1999 V70 T5 Power Steering Whine, Abs Light On And Cooling Pressure

[Jamesjesse]

Hi folks,

I hope somebody can help me with a 1999 V70 T5.

1. After new power steering fluid flush I experience the pump whining

2. ABS/TRACS/BRAKES lights on - washed engine with water

3. cooling system pressure too high?

Sorry for the long post, but this appeared suddenly and at once, so to give you all the information I don´t know how to shorten it.

It all started with a small leak under car. I noticed the return hose on the top of the radiator to the reservoir was dripping a little on the side of the radiator, but I don't loose coolant so it has to be very little escaping. Few days later the engine, the fan, the underside of the hood was a little covered in oily stuff, which I thought is the cooling water flying around thru the air. But no water loss still so I didn't care too much. And here it started:

1. 2 days later in the last corner on my way home I heard the whining of the steering pump, opened the hood and the whole compartment was covered in oily stuff - now I knew it was power steering fluid. The hose rubbed on a metal hanger and broke.

So bought new hose and fluid - green one as I read volvo started to use this one and it turns brownish over time, which mine was. Put new hose on and:

- disconnected return hose from reservoir and put into a can

- filled up reservoir with green fluid just a bit

- turned the wheels full lock one side, full lock other side - with engine shut down

- started engine and turned full lock both sides

- let the fluid come out into the catch tank

- unfortunately the old fluid was probably red ATF cause it was foaming a lot, so I repeated those steps until just green stuff came out

I was surprised that not once the pump was whining like its out of fluid when bleeding into the can. But at the end when it was done, filled up with just new fluid, on the last start it started whining a little and at full lock a lot more. This will not stop after a lot of times full lock both sides, even took it out for a spin so it can naturally heat up. Noting changed and the fluid is NOT foaming. Everything seems normal just the whine.

Why did it start whining after full flush? Did I do bad to change to green fluid and not red - could something "break" with the other fluid?

2. After that I covered the alternator and washed the engine block and the compartment sides with degreaser and water. Let it sit overnight and started the car not until next morning. Took it for a 40 minutes ride, and as I just pull in front of the house the ABS light, the TRACS light and the BRAKE light comes on.

Could this be related to water, as I didn't cover the module? But why would it come after 40 minutes of driving and overnight sitting?

If it is water, can I hope it will be ok after it vaporize? Will the light go off or do I need to go to the dealer and have the codes cleared?

3. At the same time I was doing the steering I changed the clamp on the dripping radiator hose. But when I was before leaning to the broken steering hose I noticed that all the cooling hoses are pretty hard and have pressure, after opening the reservoir cap, they were again soft.

After the 40 minutes ride I tried the hoses again and there was not much left to be rock hard - after I shut down the engine, the small hose began to leak even it was clamped tightly and didn't leak the whole ride. They are both clean, so they don't mix somewhere and I don't thing I loose more coolant or engine oil than is normal. The water will not run thru the cap. Engine is not overheating, the needle gets to 3 o´clock and stays there every time I drive.

Sounds this pressure right on a turbo car or should I be worried about something? What pressure is normal or how can I test that everything is ok?

Thanks everybody for any clarification/ideas.

[Jamesjesse]

Since absolutely no answer until now can somebody delete this topic as this is no help or will be no use for anyone searching in the future.

[burnout8488]

Your car uses Dexron III ATF for the power steering fluid. CHF-11S was not required until the P2 vehicles. It probably won't harm it, but the vehicle wasn't made with CHF-11S in mind. (i.e. steering rack, the pump uses either fluid since the P2 vehicles share the same pump I believe)

Maybe you should try a flush with fresh Dexron to get the "known" correct fluid for the era in the vehicle, then proceed with diagnosis from there. It's a longshot, but a good baseline.

The paragraph about the hoses could be clarified a bit, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. Hoses should be hard and pressurized when the engine heats up. The cap modulates the pressure, the thermostat modulates the temperature. Opening the cap relieves the pressure, and is dangerous on a vehicle that is at operating temp. Honestly, it doesn't sound like anything is wrong here.

Use Genuine Volvo hoses and top quality clamps (not auto parts store worm gear clamps. ABA Sweden is a good brand) and you should be good.

Your ABS module is either wet, or has failed and needs to be rebuilt/remanufactured. Very common, do a search on it. It requires an E5 torx bit to remove from the vehicle and there are countless tutorials for this on the 'net you can refer to.

[Jamesjesse]

Thank you for help.

My owners manual states CHF-11s, thatswhy I bought it. But most likely I will try to flush it again completely with ATF to see if it removes the whining.

The cooling is most likely OK like you are saying, I just got scared because mostly its heard "if the hoses are rock hard you have a blown head gasket". I did think that the system on a Turbo car is sure under pressure but I have no idea how much of a pressure and how hard the hoses should be when pressurised under normal conditions. They are getting really hard which I never experienced on a NA engine in general.

I am aware that opening the cap is dangerous, I do it very carefully and only every few seconds turn it a little and watch the fluid level rising so it dont spill out.

Thankfully after few days the ABS lights went out, I did study few topics how to repair it, so I have now a little time to find a person or the tools for the repair. If the lights come back, I will know what to do.

Thanks again for the response!

[burnout8488]

Thank you for help.

My owners manual states CHF-11s, thatswhy I bought it. But most likely I will try to flush it again completely with ATF to see if it removes the whining.

The cooling is most likely OK like you are saying, I just got scared because mostly its heard "if the hoses are rock hard you have a blown head gasket". I did think that the system on a Turbo car is sure under pressure but I have no idea how much of a pressure and how hard the hoses should be when pressurised under normal conditions. They are getting really hard which I never experienced on a NA engine in general.

I am aware that opening the cap is dangerous, I do it very carefully and only every few seconds turn it a little and watch the fluid level rising so it dont spill out.

Thankfully after few days the ABS lights went out, I did study few topics how to repair it, so I have now a little time to find a person or the tools for the repair. If the lights come back, I will know what to do.

Thanks again for the response!

Glad to help, and I stand corrected on the power steering fluid then. That's interesting... perhaps overseas that fluid was specified on earlier models than it was in the US? I'd probably believe that it's okay to interchange it then.