Great site with a lot of good info. I've recently purchased a 2001 S80 T6 with 36,000 miles and have started to have problems with steering noise. The noise, which my wife describes as "creaking like an old ship", was infrequent at first but has become the norm especially at low speeds. I haven't noticed any leaks and the dealer didn't detect any problems when I initially brought it in. From what I've read in other posts it sounds like a problem with the steering rack. Any suggestions for diagnosing this problem?

Thanks BC

I had the exact same old ship noise on my 2000 S80 T6. Your noise is coming from your rear subframe bushings. If you look under your car just behing the front wheels, you will see a large bolt on each side that goes up through the rear subframe. Volvo's fix for this is putting an oring above each bushing and replacing the 2 subframe bolts. The parts total on my ticket was $42 but the labor was $300 from the Dealer. If you are moderalty mechanically inclined, you could easily do it yourself. I would have, but time was tight at that time. Good Luck!! :57:

This is a job you can do easily in your garage at home. The O rings are $10 each and you simply under the two smaller bolts on the subframe mount and then the large bolt (this takes some undoing) slide the o ring in and rebolt it. Use a second jack to support the subframe when you are doing it. Use Loctite on the bolts when you do them up.