Hi

I am new to the site just got back into the Volvo family after being away for a while.

I recently picked up a 2000 S70 plan Jane 5speed.

I just went through the car the other day and everything seemed good. I am have the timiming belt done next week.

I did come across something that I am stumped about. Any ideas are welcomed.

I just got off the highway took a right up a steep hill had in 2nd gear and whined the motor up 5500 rpm before I shifted into gear just to see how it would do. I figure I'd anything was going to break it was going to be then.

Well it kind of did.
Perhaps a stupid move

I seemed to lost my power steering. The belt is in tack as well as there is is plenty of fluid in the reservoir for the steering fluid Nothing leaking

I am stumped any ideas

 

My sons car had a power steering issue recently, someone added ATF to the reservoir. The owners manual tells you to do this actually - at least in his car. The fluid was both Red and Green.

I searched the web and found informatoin that said that ATF was not the correct fluid for S70's but you had to do some looking to figure out what was correct. The synthetic oil recommended by Volvo is green. ATF is red. Hence the 2 colors and how I figured all this out.

I went to Walmart and bought power steering fluid - I think it was their Tech something brand. I remember it was clear. I drained the reservoir and refilled it; a small bottle just fills it. I am not recommending any type of fluid and you should figure out what should be in there. I tried to figure out what kind of fluid I bought and I couldn't do that either.

How I flushed it...
Remove the return line at the resevoir and hold it in a bottle.

I also removed the feed line into the pump. If I was doing this again, I probably wouldn't do that. It makes one heck of a mess and the alternator is right below it.

I started the car and let it pump out the resevoir. Today, I would recommend taking off the serpentine belt and spinning the pump by hand to drain the system. Keep an eye of the bottle you are using to collect the fluid.

I used a papertowel to clean out whatever remained in the reservoir. This is a nasty job.

Refill the resevoir and pump it through the system. Keep an eye on the bottle.

When the fluid is the color of whatever you put in, You probably can consider it flushed. Today, I would have run a good quart or more through it.

 

I have a 1999 S70 with only 221,000 miles. today we sprong a major leak at the power steering pump. luckly my wife was in the driveway and she turned off the car before anything was too torn up. when i checked it out, the actual pump is leaking between the two halfs of the pump.
has anyone ever taken the pump apart and replaced the gasket? i have not found the gasket anywhere online so i assume it is not common, so can i make a gasket??

any ideas would be very helpful
thanks

 

Skip the cost of delivery of your Volvo S70 Power Steering Hose parts order when you spend in excess of fifty dollars. Instead of dealing with the hassle of the dealer, use our easy online Volvo S70 Power Steering Hose order system to get the Volvo S70 Power Steering Hose parts you need.

 

I find power steering pumps to be one of those PIA things. They hardly break, but when they do its a pain and a mess to fix it.

I suggest replacing it with a reman. unit or a new one or a junkyard unit (depending on your $ situation). I saw a reman unit was about $120 after core exchange. Junkyard would probably be 1/2 or less than that.

First problem you will have if you try to do this yourself is locating a seal kit. That assumes the problem is the seal and not a rusted out body. IF you can locate the seal kit you will find it a pain to take apart. After all that effort, and after you get it installed it will likely leak at the shaft seals. Usually the shafts get pretty pitted with age.

IMHO, anything other than rebuilding the pump is a better option. As a note, you may find you can locate a newer pump from a junkyard. The pump is used by a number of these cars. Some junkyards let you take the pump out yourself. That's about the only way to assure you get a better one.

 

2/3 of the time its just air in the system. Make sure all the connections are tight first, refill and bleed the system. You may have (not normally) a whine for up to 30 miles or a couple days if you still got air trapped somewhere. If it goes longer than 3 days or 40 miles (3 hours idling) with the noise, its the pump.

Also the rack and pinions on these cars are known to develop leaks (in the boots) that cause air to got in the system and thus make it seem like it is the pump. Just a FYI.