About 3 weeks ago I took my 1998 S70 T5 into the shop be/c it was leaking power steering fluid. My indie Volvo mechanic looked at the leak, which was where the lines went into the steering rack on the bottom near the drivers side front wheel. He tightened up the loose connection, and i was good for 3 weeks.
This morning as I left home, I heard the familiar straining sound that my car made the last time it was low on PS fluid. I checked this afternoon before I left the office, and sure enough I was low on fluid and there was a puddle on the car. Back to the shop for another vist .... grr.....
So they look at it again, and tell me the connection had loosened up again. I was told the best fix would be to replace the steering rack, which would come up to $1035 for parts and labor (5 hours and $350 labor). While I talked money, the guy who does the labor tightened everything up again and did some tests. He said it should hold for a while. I am not sure if he was indicating that I didn't need to replace the steering rack or if he really meant that it was only a temporary fix.
So, the question is ... is there any way to make the connection stay in place longer. As little lok-tite? My Bilsteins make for a rough ride, and I guess the vibrations and my sorry roads make things worse.
Is that a fair price for labor, and should I look for an online source for the part? Is buying used or rebuilt viable or too risky?
Thanks, Mike