1995 945, 200,075 miles, engine protection pan, in-line magnafine filters, cam rack, and regular home maint.

I had a bit of a nightmare today when I discovered a pool of power steering fluid (atf) under my volvo. It turned out that the smaller (return) hose developed a significant leak near the pump itself. I traced it by running the motor and turning the wheel hard and watching the fluid fountain out of the hose. The break was imperceptable but seems to be at or very near the junction with metal fitting and tube that leads to the pump. I pulled the whole hose and picked up two replacements from the local pick-n-pull (thank goodness it was open late and open on sunday).

Trouble is, I could not find an exact replacement. It seems that my '95, while hosting the typical B230F has a number of model year-specific fittings (e.g. wiring connectors and other bits). This hose is one of those "different parts" one of the them. The original hose has a curly-q bit and a hold-down clamp at the main engine crossmember. Overall is is noticably longer. Comparing it to the hoses I picked up (pulled from a couple of late model regina 740s - all there was), the both fittings ends line up just fine, but the original hose is longer due to the curly bit. As I had very little choice, I thoroughly cleaned and blew out the shorter replacement hose and hooked everything up.

Things seems to be fine. I drove the car out and aside from a couple of weird noises (probably due to too much PS fluid) it steers just fine.

This leads me to wonder why the 95 hosts a longer hose and whether or not I'm driving on an inadquate part.

Any info or expereince with these hoses? I've never heard of one failing before.