, volvotips.com, etc.)
This job is quite easy and it doesn’t require any special tool except a standard ball joint separator that may be necessary to remove the track rod ends.
I’m not a professional mechanic, I spent near 8 ours to carry out this job in my garage, doing it alone, using jack stands and standard ratchets.
Below the necessary tools:
- a good set of DIY garage tools (trolley jack, axle stands, ratchets, torque wrench, etc.)
- PPE - personal protective equipment (goggles, nitrile gloves, FFP3 dust mask)
- 2 liters of ATF Dexron 3 fluid
- new or regenerated steering gear
- n. 2 new track rod ends
- n. 2 + 2 banjo fitting gaskets
- ratchet belt
Before all you must correctly identify your steering gear so you can order the right spare parts. On the Volvo 940 can be installed 4 different type of racks, you can find your type simply by looking the number of your service plate: the last digit should be 1 for Koyo, 2 for CamGear, 3 for ZF and 4 for TRW (the most likely)
What you should absolutely know is that there are two type of steering shaft joints, the ZF type is like this:
while the TRW is like this one:
The other two steering gears should be similar to the TRW, but I cannot confirm to you (TRW acquired CAM the mid 1980s, while Koyo should be in joint venture with TRW since 1988)
A trick to quickly identify a ZF rack is to take a look to the bellows: the ZF has bellows with large openings on both sides, while TRW bellow is large only on the rack side (see pictures)
In any case I suggest you to retrieve the original Volvo OEM code, unfortunately this is printed on the upper side of the rack so you cannot read it if the rack is installed on the car. To get the code you could use this trick: take a piece of paper and roll it over the rack near the pinion, then take a little piece of pencil lead and drag it over the paper. In this way you should easily get a copy the OEM code onto the paper.
Another useful information to retrieve is obviously the VIN.
With all the necessary information you shouldn’t find too much difficulties in getting the correct spare steering gear that fits to your car.
Finally I suggest you, before confirm the order, to check the total length of the rack plus the rods (except the track rod ends). For the TRW should be approximatively 125 cm.
Job description:
Park the car in a leveled surface, insert 1° gear (for automatic transmission insert the park position), loosen the front wheel nuts and jack the car on axle stands.
Chock the rear wheels and remove the front wheels.
WARNING: always remember to shock the car over the axle stands before going under it and verify it is strongly firm, furthermore I strongly suggest you to put the removed wheels below the car to give you a safety backup in case something goes wrong.
For improved safety I put also some robust wood beams over the wheels to have more safety centimeters.
Dress your dust mask and loose the nut of the track rod ends without removing it, knock with a hammer the steering knuckle near the track rod end and it should unlock. If it doesn’t, you should use a ball joint separator.
Remember: never remove the nut, only loose it!
Now re-tight the nuts without too much torque because we will need to remove them after a while.
Slide under the car and remove the plastic engine splash guard and the metal plate in the middle of the steering rack used by mechanics for lifting both the front wheels at the same time.
Now it’s time to remove the pinion from the steering U-joint, remove the 2 safety clips and rotate the steering to gain access to the 2 bolts and unscrew them, then put the steering wheel exact in the middle position and hold it with a belt.
WARNING: after disconnecting the U-joint the steering wheel is free to rotate. Do not rotate it because you could not be able to reposition it in the middle and you may damage the air bag electric wirings.
Hold the steering wheel with a belt or similar tools so and verify it cannot rotate anymore.
Now put a big flat screwdriver in the U-joint kerf and slip it off by gently hammering.
I suggest you to previously have sprayed a plenty of WD40 or a similar product and to use a rubber hammer.
Remember that the U-joint can be mounted only in a fixed position so you don’t be scared to not be able to remount it. In any case it is always better to draw some marks with a pen.
Clean around the two bolts that hold the steering rack to the crossmember and loose them just a bit.
Perfectly clean all around the two banjo unions, open the reseirvor cap and if you did not yet, dress safety glasses and nitrile glowes (better two pairs, one over the other), take the oil pan and unscrew the two banjo bolts on the steering gear so that you can unload the hydraulic fluid.
Now completely remove the two banjo bolts and pour a lot of new Dexron 3 fluid into the reservoir to clean the hydraulic circuit from the old fluid.
Now is time for a beer (or two, do not rush and let the all the oil to slowly drop out!), then cover the two banjo unions with a clean paper or a piece of rag so that no dirt can go inside them and gently remove the old fitting gaskets from the banjo bolts.
The banjo fitting gasket must not be reused. Original Volvo ones should be copper made, but on my car were installed aluminum ones. You should find new ones easily in any spare parts shop for less than one buck. In case of doubts I strongly suggest you to use aluminum ones because aluminum is softer than copper and guarantee a better sealing with a lower torque.
Now it’s time to remove the track rod ends, this operation should be quite easy because we have previously loosen them.
The last thing to do it to remove the two long bolt that hold the rack to the cross member, after removed them the rack will drop to the floor by itself. Indeed this operation is a not so easy because the rack weights a few kilograms and it is a bit complicated to slide the pinion in the hole of the cross member beside the banjo unions.
HINT: I found really useful to take with me a long screwdriver to help me to temporary hold the rack when my arms were tired.
Now install the new track rod ends onto the new steering rack and put the two steering racks one beside the other, then report the same measurements from the old one to the new one, then tight the nut on the track rods so that the ends cannot move anymore.
It’s finally time to install the new rack on the car by reversing the removal operations except that you will join the track rod ends to the steering knuckle for last.
Take careful to properly tight all bolts and nuts, especially the ones on the track rod ends, and do not forget the safety clips on the u-joint.
NOTE: Haynes manual says to tight the steering gear to cross member bolts in two stages:
- stage 1: 35Nm
- stage 2: angle tighten 150° further
Personally I wasn’t able to use a torque angle gauge, so I preferred to tight “at hand”. To prevent accidental nut loosening I used a few drops of medium threadlocker.
The last thing remained is to fill the hydraulic circuit with Dexron 3 fluid and bleed it. I do this job in this way: fill the reservoir with fluid and wait until air bubbles stop rising to the surface. With engine off slowly rotate the steering wheel from the left to the right and vice-versa a few times and top-up the fluid level in the reservoir. Repeat one time.
Be sure to put the gear in neutral position and turn engine on. Slowly rotate again the steering from left to right and vice-versa, holding the steering wheel full left or full right only for a few seconds. Do not forget to continuously check the fluid level in the reservoir to avoid damaging the pump due to dry rotating.
If you can, is better you carry out this task with the help of someone else (wife, son, daughter, girlfriend, neighbors, tamed monkey, …)
That’s all!
Remember to check all the nuts and the bolts are correctly tight, check the safety clips, remount the plastic engine splash guard and the metal plate, remount the wheels and lower the car. You are finally ready for a drive test.
After that, check for any fluid leak and if all it’s OK, drive the car to your tyres shop for a wheel alignment.
This is the english translation of the italian guide I've published on volvoclub.it as thanksgiving to all my “unknow firends” that taught me a lot of things about the fantastic Volvo 940 writing many guides and howtos on many forums around the world (obviously volvoforums.com, but also volvoclub.org.uk, turbobricks.com, matthewsvolvosite.com, forums.swedespeed.com, volvotips.com, etc.)
This job is quite easy and it doesn’t require any special tool except a standard ball joint separator that may be necessary to remove the track rod ends.
I’m not a professional mechanic, I spent near 8 ours to carry out this job in my garage, doing it alone, using jack stands and standard ratchets.
Below the necessary tools:
- a good set of DIY garage tools (trolley jack, axle stands, ratchets, torque wrench, etc.)
- PPE - personal protective equipment (goggles, nitrile gloves, FFP3 dust mask)
- 2 liters of ATF Dexron 3 fluid
- new or regenerated steering gear
- n. 2 new track rod ends
- n. 2 + 2 banjo fitting gaskets
- ratchet belt
Before all you must correctly identify your steering gear so you can order the right spare parts. On the Volvo 940 can be installed 4 different type of racks, you can find your type simply by looking the number of your service plate: the last digit should be 1 for Koyo, 2 for CamGear, 3 for ZF and 4 for TRW (the most likely)
What you should absolutely know is that there are two type of steering shaft joints, the ZF type is like this:
while the TRW is like this one:
The other two steering gears should be similar to the TRW, but I cannot confirm to you (TRW acquired CAM the mid 1980s, while Koyo should be in joint venture with TRW since 1988)
A trick to quickly identify a ZF rack is to take a look to the bellows: the ZF has bellows with large openings on both sides, while TRW bellow is large only on the rack side (see pictures)
In any case I suggest you to retrieve the original Volvo OEM code, unfortunately this is printed on the upper side of the rack so you cannot read it if the rack is installed on the car. To get the code you could use this trick: take a piece of paper and roll it over the rack near the pinion, then take a little piece of pencil lead and drag it over the paper. In this way you should easily get a copy the OEM code onto the paper.
Another useful information to retrieve is obviously the VIN.
With all the necessary information you shouldn’t find too much difficulties in getting the correct spare steering gear that fits to your car.
Finally I suggest you, before confirm the order, to check the total length of the rack plus the rods (except the track rod ends). For the TRW should be approximatively 125 cm.
Job description:
Park the car in a leveled surface, insert 1° gear (for automatic transmission insert the park position), loosen the front wheel nuts and jack the car on axle stands.
Chock the rear wheels and remove the front wheels.
WARNING: always remember to shock the car over the axle stands before going under it and verify it is strongly firm, furthermore I strongly suggest you to put the removed wheels below the car to give you a safety backup in case something goes wrong.
For improved safety I put also some robust wood beams over the wheels to have more safety centimeters.
Dress your dust mask and loose the nut of the track rod ends without removing it, knock with a hammer the steering knuckle near the track rod end and it should unlock. If it doesn’t, you should use a ball joint separator.
Remember: never remove the nut, only loose it!
Now re-tight the nuts without too much torque because we will need to remove them after a while.
Slide under the car and remove the plastic engine splash guard and the metal plate in the middle of the steering rack used by mechanics for lifting both the front wheels at the same time.
Now it’s time to remove the pinion from the steering U-joint, remove the 2 safety clips and rotate the steering to gain access to the 2 bolts and unscrew them, then put the steering wheel exact in the middle position and hold it with a belt.
WARNING: after disconnecting the U-joint the steering wheel is free to rotate. Do not rotate it because you could not be able to reposition it in the middle and you may damage the air bag electric wirings.
Hold the steering wheel with a belt or similar tools so and verify it cannot rotate anymore.
Now put a big flat screwdriver in the U-joint kerf and slip it off by gently hammering.
I suggest you to previously have sprayed a plenty of WD40 or a similar product and to use a rubber hammer.
Remember that the U-joint can be mounted only in a fixed position so you don’t be scared to not be able to remount it. In any case it is always better to draw some marks with a pen.
Clean around the two bolts that hold the steering rack to the crossmember and loose them just a bit.
Perfectly clean all around the two banjo unions, open the reseirvor cap and if you did not yet, dress safety glasses and nitrile glowes (better two pairs, one over the other), take the oil pan and unscrew the two banjo bolts on the steering gear so that you can unload the hydraulic fluid.
Now completely remove the two banjo bolts and pour a lot of new Dexron 3 fluid into the reservoir to clean the hydraulic circuit from the old fluid.
Now is time for a beer (or two, do not rush and let the all the oil to slowly drop out!), then cover the two banjo unions with a clean paper or a piece of rag so that no dirt can go inside them and gently remove the old fitting gaskets from the banjo bolts.
The banjo fitting gasket must not be reused. Original Volvo ones should be copper made, but on my car were installed aluminum ones. You should find new ones easily in any spare parts shop for less than one buck. In case of doubts I strongly suggest you to use aluminum ones because aluminum is softer than copper and guarantee a better sealing with a lower torque.
Now it’s time to remove the track rod ends, this operation should be quite easy because we have previously loosen them.
The last thing to do it to remove the two long bolt that hold the rack to the cross member, after removed them the rack will drop to the floor by itself. Indeed this operation is a not so easy because the rack weights a few kilograms and it is a bit complicated to slide the pinion in the hole of the cross member beside the banjo unions.
HINT: I found really useful to take with me a long screwdriver to help me to temporary hold the rack when my arms were tired.
Now install the new track rod ends onto the new steering rack and put the two steering racks one beside the other, then report the same measurements from the old one to the new one, then tight the nut on the track rods so that the ends cannot move anymore.
It’s finally time to install the new rack on the car by reversing the removal operations except that you will join the track rod ends to the steering knuckle for last.
Take careful to properly tight all bolts and nuts, especially the ones on the track rod ends, and do not forget the safety clips on the u-joint.
NOTE: Haynes manual says to tight the steering gear to cross member bolts in two stages:
- stage 1: 35Nm
- stage 2: angle tighten 150° further
Personally I wasn’t able to use a torque angle gauge, so I preferred to tight “at hand”. To prevent accidental nut loosening I used a few drops of medium threadlocker.
The last thing remained is to fill the hydraulic circuit with Dexron 3 fluid and bleed it. I do this job in this way: fill the reservoir with fluid and wait until air bubbles stop rising to the surface. With engine off slowly rotate the steering wheel from the left to the right and vice-versa a few times and top-up the fluid level in the reservoir. Repeat one time.
Be sure to put the gear in neutral position and turn engine on. Slowly rotate again the steering from left to right and vice-versa, holding the steering wheel full left or full right only for a few seconds. Do not forget to continuously check the fluid level in the reservoir to avoid damaging the pump due to dry rotating.
If you can, is better you carry out this task with the help of someone else (wife, son, daughter, girlfriend, neighbors, tamed monkey, …)
That’s all!
Remember to check all the nuts and the bolts are correctly tight, check the safety clips, remount the plastic engine splash guard and the metal plate, remount the wheels and lower the car. You are finally ready for a drive test.
After that, check for any fluid leak and if all it’s OK, drive the car to your tyres shop for a wheel alignment.
The following 2 users liked this post by apollokid:
Chris77 (03-14-2021),
volvoforums2753 (07-05-2022)
#3
09-25-2015, 02:56 PM
You are right, I forgot to warn about this. I generally disconnect the battery before doing many works, but it is very important to avoid accidental explosions.
IMPORTANT: before starting this work disconnect the battery and wait at least 10 minutes, better if you wait for 30 minutes. In this way the air bag module is disarmed.
IMPORTANT: before starting this work disconnect the battery and wait at least 10 minutes, better if you wait for 30 minutes. In this way the air bag module is disarmed.
#4
09-28-2015, 02:39 AM
#5
09-28-2015, 02:54 AM
Personally I'm scared about AirBags, I only knew that disconnecting the battery and waiting for some minutes the air bag were unable to explode.
To replace the steering gear you didn't have to work on the steering wheel, you have only to disconnect the lower U-Joint, so I believe that you should not encounter any problem.
Haynes manual says nothing about AirBag dangers for this work, but disconnecting the battery is always a good practise, also if the LH module will be reset if you left the car without battery for too much time.
Please, can you tell me more about the procedure to correclty disarm the airbag? There is an official guide about it? The connectors you says are the one below the front seat?
#6
09-28-2015, 03:43 AM
This is documented in the greenbooks for SRS, mine are from the VCOA CD for 9x0...
My 92 740 only has a driver side airbag, the orange safety connector is on the drivers side of the center console near the firewall. If you have them, the seatbelt retractor plugs are at the seatbelt retractor in the B pillar. the instructions specifically say to unplug these *BEFORE* unplugging the sensor/trigger under the seat.
My 92 740 only has a driver side airbag, the orange safety connector is on the drivers side of the center console near the firewall. If you have them, the seatbelt retractor plugs are at the seatbelt retractor in the B pillar. the instructions specifically say to unplug these *BEFORE* unplugging the sensor/trigger under the seat.
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