Power steering pump leak - o-ring?

[5rivers]

Greetings everyone,
Last week I noticed some extra noises coming from the motor. It was a familiar sound given the (rack and pinion) history of this '98 V70 T5!
A few days ago, I took a look under the hood and did notice some wetness on the top of the alternator and along the bottom of the power steering pump. It wasn't major wetness, and given that its been absolutely frigid with temps well below 0 degrees F, I am wondering if the o-ring may have lost its elasticity resulting in the fluid leak. I had to switch batteries over the span of two days to get the car started based on a parasitic drain (the overhead dome light assembly had a broken switch) - not a welcome finding given how cold its been.
I still need to pull out my small mirror and flashlight to see where on the pump the fluid is coming from. I'm hesitant to attempt to tighten the pressure hose connection at the pump for fear of cracking the pump and am wondering if the thickness of the pump walls would prevent it from cracking, hence discounting my fear.
I have not noticed any discolored snow under the motor (thankfully)! Tormorrow I'll have a chance to fill the pump with transmission fluid, get the car started, and let it warm up before moving down the driveway, drive it a few blocks and make some turns before parking the car in the driveway. I'm guessing some of the fluid is burnt off before traveling further down that side of the motor. I might have to pull the alternator out of my parts car, just in case the current alternator is saturated with power steering fluid that I suspect would impact its operation.
Appreciate your thoughts on the o-ring possibility - and would appreciate any info on the size/thickness of the o-ring.
Stay warm!

[abscate]

I’m trying to remember the 1998 setup. Check the return line first for seeps as that often needs a tweak.

969092

Size here… found courtesy of the master o-ring size thread !

realized it was a weekday (i'm off work this week) so e down to Gengras Volvo and got the OEM ring.

I measure the id to 0.307 a 302 pin is loose and a 5/16 pin is just a tad over. The width is 0.072 so the size they gave me is a -011. (5/16 ID by 7/16 OD 1/16 Wide) That size is included in the Harbor Freight HNBR set #67644 as reference if someone else gets stranded on a weekend. Be careful with using Home Depot o-rings. EPDM is very common for water etc and that will not do well with oil or gasoline.

viewtopic.php?t=60914

[5rivers]

I was able to stick my fingers under the pump at the connection points of the two hoses, but they were both dry. I'll see if that changes after putting some trans fluid in the pump.

As a side note, the battery was dead, again, this morning. I know the security switch for the door is built into the locking mechanism of the drivers door, and lately the door has been very difficult to open...would this impact the security switch? Could that be what is draining the battery!?? I did notice that the little red light located about the middle of the dash was not blinking last night, as it usually does after pressing the "lock" button on the key fob.

[abscate]

If the door closed and the lights went out it’s not the driver door switch. You are deep in cold country so if the battery is more than 3 years old and has been stressed it might be dead or dying. Try get it to March so you can get most if 2026 on it

Have a good look at your steering rack ends for ps fluid. I hope you don’t have to do a rack up there in the dead of winter.


You guys are dipping down to -10F at night this time of year

Is it really wet or like damp dirt amd oily dust? If it’s just oily dusty, it can wait until spring

[scot850]

Checking the steering rack inner tie rod area for leaks can be masked by the oil getting trapped inside the boots. Try giving them a gentle squeeze and see if they have some resistance meaning they have oil in one or both.

Following on from Abscate's points on the battery, many batteries die up here on the first really cold day of the winter with no warning. Also check the old favorite of the glove box light not going off. Put your cell phone in it on video running and close the door to check if the light goes off. Otherwise you may have to a battery drain test.

Get the battery load tested, it may show 12V but if a cell has gone bad it can drain quickly and not have enough power to start the car. Lots of short runs in cold weather also kill the battery as it does not have time to recover between starts.

Good Luck!

Neil.

[5rivers]

Thanks for all your suggestions! I did not have to add any ps fluid to the pump, and there are no leaks/drips under the rack that I can see, but it still sounds like the pump is hurting when the car is running (am bringing the battery inside and putting a trickle charger on it).
Are there other parts of the pump that could malfunction and cause the noise (that sounds like something is not getting enough oil)? Steering does not appear to be problematic at this point. Usually when the pump is out of fluid, the loud noise I hear is present and turning the car is difficult.
On the black fluid on the top and forward sides of the alternator, I attempted to remove the cover to the belt/water pump area the other day but it was getting stuck on something so I could not examine that area, but will check the serpentine belt for looseness. I might have to take the car to a garage with a lift to get a better look for drips.
Oil on the dipstick measures about 3/4's full. After letting the car idle for ten minutes, I have to drive the car before the blower motor turns on. (Its a used blower motor that replaced the non-functioning motor. I did not replace the resistor - but, maybe I should have?) Before we got the really cold temps, the blower motor was working fine.

The next time I get the car running, I'll try to record the noise and post it here.
Stay warm!

[abscate]

In this cold weather the ps will be chirpy until the car warms up.

[Dub24]

I am having the same two problems with my
98 T5.
The battery drain.
I might actually disconnect it to see if that is still causing my battery drain
One thing I noticed one night which might help you is. I had the front door opened and the side courtesy light in the door came on as it should. However when I closed the front door but had the rear door open I could see the front door light was still on. I did the same on the other side and the front door light went off as soon as the door was closed with the back door still open.

My car is losing steering fluid as well. I got it on the ramp and there is a seal inside which perishes. I could see fluid leaking out at the accoridan boot. The plan is to remove the steering rack and have it recommissioned.

[Dub24]

Thanks to Scott 850 for the glovebox suggestion

[5rivers]

The little red light on the dash is not coming on, but the one on the radio is. I will have to check the fuses again to find the culprit!
There’s smoke coming up from behind and underneath the thermostat housing. Not sure if that could be PCV related. Appreciate your thoughts!
I did record the sound of the motor and the smoke but the files are too large to post here.