Power steering pumps

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by green van man

Yeh, that’s how I felt when Volvo said £577+ vat.

I mean, how do they justify the prices. We all know they don’t make them, they buy them in. Auto doc was quoting between £192 and £320 depending on make , some had a surcharge which was not in the quoted price so you had the option of sending the old one back or paying a price which included the surcharge and keeping the old one.
These are reputable names, Bosch, Meyle, Febi Bilstien, OE suppliers as well as makes I had not heard of. None were £577+ vat.

We established that the volvo aux belt tensioner is a Dayco unit, the belt probably as it was made in Italy. The air con stretch belt says made in Germany and is I suspect Meyle as the Meyle belt on Auto Doc says original quality on the listing. When you added the p&p to the price there was only £5 difference between that and the genuine volvo I bought on eBay.

We all got to make a living and to do that we need to make a profit. But there’s making a profit and bending the customer over, which is what Volvo are doing these days.

Regards Paul.

Main dealers in general to be honest. Mercedes are another rip off, as are BMW.

[bananarama]

Originally Posted by green van man

Yeh, that’s how I felt when Volvo said £577+ vat.

I mean, how do they justify the prices. We all know they don’t make them, they buy them in. Auto doc was quoting between £192 and £320 depending on make , some had a surcharge which was not in the quoted price so you had the option of sending the old one back or paying a price which included the surcharge and keeping the old one.
These are reputable names, Bosch, Meyle, Febi Bilstien, OE suppliers as well as makes I had not heard of. None were £577+ vat.

We established that the volvo aux belt tensioner is a Dayco unit, the belt probably as it was made in Italy. The air con stretch belt says made in Germany and is I suspect Meyle as the Meyle belt on Auto Doc says original quality on the listing. When you added the p&p to the price there was only £5 difference between that and the genuine volvo I bought on eBay.

We all got to make a living and to do that we need to make a profit. But there’s making a profit and bending the customer over, which is what Volvo are doing these days.

Regards Paul.

"...bending the customer over..."

Just adding to your examples: Volvo quote £152 for the Bosch-made MAP sensor located at the exit of the intercooler (#31355462). You can get it at AutoDoc for ~£40 inc p&p, and although it's not quite the same (because the Bosch-number on the "Volvo" version ends in 294 and the "generic" one ends in 293) it seems to work fine based on the experience of others here. Also Bosch say on their website that 293 is equivalent to #31355462 so all good.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by bananarama

"...bending the customer over..."

Just adding to your examples: Volvo quote £152 for the Bosch-made MAP sensor located at the exit of the intercooler (#31355462). You can get it at AutoDoc for ~£40 inc p&p, and although it's not quite the same (because the Bosch-number on the "Volvo" version ends in 294 and the "generic" one ends in 293) it seems to work fine based on the experience of others here. Also Bosch say on their website that 293 is equivalent to #31355462 so all good.

Yep, I have the very same Bosch MAP sensor on my car. 4 years now and no problems.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by xavierx

I bought the Meyle one when I did mine. Quality seemed good and its been working fine for the last few thousand miles.

Be warned it's a HORRIBLE job to change.

You'll want to drop the AC compressor from the bottom to give you some room to work.

The hardest part is removing and re-installing the pulleys in such limited space, as you need to do so the access the mounting bolts. Additionally access to the rear mounting is also tricky and needs to be tackled from the top.

Well, you did forewarn me, and you were correct. My manual was about as much use as a chocolate fire guard. Remove belts , undo 3 bolts and remove pump. Oh yeh.

4 bolts to remove outer pulley, loosen them before taking belt off. Then 3 fixing bolts and 1 bolt holding bracket to pump, on front of pump accessed through holes in pulley. 3 nuts and 1 bolt at rear of pump to remove bracket. It is then possible to remove the pump with much cursing and bashed fingers.
Note, the pump will come out with the first pulley attached thankfully as I failed to remove it from the shaft. The bolt on the back runs through a sliding sleeve so if possible knock it back slightly with a hammer to make refitting easier.

Refitting is reverse of removal with the added complication that all the brackets have to be built back onto the pump in situ.

I found it easier to fit the bolt through the sliding sleeve into the bracket first in order to locate the rear of the pump then by sticking the bolts into a deep 3/8 drive 10mm socket with some putty feed them through pulley and into holes. The first one is the hardest.

A lift would make the job easier. The biggest problem I found was lack of access, defiantly need 3/8 drive sockets and torque wrench as just no room for 1/2.

Job now done, used 4 litres of CHV202 fluid to flush and fill the system, used Morris oils fluid, £7 a litre. All references I found says it’s compatible with the Volvo fluid.

The final insult was the old pump being marked FoMoCo, £644 for a Ford part!!!!!


Regards Paul.

[Tatsfield]

Originally Posted by green van man

The final insult was the old pump being marked FoMoCo, £644 for a Ford part!!!!!

Would buying the pump as a Ford part from a Ford dealer be cheaper? And while I'm asking, is the whole power steering rack also a Ford part as I am considering replacing the rack in my car and the cost of a Volvo labelled part is eye watering.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Would buying the pump as a Ford part from a Ford dealer be cheaper? And while I'm asking, is the whole power steering rack also a Ford part as I am considering replacing the rack in my car and the cost of a Volvo labelled part is eye watering.

On my car I would believe so. My xc70 is based on a mondeo mk4 being built when Ford owned Volvo.

Why don’t you take a look at the steering rack re manufacturers, I have used Shaftec for drive shafts for instance. I was also told by a Volvo parts man that things like steering racks and drive shafts are remanufactured parts anyway, just in a Volvo box.

I would be looking for an independent motor factors in your area and see what they can find.
Or take a look at Autodoc, it will cost you £8 in post and package and take approx 8 days to reach you but offer considerable savings. For instance, I have replaced front struts and rear shocks with Bilstien B4 units for less than I could buy Monroe gas pressurised from factor.

Regards Paul.