Put a car on the jackstands, was able to move wheels and more closely investigate where sound is coming from. I think it is most likely inside of the steering rack after all. I will adjust it probably this weekend and report here.

Indeed there were several situations reported by Volvo owners, with strut/shock springs that broke because of advanced rust. Reported mostly on XC70 models.
The lower and upper portions of the springs tend to rust. The spring can break in the middle but also in the lower portion where it seats on ...

After all it does sound like a spring sound. Will investigate.

Definitely not a tie rod or control arm noise.

How are the torsion bar end link ball joints, upper and lower. Moving easily? You can try twisting by hand the vertical bar to feel how the ball joints move.

Maybe a broken coil spring ? Does the spring move on the strut seating? Was this before ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRNdEP3BOvs
This is what it sounds like.

And again, control arm, inner/outer tie rod, spring seat/top bearing assembly have been replaced recently and they still look clean. This sound is getting bigger and bigger.. could this be CV joint? I took this to garage today ...

It did not make the noise when the left wheel was off and car was on the jack and turning steering wheel to the end to end.

I think the noise got more pronounced after replacing inner/outer tie rods yesterday....

Hello!

I have been reading intensively for many days until today I got under car to replace the inner/outer tie rods on the left (driver's) side on my XC90 2.5T 2006 model.

Last year around this time I had both front control arms replaced due to cracking noise. The bushings still look like new and ...

Hello,
Is there other special tricks/things to remember when opening and closing XC90's cam cover??

Lots of tutorials on other cars look straight forward and simple job but I remember reading XC90 is not as easy because it needs cams resynced or something.

Thx guys for responding!

Yes it's 100% it is cam cover. You can see it slowly drip and as oil reaches hot part (behind engine) oil will burn and make nasty smoke.

Seen lots of Youtube videos (other car brands) and read articles how to replace gasket and it seems fairly easy and straight forward ...

sparkchaser81 wrote:Also, do not scrape off old sealant(i did, but very carefully), it should be chemically removed.

Does this mean I I should use specially designed remover?