WHEEZING VOLVO FIX

 In the past few months the power steering in my wife’s 2010 Volvo XC90 3.2 AWD had become progressively noisier, and I was worried that I would have to shell out for a new power steering pump. Adopting the “change the cheapest part first” approach, I thought I’d try replacing the fluid first. It was when I removed the cap from the reservoir with the engine running I realised that this was where most of the noise was coming from!

I used a vacuum pump to empty the reservoir and noticed that it made a loud wheezing noise while the reservoir refilled slowly. This made me realise that the filter at the bottom of the reservoir was probably blocked.

I obtained a new reservoir (£30 from Amazon) and then proceeded as follows:  Use a hand-held vacuum pump such as a Mityvac to empty the reservoir.  Remove reservoir bracket and undo the air intake hose clamp to improve access.  Remove reservoir: the outer return hose has a spring clip, best removed with slip-joint pliers. The inner feed hose has a coupling with a thumb-operated button. This may need a bit of a wiggle but to avoid damage do this by hand not with pliers.  Use vacuum pump to pull as much dirty fluid as possible from the return hose.  Fit new reservoir and fill with fresh fluid.  Go for a short test drive, empty reservoir and refill. Repeat.  After second top-up, go for a longer drive then top-up to ‘max hot’ line.

I used Comma MVCHF, and one litre was enough to do the job. I believe the relevant rating is CHF11S, but do check your owner’s manual. All Series 1 XC90S and Series 2 V70s/s60s and S80s use a similar pump and reservoir, so this procedure should apply there also.

Wayland Twiston Davies