I have an 88 240 with 75K on it and the tie road groans and moans like the front end is dying. It has been checked and the Volvo guy says it will go away as I drive it. I just got the car a month ago and the noise is there irregularly but enough that it is a pain. What does it take to fix it? Can I remove the boot and spray a litium grease on it?

Despite being protected, the inner rod ends will often groan. This is most noticeable in most cases, under humid or rainy conditions. The cure is to lube the inner tie rod end by pulling back the boot and smearing grease in there. You might need to use a cable tie or a new clamp to put it back together, depending on what kind of boots are on there.

Just don't use a penetrant since it'll wash everything out and when it dries, you'll have the same problem back again.

Two things:

1. If it is the outer rod end groaning (which I can say almost without a doubt it is NOT, they don't groan usually) you need to replace it.

2. Check play in all of the steering. Inner and outer tie rods/rod ends. You need to be assured that the inner joint isn't sloppy. Good lubrication and some driving usually cure that problem. It happens if the car doesn't see much use, or has sat for a while.

Yeah, my inner ends were groaning so I greased 'em up and I was disappointed to find that the groaning didn't stop. Four days later after I'd done some driving however, I was delighted to find the groaning had ceased. Just give the grease some time to work its way into the joint.

This is not the model of Volvo I am the most familiar with but

I became alarmed and figured I'd better say something.

Is "the Volvo guy" by any chance the one you bought it from?

In any case you need to do something about it. If it is the outer

tie rod end, it is fairly easy and the inner one is not too hard

either, but just inside another boot. You will need to get the

toe-in checked/adjusted after you change it.

Tie rod ends are supposed to be lubed for life and when they

start to groan, the handwriting is on the wall. I had a ball joint

(similar item, bigger) do that in my 164. I sprayed WD40 into the

boot every other month for a while and suddenly it let go, leaving the

lower A-frame on the street and the wheel laying on its inside side.

With tierod ends, it is not quite so bad, you just lose steering

to one wheel. Then the car is in the decision-making mode:

Which wheel do I follow???