Tackling this job tomorrow. My 98 v70 NA rack has been leaking at LH side for nearly a year now. the past month is has started leaking nearly a full resovoir in a week or so. Anyhow ordered a rebuilt unit from rackdoctor and new subframe bolts from fcp. Time to spend some hours on my back under the car...fun.

Ok, switched out the rack yesterday and had it aligned again. trimmed it down to about 4 hours of total labor but hope this is the last.

I know the horse has left the barn but Jorgenauto.com has a very good rep on the RWD board for quality racks.
--
Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

UGH,
Ok after 3 days, reman rack started leaking from right had side. Called supplier; shipping a replacement. Yesterday, it puked all of its fluid from the right side boot...had to go pick daughter up and bring car home.

Will spend another 4-5 hours r&r the rack this weekend and then get another alignment.

What fun.

The only good news is that it should be much faster time. Did you put a light coating of grease on the pinion when you put it back together, might help with the blind fit.
--
Keeping it running is better than buying new

True dat.
Actually I did put a small smear of lube on the pinion..

my biggest concern now is lack of confidence in the rebuilder and the thought of having to do it again in short order.
The original lasted 200k miles...many have said I was lucky to get that. I expect the reman to last at least half that by the the car will probably be at the scrap yard.

BTW, what is up with the Volvo idea of rear motor mount attached to rack? I like most of their engineering but that is a weird one

Ok, rack installation is complete. car at alignment shop this morning.
Just a few notes if anyone is contemplating this.

purchased rebuilt rack from rack doctor online. unit was correct remanufactured Volvo item. only two hitches [supposed to include new o-rings for pressure lines...did not. rack mount hole grommets were a bit "wallowed" out so the oem splined headless bolts really would not tighten; had to use new different hardware.
-probably worst part of job was undoing and redoing the pinion shaft to lower steering shaft. took a lot of time and patience. Aligning it is tough too as you cannot see it and it is kind of a trial and error thing.

refitting the subframe was a pig too. it shifted slightly while dropped and jacking and fettering the fit was time consuming. I did use new mount bolts [they are one time use when torqued and angle tighenend]--once stretched are not to be reused. Honestly, I think I could have re-used the old ones but probably not recommended.

Good luck! I admire your perseverance to do that job.
--
Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

Thanks. We'll indie quoted $950. I didn't want to spend as much on the rack as the car is worth. :-). $260 for the rack, $40 for new subframe bolts, $20 for new fluid including enough to flush the system. Then alignment about $100 so I think total job will be $400ish.

Ok 4hours last night and the old rack is out. what a PITA. Anyhow, 20 years of grit, rust, corrosion etc. makes a job like that even less fun. Biggest issue was getting the pinion shaft to release. It was tight and probably had a small amount of corrosion and there is absolutely no room to work. I am thinking that will be the toughest part of the re-install.

Hi Mike,

You might do an autopsy on the old rack and see if maybe new seals might go in
perhaps without having to yank the rack.

I checked ebay and found a new Gates seal kit and a Empi Boot kit
for $57.18T.

Take a look and see if that looks like a good option for a leaky rack
Maybe pop the ball joints and do new seals and boots? It would be important to keep dirt out, maybe a problem w/o a lift. I'd clean everything carefully before starting

Maybe it's preferable to the replacement of the leaking rack for time and expense? If it's leaking only on one side, just do that side.
Here's one video to check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gomSAroalHw

Bill