2004 XC70. Steering wheel has weird pulsation.

S60Rnr · Post by **S60Rnr** » 02 May 2015, 11:34

I have searched the forums of many Volvo sites trying to find an answer, and since this is my first post on here I obviously haven't found it...

So I ask the Gurus for their diagnosis...

The problem that the 2004 Xc70 is having is that when going around long sweeping curves and the wheel is turned maybe 15 degrees from center (either direction) the starring wheel will pulse left/right about an inch or two. Inspecting thepower steering system /rack, I found a slight leak at a connection that wasn't tight enough. After tightening this connection, I think it was the high pressure line on the rack, and changing out the atf fluid to pentosin, the problem still exists.

There is no notable noise coming from the rack our PS pump, everything sounds super quiet.

Newly discovered as of last night, is that the steering wheel will do this same "pulse" when the car isn't moving. For example, if I have the car in park and an about to reverse... and I have the wheel turned in preparation of direction of travel; the wheel will pulse back and forth in my hand.

bigbrain · Post by **bigbrain** » 03 May 2015, 15:13

I had something very similar to this. I've swapped the fluid several times which does seem to have improved things so fingers crossed I don't need a new rack....my fluid was a little over full....I have no idea if this could have been a problem. I've also bought a replacement ps pump which I'm hoping will cure the problem...but thats just based on wishful thinking and the logic that the pump is cheap vs the rack. I know this sounds really obvious but I would also check the tyre pressure on the front too just in case.

S60Rnr · Post by **S60Rnr** » 06 May 2015, 03:06

I too was thinking either the pump or the rack... let me know if replacing the pump fixes your problem please.

S60Rnr · Post by **S60Rnr** » 10 May 2015, 11:48

Any luck?

bigbrain · Post by **bigbrain** » 10 May 2015, 14:04

Sorry haven't done it yet....will get done next weekend (it's 3rd on my list of jobs!)...when it originally happened I did a couple of fluid changes which did improve things hence the reason the pump swap went down on my list of priorities. . Have you tried changing the fluid....I bought a couple of bottles of the green stuff and used a syringe to just suck out the old fluid from the reservoir. Once you've done a change take it for a good drive and then repeat after a couple of days....I did 2 or 3 of these swaps....only take 10 minutes to do. I figured if I had to change the pump or the rack then I would want the fluid to be clean anyway so might as well start with that first.

bigbrain · Post by **bigbrain** » 16 May 2015, 07:33

Hi....just to report back. I swapped the pump out today and now my steering is silky smooth...with the fluid swap it was a lot better with less pulsing but now with the new pump it is totally smooth from lock to lock....lets hope it stays that way. The pump swap is very easy....well once you notice that the pump pulley has a set of holes which line up with the bolts which hold the pump in place! Topped it off with some nice fresh green fluid....spinning the old pump when it was off the car there was a kind of grating noise which I hadn't noticed when I checked it before (while I was swapping the alternator)....the new pump was definitely a lot tighter and smoother before fitting. Hope you also get lucky....to be honest the pump is so easy to swap I think it's worth a go vs messing about with the rack. I was in the garage for 3 hrs but was also swapping out the air inlet hose for the turbo which took most of the time....the pump is about 1hr....I used a ratchet and pole to slacken off the aux belt.

RTP3000 · Post by **RTP3000** » 20 Jun 2020, 13:08

It's great to hear you found a solution. Was it completely resolved? We spent money on new bushings and control arms and still had the issue. Then found this post. I will first add or replace the fluid. Thanks!