Dodgy steering - A cure

[Storm Warning 0]

oh, thats interesting especially as I am not trying to remove the last little bit of play. Any idea on a new rack price? Column will get it next now doubt!

[davidwort 0]

oh, thats interesting especially as I am not trying to remove the last little bit of play. Any idea on a new rack price? Column will get it next now doubt!

no idea on current vw price but I think even VW rack are recon now, the important thing is the quality control of a VW supplied rack is probably better than the average recon supplier, if you can afford what VW are asking (whatever that is) I'm sure theirs will be a better bet.

[dr_mat 0]

Steering racks from VW are in the region of £380+VAT, last time I looked into it.

[joebloggsVR69 0]

I recently had the pleasure of finding out that a recon VR6 rack was about £560, and that's with a 10% discount.... :shock:

 

A brand new one is something like £900 :bonk:

[dragon green 5]

The intermediate shaft at the bottom of the column,(two ujs on it) is £163 + vat when i replaced mine, it took all the play out of my steering !

Cheaper then a re-con rack

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The intermediate shaft at the bottom of the column,(two ujs on it) is £163 + vat when i replaced mine, it took all the play out of my steering !

Cheaper then a re-con rack

 

That is one area people seldom check. Mainly because the play is barely perceptible by eye, but you can definitely feel it.

 

And yes, it does get rid of a fair bit of the off centre play.

[Tekara 0]

The intermediate shaft at the bottom of the column,(two ujs on it) is £163 + vat when i replaced mine, it took all the play out of my steering !

Cheaper then a re-con rack

 

How easy was it to replace this? Was it a case of remove the rack, or column.

[davidwort 0]

I think you can do it without removing either, ideally you'd want the car on a 2 post ramp to get to the rack end, but if you can remove the column end after you've taken the pinch bolt out then it should be possible to remove the rack end boot and unbolt it there too. PITA job though esp under the dash standing on your head.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I found it to be a peice of p1ss.

 

I converted to a non-adjustable [strike:1dsus31h]rack[/strike:1dsus31h] column and replaced the UJ in an afternoon.

 

After removing the steering wheel and plastic cowling etc and unplugged all the column wiring, you need to drop the column down. If the column's never been done before, you're going to have to drill out the remains of the sheer bolts. Carefully centre punch the middle of the head and using a decent HSS or cobalt bit, drill the f'ckers out. There's 2 of them. Obviously you can replace them with normal bolts afterwards. Why VW used sheer bolts there is a mystery to me :shrug:

 

Hinge the column down on the UJ and rest it on the seat and undo the UJ pinch bolt as David mentioned, then withdraw the column assembly out of the way. This would be a good time to check it on a bench for bearing wear and replace accordingly.

 

The most awkward bit is undoing the pinch bolt at the rack end of the UJ because the rubber boot gets in they way, so you'll just have to muddle through with that I'm afraid. I pushed the boot out of it's slot in the bulkhead and then stretched it down and tied it out of the way. Undo the bolt and then remove the UJ.

 

And to quote Haynes, fitting the new one is the reverse of removal :D

[dragon green 5]

I did mine by taking the column out !

As i had already converted mine to non adjustable,taking it out a second time is twice as quick.

[Plimsoll 0]

The intermediate shaft at the bottom of the column,(two ujs on it) is £163 + vat when i replaced mine, it took all the play out of my steering !

Cheaper then a re-con rack

 

Hello from NZ Dragon Green,

 

I'm going through a steering rebuild at present.

Can you tell me where you got your USJ as I need to replace mine?

 

I have been quoted 1,100 NZD for a shipped part from the dealer but I noticed that your paid considerably less for yours.

I would rather buy from a UK dealer and arrange shipping to NZ, than get shafted out of 400NZD by my local toe rag dealer.

 

Can you help?

Cheers Tim

[dragon green 5]

I bought mine through my local main dealer,i had to give them my reg. number, as there was two sizes fitted to the Corrado

[Jim 2]

VW would also be able to work this out the correct part based on the VIN number...

[Plimsoll 0]

I bought mine through my local main dealer,i had to give them my reg. number, as there was two sizes fitted to the Corrado

 

Can you let me know who your dealer is as I want to get one sent over.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Also, I was having a look through Bentley earlier and noticed this:

 

 

I've never read anything about adjusting the Steering rack for play on here, is it worth doing?

 

OK, I bought VW tool 524 and decided to figure out what the adjuster on the back of VR6 racks does.

 

Basically, you use the tool (a short 22mm allen key!) to undo the large centre cap shown below. The locking ring will undo with it.

 

 

Tool, locking ring and adjustment screw....

 

 

Behind the adjuster screw is a spring which preloads some kind of plastic assembly behind it. If you slacken the screw right off, you can grab the rack (shiney bit in the first pic) and it will have shed loads of play in it. This play will be felt and heard as a clunk through the column over bumps when turning and the dead ahead will feel a bit loose.

 

The object of the screw is to wind it in (clockwise) until there is no play. If you do it on the car, you'll need to either peel back the offside gaiter, put the steering on lock and shake the rack (the shiney bit, not the rack body) until the slack has gone....or, as it says in the VW note above, adjust it until the clonking stops.

 

[Jim 2]

Once again Kev, you roll your sleeves up and get into the areas other enthusiasts can't reach ;)

 

One question on this - do you know of any other adjustment on the rack to make it "less heavy" ? My rack on my 2.0 seems fine except that it's REALLY fricking heavy.

 

DG found that with the car jacked up and wheels removed and engine running the steering was still VERY heavy and stiff to move. As soon as you stopped the engine and the power steering was no longer pressurised, it was nice and light again?! The pump has been replaced and made no difference! The rack is to blame but just wonder if there is some other adjustment valve on there which we could tinker with...?

[andy 0]

Fair play for getting stuck in there Kev, I like the idea of tightening things up in this way. Older cars with steering 'boxes' had what I assume to be a similar adjuster. You could take all the slack out of things by turning a screw. My old Series 1 RX7 had one and it always felt amazing afterwards.

[davidwort 0]

The only problem with the above adjustment is on a worn rack you can't compensate for wear in the straight ahead (or just off) position without tightening too much for the rest of the rack, and as it says in the note you'll have problems with self-centering. Worth a go though, before doing a full rack change with all that entails.

 

Jim, I reckon the hydraulic valving in your rack is past it I'm afraid.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

VR6 racks don't really wear, well, not of any significance. I've seen a 160,000 miler with barely any wear on the rack at all and it was still nice and tight after the adjuster was wound in! :D

 

The main problem with VR racks is the seals go long before they physically wear out (heavier steering in the direction of the seal which has blown).

 

The adjuster basically takes up any slack in the pinion preload and I guess given where it is on the rack and the slight over-engineering of it, it's meant to be something that's periodically checked and adjusted, but it's not well publicised or documented.....until now :D

 

I adjusted one ages ago before fitting it, and as Andy says, the steering feels epic afterwards, providing of course everything else is nice and tight! I've not done one in situ though, so I'll try that this weekend and see what kind of ball ache it is on axle stands!

 

Jim, if the rack is lighter without assistance, that's defo a hyrdaulics problem. I wonder if it's been tampered with in the past and the pipes went back on wrong, if that's possible? So rather than assisting, it's hindering?

 

Looking at the VR rack, the section of shaft under splined bit has a series of specially shaped holes etc in it, which the pressurised fluid is forced through to provide assistance. I guess if the input hose was put on the output hose, it could work in reverse?

[dragon green 5]

I take it the non-vr6 racks are non adjustable ?

[poll250 0]

The adjuster basically takes up any slack in the pinion preload and I guess given where it is on the rack and the slight over-engineering of it, it's meant to be something that's periodically checked and adjusted, but it's not well publicised or documented.....until now :D

 

:wave:

 

I had a feeling this might be the answer to my dodgy clunking noise. I've literally replaced everything possible on the front end and admittedly the steering is 100 times better now, but I still get the clonking when accelerating, it's doing my head in!

 

Did VW have the 22mm tool in stock? I want to get to the bottom of this asap!

[Jim 2]

Same tool for removing suspension top nuts apparently? At least on some Audi's!

 

http://www.s2-audi.co.uk/tech_articles/useful_tools.htm

 

(Top entry)

[davidwort 0]

yeah that's exactly the same as my strut nut tool.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The adjuster basically takes up any slack in the pinion preload and I guess given where it is on the rack and the slight over-engineering of it, it's meant to be something that's periodically checked and adjusted, but it's not well publicised or documented.....until now :D

 

:wave:

 

I had a feeling this might be the answer to my dodgy clunking noise. I've literally replaced everything possible on the front end and admittedly the steering is 100 times better now, but I still get the clonking when accelerating, it's doing my head in!

 

Did VW have the 22mm tool in stock? I want to get to the bottom of this asap!

 

Nah, me old pal Pat McCrotch ordered it in for me and it was around a fiver :D

 

I dunno if clonking whilst accelerating is steering related but it can't hurt to tighten it up anyway!

[poll250 0]

Nah, me old pal Pat McCrotch ordered it in for me and it was around a fiver :D

 

I dunno if clonking whilst accelerating is steering related but it can't hurt to tighten it up anyway!

 

Hmm, I just got a quote of £23.50 inc discount from my VW man! :( Seems a bit steep to me.

 

I WILL get to the bottom of this noise one day! Let's just hope it's nothing to do with the Wavetrac diff! Next stop is taking the O/S driveshaft off again and taking a look at the gearbox flange, but that's another topic.