Volvo Penta 5.7 Gsi - Jerky steering and belt noises

[Parisianzee]

Hi All,

Yesterday I took my new to me 1998 Regal 242 for a quick spin just out of the Hamble river onto Southampton water and back down again. After a few S curves on Southampton water my steering started feeling quite jerky (smooth - hard - smooth - hard alternating quite quickly) and I noticed that any time I put some pressure on the steering, there would be some belt noises coming from the engine bay.

With this in mind ... am I right to think that my hydraulic steering belt might be loose? Is that usually a sign of fatigue before it breaks off or should I just tighten it?

Also... sorry to ask but I'm new to this ... is tightening belts and replacing belts a difficult operation on these engines? Any tips, tricks or how-tos?

Thanks!

 

[dpb]

Could be low on power steering fluid, easy to check and look for leaks to the bilge if low.
Belt change and adjustment should be simple enough though I have never worked on volvo petrols.

 

[mlines]

Not familiar with your set up but ours had a cable that ran from the steering wheel to the power steering valve block. This cable swells and corrodes internally and is a common issue behind stiff or jerky steering. This usually happens over the winter. However it is not an obvious fault in the sense that when you disconnect the cable from the remote valve block the steering wheel feels light when sense says it should still be stiff as the cable is still connected to the wheel. We queried this on USA Regal forums who said "change the cable"