About 6 months ago I had a minor leak in my steering rack on my 1998 V90, which appeared through the passenger side boot. It worked fine but I wanted to keep things up so I took it to an Indy shop for replacement, I have not used this shop before but it was recommended by a mechanic friend of mine.

They replaced the rack with a rebuilt one Rack #1. The next day going to work it was hard to turn, then was fine. This happened only twice but was ok after that. I called the Indy shop and they took it back in a replaced it with the same brand rack #2.

Rack #2 began leaking about 45 days later, upon examination I found the end cap had fell off and there was so much fluid around the section where the hoses go in I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

The Indy shop replaced it with same brand again Rack #3. That was about 30 days ago. Last night I go home and while backing into my driveway the steering gets real tough, I look in the drive and I see a huge spot where I started backing in and a trail all the way to my car. Checked under the car and this time the section of the rack between the universal yoke and where the hoses go in appears to have separated the retaining ring just hanging.


My question is what is causing this, is it the quality/brand of rack or something else?
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000

Obviously the rebuilder is doing a less-than-thorough job. Some racks are more prone to assembly mistakes than others and Volvo buys from THREE different suppliers. The final assemblies may all fit one series of cars (700/900) but internally they are quite different. Your mileage may vary from most other users if your car was equipped with the oddball Koyo instead of the very common TRW(Cam) or ZF.

I would have them use a different supplier for the rack. Also, be sure they are using automatic trans fluid (NOT power steering fluid) to fill the system. Be sure also that nothing is binding up in the steering system; ball joints, strut mounts, tie rods, oversized tires, etc. Other than that, I'm not sure why this has been such a persistent problem for you.

Thanks for the reply.

I just got the call from the indy shop. They said there was nothing wrong with my car. It was indeed the rack, apparently a retaining pin was put in upside down and the rack was pulling apart #$%^@#$%^ !
That sounds about what it looked like to me too.

It seems both this rack and the last one, which blew out the plug off the bottom, were both put together so badly that the indy shop have discontinued using this company for racks. Said they had used them for 25 years until now. They ordered me a Volvo factory rebuilt rack. I hope it didn't hurt the pump.

Scary as crap! I was really lucky because I was home and at a very slow speed.
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000

Meridian makes an excellent rebuilt rack with a great warranty for this car. I put one in a 95 960.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 077,400 and 1995 964 154,100

Thanks I'll remember than. Next time I think I'll do it myself. Any idea who makes the racks for Volvo?
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000

Sorry, I can't remember. I checked when I took the OE rack off bu that's been 2 1/2 years ago.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 077,400 and 1995 964 154,100

"Any idea who makes the racks for Volvo?"

I don't know about the Volvo racks, but wanted to ask if you could find out who made those junkers they foisted off on you??? It would be good to know who to avoid.

I heard a few good things about Jorgen automotive , here on the board, and bought one of their racks for an '80 I'd resurrected. I sold the car locally, where it's been a daily driver for about a year with no rack problems reported.

Jorjen was very efficient and pleasant to deal wih too.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.

At the shop I work at, we've used Jorgen a bunch of times. Mainly for GM cars, but we haven't had any problem with them.

MAVAL made those racks. Indy shop said they used to be good, but my opinion of them is they're crap. I'd never even try another one (even if they gave me one) after all I went through. I could have been killed that last time.
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~William~ 1985 240 DL - 357,000 & 1998 V90 - 150,000

For my 960, I installed a rebuilt rack from Atlantic Enterprises out of South Carolina. I've had no problems and their service is outstanding. If it helps, here's a link to their website http://atlantic-ent.com/

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I've heard of Mavel and though I'm not a pro I have a "trade" parts catalog from 1990 that features the Maval name prominently, along with Scan-Tech parts too. Guess they've both gone downhill since then.

As I said in my earlier post, Jorgen Automotive seems like a good rack rebuilder based on a comment or two here, the one rack I bought, and their phone responses.
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Bruce Young
'93 940-NA (current), 240s (one V8), 140s, 122s, since '63.