93 850, Binding/Stiff Steering

[adambant]

I have a 93 850 GLT non-turbo with 178k miles. When i first bought it, about 8k miles ago, it had REALLY stiff steering, and it whined when running, so i just assumed it was the power steering pump, and replaced it. Well nothing changed, initially. Turns out the whine was a bad belt tensioner bearing. Anyways, after a week or two, the steering loosened up and seemed fine, so i figured it was from it sitting for 3 months before i bought it and things just needed to loosen up. Well, its back now. What it does, is, it will be hard, easy then hard as u turn the wheel, and its not power steering related because it actually gets stuck and stays where it is when you let go, and sometimes i really have to muscle it, even when going at a good rate of speed in a turn. It has all new tie rods, balljoints, endlinks, and CV joints replaced in the "middle" time when the steering was working fine. Does this sound like a possibility of bad strut mounts? I do occasionally hear a very muffled and quiet creaking/groaning noise from the topright side of the car when i turn the wheel. Anyone have anything like this before?

Thanks, Adam
93 Volvo 850
Non-turbo GLT
Trenton, NJ, USA

[fredstock99]

I had a very similar problem (including the belt whining) on my 1993 850 with 190k miles. I chose to ignore the belt whining, and concentrate on the steering problem. My problem was very predictable in that, (a) it would get very stiff, then release, as i turned the wheel at 90 degree increments. (b) when it rained heavily, and i drove through some puddles, it would loosen up and the wheel would turn nicely.

this led me to believe it was in the steering column, rather than the rack, or anywhere else, since it was a pretty predictable catch, every 90 degrees. so I decided to replace the U-joint in the steering column, that connects the shaft from the rack\pinion setup, to the steering column. this fix was a real pain for me, because this joint was rusted\heat welded to the shaft, and took me 10 hours, and an in the end a hacksaw to remove the old joint, but after i replaced it with a new joint, the steering is 100% better, and i couldn't be happier. As a side note, my mechanic quoted me $250 to fix the joint, which depending on your situation might be low enough for you to have someone else do it. I have some pictures of the repair, and was going to write it up and post it when i get the time. I am a real newbie though, so after i post it, i would suspect better ways of doing it to arise.

[JRL]

You probably, no definitely need a new rack.
They go bad
FCP Groton has a very good afermarket rack for about $230.
I have used three of these and they are very good!