Both were replaced. I had it done at a garage because I was afraid that they may be rusted. Now there is chattering as if I am low on steering fluid when turning at low speed (fluid level is fine). Also over 60 - 65 mph I am getting shaking. They did take off steering wheel to center it. Not really sure what could have caused this. Ideas? Thanks.

Go to alignment shop and check those front alignment. Not sure how they did the job but they could have taken out both inner tie rods (when taking the rack out) but didn't align them back during re-installation.

Amarin.

I have removed the steering rack and the U-joint from a 740 - I do not see how one can remove the U-joint without taking something else apart.

Find out how they removed the U-joint - what else came apart? Perhaps the reassembly was done incorrectly.

It is a bit of a mystery to me that they centered the steering wheel. The shop may have disturbed your front end alignment.

Usually steering wheel centering is done after a wheel alignment - did they do that?

Did they do any other work? Wheel alignment? Rotate tires? Change tires?

I do not think that it is that easy to turn the front suspension when changing the u-joint.

It is easy to turn the steering wheel during the process. They should have locked the steering before they removed the u-joint.

If they centered the steering wheel, they had to have the front end perfectly aligned and the front wheels straight to do it properly.

That is why I think that steering wheel centering is done after a wheel alignment.

I have noticed that if I have had my front end on jackstands and move the front wheels lock to lock by hand I get the chattering you describe.

I recently changed the front brake hoses on my son's 92 740. To make access easier I moved the front wheels all the way to the left to do the right hose and then moved them all the way to the right for the other one. After that the chatter was evident.

It acted like there was air in the system. I parked the car on some loose gravel and at idle I slowly rotated the steering wheel lock to lock three or four times which helped reduce the amount of chatter. Further driving time eliminated it completely.

I did not get any shaking (wheel shimmy?) at any time though.

Randy

Weird. I will try that. Thanks.

The chattering does sound like air in the PS system. Was the fluid recently changed?

One other thing you could try is to lubricate the outside of the new steering shaft u-joints with WD-40 or similar. Again going lock-to-lock, spray the joints liberally at different angles throughout the the shaft rotation cycle. Do this for a few minutes. The joints may be binding up. This happened on my old 850 and spraying occasionally kept them in good working order.

The shaking sounds like a separate issue. I would cover your bases and methodically check everything. It may be something as simple as a wheel out of balance?? I would also check your inner and outer tie rods. Ball joints etc...
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....

The fluid in the PS was not changed recently, so I don't think air in there is the problem.
I will lubricate the U-joints. The replacement u-joints were used, so maybe they are binding up, worth a try.
I will also check front end components, although I replaced all about 6 months ago - inner and outer tie rods, ball joints, sway bar links. Plus there was no issue before steering u-joints replaced.
By the way - just FYI, steering couplers u-joints are different in 1992 740's than in previous years.

Since you have replaced a lot parts in the front end you might want to save yourself some time and check your tire balance and tire wear first.

Is the rack itself okay? A bad rack can cause some weird steering behavior. BTDT with my 240...:)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I assumed steering coupler u-joints = steering shaft u-joints? I have owned many Volvos and other European cars and don’t recall hearing of that part. Both my 90 240 and 95 850 had steering shaft u-joint issues (which are prone to failure at high mileage without lubrication - we can all thank Volvo for not protecting them from the wrath of Mother Nature!).

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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....