Hello All,

Anyone have any experience with replacing the lower steering coupling(u-joint). My mechanic(who I don't go to often, but he's pretty straight with me and honest) said it needed to be replaced. Even brought me under car while it was up on lift and showed me it had too much play. He said it was dangerous and that it should be replaced. I believe him cause he works on pretty much are volvos, 240s, 740s, newer ones, etc. And he said I could do it myself if I wanted to save some money.

I'm looking thru my Haynes manual(wish I had the Bentley) and it has some info on it about marking the relationship of the U-joint flange to the pinion shaft. The directions seem pretty straight forward, if there are any pitfalls or recommendations, I'm all ears.

And is the steering lower coupling suppose to be in a boot or is it suppose to be exposed. Mine is exposed(no boot).

I don't know if I would trust aftermarket parts for this steering part. You can try Darrell Waltrip Volvo online parts,discounted prices. I have bought parts from them in past. Good people to work with.

i wrote this up not long ago for someone else.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1540705/220/240/260/280/worked_method_easily_gets_done_40_minutes.html

if you have to use a hammer and long screw driver the job can be significantly more difficult unless you get lucky


............if you have NO access to a compressor it IS possible to

remove the pinch bolts
use and angle grinder to cut off the ears as stated above.
tie off the steering wheel so it does NOT over turn
then use a hammer and tap downwards until the the un separated upper remnant falls off
then you WILL need the pittman puller since the lower remnant will be on the stub solid

make sure BEFORE you start this job you front wheels are in the dead straight ahead position and you make a good mental note of the position of the steering column. otherwise once you hook it all back together you might have a NASTY surprise where the steering wheel is positioned when you drive straight ahead,

This is a common issue the most common reason steering racks are replaced for no good reason by non-Volvo mechanics. If you do a search for steering u-joints you will get a ton of results.

No boot was ever installed nor is it really needed (as far as I remember). It does seem that it is one of the few items on a Volvo that could really use a grease fitting. for longevity.

From what I understand, these are either outrageously expensive or NLA new. They are also very common in the PnP's but a pain to remove.

I'm sorry, are you talking about the whole steering mechanism or just the u-joint. I am under the impression that I only have to replace the lower u-joint. Its a $50 replacement part. I just want to know if its tough to replace or should I be expecting an easy day?

The u-joint only if available is probably all you need to replace. Again, search on this site will net you a lot of user experiences on replacing it.

Going from memory your biggest challenge will be corrosion. I think we have a dissimilar metals issue going on where the aluminum u-joint galls to the steel steering shaft and/or the rack shaft. From what I remember, you unbolt the pinch bolt, pry the ends open and slide the u-joint up enough to disengage it from the rack, then slide it back down off the steering shaft. This link has a picture of what you are dealing with and the discussion will probably be helpful as well.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1531105/220/240/260/280/steering_rack_gear_universal_joint_help.html

THanks much Onkel Udo II. Very helpful. Wish me luck, should be doing it this weekend if I can get the necessary tools together.

Marc

For quite awhile now I've read that the lower steering u-joint is NLA (no longer available) for 240's. That is partially true. It appears that the OEM lower steering u-joint is NLA. Just checked FCPGroton.com's website and there is an aftermarket lower u-joint available for $40. So that begs the question: Who among you are willing to use an aftermarket part for replacement or would you hunt down a used OEM?

FWIW - If any needs one, an OEM upper joint is available from Groton for $140.

No boot was ever installed

Certainly not on the '89, nor for many years prior to that, but I believe the manual steering cars originally had a plastic sleeve over the lower joint.

I seem to remember one on my '79 242. My '80 does not have one but it may have been removed.

I wish Volvo had stayed with cast iron for the steering column joints.


--
'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon