Had to take off the top cover to replace the gasket. Checked the manual, but the adjustment procedure is with the steering box out of the car. Can someone give me the proper in-car adjustment procedure?

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, either, but mine was leaking from the top, not the bottom. When I removed the top there was barely any of the gasket remaining. I replaced the gasket with the one from the re-build kit I'd bought, sucked out the old fluid and replaced it, buttoned it back up and the dripping from the box was completely cured. That was some time ago. Still no problems.

However, when I completely rebuilt the front suspension, the new tightness in those components highlighted the fact that I'd been overly cautious in "wanging" the adjust screw on top and had more noticable play in the steering wheel. Not a big deal, but I've had any number of pre-rack & pinion Volvos and have always used this method to take out slack in the steering column, seemingly without issue. Just wanted to see if anyone had a more exact way of doing it before I make this attempt.

In all I’ve snugged up the steering boxes on two or three of our 1970’s Volvos and a 1966 Jeep pickup. Can’t say there was much of a scientific approach used. In all cases it helped reduce the play although I was reluctant to screw the adjuster in very far. From what I’ve read about it, and it makes sense to me, is that the gears wear out the worst where the steering wheel is dead center at 12:00. So if you tighten the screw to where there is no play at 12:00 it can be too tight and cause binding when you turn the wheel off center to the left or right.

As I recall I probably ran the screw in in about 1/4 turn increments, tightening the lock nut and test driving between each adjustment.

Dave;

Short answer is: There is none!

Explanation: "Adjustment" is by no means as simple as wanging the screw on top of the St Box down (and doing that will cause accelerated wear and is about the worst thing that can be done!)...the force required to turn the shafts must be carefully measured during the adjustment process...and this must be done without Steering Wheel, but more importantly, without Suspension connections adding their forces...I suppose one could disco the Pitman Arm to create a "nearly"
out-of-the-car situation...

Question: Which "cover" did you remove thinking you could fix a leak? St Boxes typically leak from the lower seal, and replacing this is definitely only possible with a Box removal a complete disassembly on the bench. I don't wish to rain on anyone's parade, but changing the top cover gasket is unlikely to prevent the loss of oil and mess associated with it...

Cheers

Hi,

I don’t know anything about Volvos 1800 but if it’s a recirculating ball steering box you adjust the screw in until it takes the back and forth play of the steering wheel.
You want it down to about one inch of turning slop, made by only using one finger.
It is measured out at the extreme of its wheel diameter.

This I learned from a nice but hand strung Ford mechanic!
He worked on my 1974 pickup during its 12,000 mile warranty.
The warranty was almost worthless and truly sucked! The pickup had many other issues but its engine never ran quite right.
Things were “excused off” due to the new emissions laws that no one understood!

At 19,000 I had to work on it after a bad compression check. I took the heads loose with a ratchet and the some valves had been steamed cleaned!
A year and a half after the warranty was over, I get a letter from Ford stating they had trouble with 360 engines and would reimburse me for parts but not any labor.
I knurled the valve guides and replaced both head gaskets. Hardly any parts and of course who kept receipts!
One cylinder never regained itself back to full compression!
It’s the reason why I went to Volvos and away from all domestic vehicles for the rest of my life!
The Ford trucks and cars blow out their spark plugs and warp their plastic intake manifolds!

Bye the way,
You do not want to over tighten too much.
It’s not a rack and pinion system as those do not have any of that play.
If you are comparing to other cars, it might be the reason you are asking?

You just need to identify what Volvo or some other previous owner may have put in the car.
I also don’t know anything about how to setup a rack and pinion.
Any information that you gleam from this thread will probably be interesting to everyone with these vintage cars or various steering systems!

Good luck with my lack of information! (:-(

A 240 man,
Phil