How to flush Power Steering Pump

[morchad]

guys guys guys.......why didn't I read this first???

Had that grinding noise from the ps pump on my 97 V70 T5......have an old 855 wreck so pulled the ps pump from that....went through the whole hassle of installing the replacement (without bleeding the old oil) and tadaaaaa same problem
I thought...."have I just swapped one bad part for another?"

Then I found this post, took 10 mins to follow these great instructions (except I just curved the retrun hose down through the engine until it stuckout the bottom and put a bucket under there - easy to watch the flow as you twist the wheels)

badabing.....she runs just like new.....there is a very slight noise....perhaps do I have a leak where air is coming in do you think????

My God this was so easy to fix the problem after doing all the unnecessary!

Regards

Morchad

[Gunny100]

My 2000 S80 had a whinning noise after the car heated up, and a grinding noise in the steering when it was first started in the morning. I followed the PS changing instructions provided above and replaced the fluid with new Volvo Synthetic PS fluid. The old fluid was original and was obviously corrupt. It took about a half hour to get set up to change the fluid, then all of 5 minutes to actually change it with my lovely assistant (wife) behind the wheel. Fair warning, when you turn the wheels from one stop to the other, the fluid gets sucked from the tank into the pump like a Hoover and you may not be able to keep up with replacing the fluid, so ask your assistant must be ready to Ireact quickly when you tell them to Shut it Off!!!
If you are going to do the PS fluid replacement with the engine running like I did, do not try it without someone behind the wheel helping you

Took the S80 to the gym early this morning and the whinning and grinding are all gone. I am amazed. Hope it stays that way. Cost me $42 for two quarts of Volvo PS Oil. Short money considering that Volvo quoted me something like $542 for a new PS pump (just the part), so I'm glad that the new oil worked (at least so far). So if your Volvo starts whinning or making a grinding noise when you turn the wheel, my advice is to do 4 things. 1) If there is alot of pressure escaping the PS tank when you open the cap, the pressure relief cap may be not working correctly and you can possibly fiddle with it to unstick it, or just buy a new tank which comes with a new cap and replace both (short money). 2) if you reach inside the tank and can't feel the plastic tube going down to the bottom at an angle, replace the tank because it fell off and is probably sitting in the bottom of the tank 3) Check the fluid level. This affects the pressure in the tank 4) If your PS fluid has never been changed (and your car is old like mine) or if the fluid appears frothy, its no longer effective so change it!!

I want to thank all the professional mechanics and DIY'rs who contribute to these car repair sites. It used to be that you had to corner a Volvo mechanic at the dealership to get some DIY advice. Now thanks to everyone contributing, you can search online to learn. Without fixing things myself (Power Steering, Door Lock Actuator, Brake Position Sensor, Struts, Brakes, etc) I wouldn't be able to justify keeping an S80 for 11 years. Its without a doubt the best car I've ever owned and today with 127K miles it still looks and drives like brand new.

[LamboSE5]

I have a '98 S70 T5 SE with 224,000 kms.

I don't know all the history with it. I messaged the previous owner (who was the second owner, since 70,000 kms) and told him what I was experiencing. He said maybe because it wasn't driven much recently, because it's cold? (weather. I did these "eye roll" - he said "maybe because it's cold" to a number of questions), and also said he changed the steering 'oil' last year - that could be the problem - wrong stuff?

Symptoms: Upon startup of the car, first start, it's very hard to turn the wheel left or right - it requires two hands and quite a bit of force. Once turned form lock to lock about 3-5 times it's fairly normal then. There is still the odd spot in the range of motion (once its back to "fairly" normal) that is a little easier (a little 'more' normal).

It only makes the same noises as my last '98 T5 SE - when you reach lock up in either direction. The pump noise I guess. Which causes the idle RPM to dip a little bit, that's normal correct? I'm in park this whole time. But I tried in Drive with brake pedal down with no noticeable difference from these described symptoms.

I have to drive this car about 1200 kms pretty soon and want to solve this if possible.

I'm thinking of doing this Power Steering Fluid flush: viewtopic.php?t=8644 but I need a few additional details because it's a camry and I can't see exactly where lines are going. And not sure how to stop the flow once started, and when to "top up"-while it's being flushed-so as not to get air in there. I really(!) don't want to have that happen.

Everything I've read now, including my Haynes (even though it's not caught up with recent models - which mine isn't) suggests/points to Dexron Type ATF fluid for the correct fluid.

What I've done so far is: A friend suggested trying that lucas stop leak stuff, which I did. That stuff is thick like...really thick stuff... cold corn syrup . Hasn't seemed to help much. But I haven't been driving the car much, still needs inspection and isn't "legal" yet.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I hope I gave enough details

Thanks a lot, I have two cars I need to get to stripping.

Regards,

-J

Oh, I just remembered to ask: This wouldn't be Tie Rod End(s), control arms or something would it? I realize it could be the Rack. I hope real hard that it isn't. Or the pump... I kinda think it's the fluid, or the pump...And hope, again, it's not the Rack.

Thanks.

[LamboSE5]

Also, I want to replace the fluid with the appropriate and best Mobil 1 ATF (full synthetic)... can somebody tell me what exact one one I'm looking for please?
A link would be great.

Thanks.

[LamboSE5]

"Don't allow the fluid to drop too much in the reservoir"
-Why even syphon out any fluid from the reservoir? If you do, how will you be able to observe a fluid level?

"When finished, remove the connectors and reconnect the return hose to the reservoir. There will be some small spillage cos new fluid will be coming out the reservoir inlet."
-When I remove, let's say, the Plug/Cap connector, won't it immediately begin to suck in air before I can get the inlet hose back onto that inlet tube? And the inlet hose will still be pumping out fluid. I can't just "stop" the flow right, it'll be syphoning. Guess you gotta make a quick switch.

-This is done with the Reservoir cap OFF right?

I had to mess around with my parts car before I could figure out exactly what was going on here.

~One hose gets disconnected; the inlet hose. That is the black rubber hose with the clamp (worm drive in my case) that goes to the rear right side of the reservoir.
~This black rubber inlet hose is where you connect the clear "extension" tubing that goes to the bucket on the ground do drain from.
~The black "nipple" on the reservoir that you took the rubber inlet hose off of is the one you want to "Plug/Cap off" with a short piece of tubing and some type of Plug.

So the outlet line - the metal one at the front of the pump/reservoir - is left untouched.

Please correct if any of that's wrong.
No time for it today now.

Steering pump lines circled.png

Red is Inlet
Yellow is Outlet

[LamboSE5]

Sorry that the pictures are of a Camry. If someone wants to try this, take pictures and update this later, that would be nice!

First, here are some pictures:

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This was a failure
After I did it I did two control arms, and a left outer tie rod end. It was 6:00am when I finished that, and then I lowered the car and took a little fluid out of the PS reservoir.
I put the cap on, started the car and turned the wheel; "PSSSSSSSSSSssssssssssSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS".
The sound of air.

-The reservoir never came anywhere near being empty.
-When I took off the return line from the inlet and hooked up my plug, fluid drained into the plug's tube (as you can see in the picture(s) ), which seems odd to me seeing as the plug is air tight.
-There was no "syphon" effect going on. I would turn the wheel and it would start to pump out down the tube, then when I would stop to get out and check the level of the res. it would stop flowing and air would creep up the clear tube. So I would top up, get back in the car and turn the wheel more, 'fighting' off the air creeping(?).
- When I felt I had pumped out the entire contents of the system (I put about 2Litres through) I disconnected the plug from the inlet and fluid started to drain a little bit, which means (i guess) air wouldn't have gone in.
I immediately disconnected the clear tube from the return line and hooked it back up to the inlet.
But when I disconnected the clear tube from the return line the level of fluid at the end of the line receded, i.e.: maybe air came in at this point.
This is exactly what I was asking about in my questions, that I thought were pretty good questions to ask...
How could you not get air into the system?
It seems to me (physics?) that you'd have to have fluid coming from the inlet pipe and the return line upon reconnecting them in order to possibly not get air in there..?

I followed this tutorial to the 'T', and tried to ask about what I was unclear about.
I waited weeks for a response from somebody, and nothin'

The fluid level is still a little high in the reservoir.

I could really use some HELP - please. It's pretty urgent I find out what to do here...
Thank you.

if air enters the PS system, you'll have to turn the wheels with the engine running to get the air out later and it makes a screaching noise

-air did NOT enter from the reservoir side of things...so - "?"
-could someone describe what to do to get air out. I'm cautious about just following a youtube vid's instructions.

EDIT:
Is this how I have to get the air out of my system now?: Youtube

[KlubMarcus]

Also, I want to replace the fluid with the appropriate and best Mobil 1 ATF (full synthetic)... can somebody tell me what exact one one I'm looking for please? A link would be great. Thanks.

www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Other_Products/Mobil_1_Synthetic_ATF.aspx# Under the specifications tab it lists Volvo 97340 and 97341 quality level. I sent an e-mail to Mobil asking specifically which of my cars are compatible. Will update when I get a reply. I'm planning to flush and switch since I am sitting on a half empty bottle of Type F.

I've been using Castrol Type F ATF in my 98 V70 XC. The manual doesn't specify the specs of the "quality" ATF needed for the PS pump and that's what I had at the time. I've been using it for 5 years with one flush and fill at a local auto shop. The only time my PS made noise is when it needed a top up earlier this year. Filled it up to the cold fill line, drove it, checked the hot fill line. It was good and no more noise. I probably have a mix of Type F and whatever fluid the shop put in my PS reservoir. Still works!

[KlubMarcus]

Just got an official reply from Mobil Oil. They said the description off the manual for "quality ATF" does not give them enough information for a recommendation. But it sounds like y'all have good results from using Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF.

[bigdaddylee82]

Lambo, at this point I'd imagine you've gotten the air out of the system by now, but that youtube video is exactly how I bleed my system.

For fluid, I went a little "un-conventional," hydraulic fluid is popular in the 4x4 community, and after talking with the AMSOIL guy I always use, he convinced me to use they Synthetic Hydraulic Fluid. Works great in saginaw steering pumps, I've been using it in my 850 for around 4 months now, and am pleased.

- Lee

[MarcLuxJD]

You don't need a tube to attach to the return nipple, just tape it up to keep new fluid in the reservoir. Remember when you try to reattach the return line, put the cap on the power steering reservoir first so suction will keep the fluid from running out quickly. Pull the tape off and reattach the return line quickly, then tighten the hose clamp.