GTI_Matt Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Having had quite a long history on the whole noisy steering rack thing, my car finally had the revised steering fitted a couple of months ago. All seemed well - the noise had gone, and the weighting and feeling was much better than after having the previous replacement done. However, over the past week the same noise as before has come back and started happening when turning left again. Has this happened to anybody else with the new revised racks? Cheers Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joffan Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 I've owned two GTI's both had the racks re-placed I had no prob's after. I'd get her straight into the dealers if I was you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SL26UK Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Had my replaced and no problems yet! fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMB Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 strange but I had a noise from mine in the middl eof winter, haven't got round to changing it yet as I thought I'd see how others got on, but noise has gone now completely.. hmmmn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 [ QUOTE ] However, over the past week the same noise as before has come back and started happening when turning left again. Has this happened to anybody else with the new revised racks? [/ QUOTE ] Me, hopefully it will be rectified next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bal5sidhu Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Having had quite a long history on the whole noisy steering rack thing, my car finally had the revised steering fitted a couple of months ago. All seemed well - the noise had gone, and the weighting and feeling was much better than after having the previous replacement done. However, over the past week the same noise as before has come back and started happening when turning left again. Has this happened to anybody else with the new revised racks? Cheers Matt [/ QUOTE ] Would appreciate your views on steering feel/weight difference between original (factory fit) and new rack(s)mate. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTI_Matt Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 dazdot - Is there any info from VW or your dealer about how they plan to rectify it? Another new steering rack?? I'm a bit concerned because either a) the new racks don't fix the problem in all cases or b) they fitted an old rack to my car again. Either way, I'm disappointed because this has been going on since September last year. With regards the steering feel/weighting, it being subjective and the massive time difference between each replacement, makes it difficult to explain. From the test drive I remember it feeling slick, smooth and quite direct. It was well weighted, although not as good overall as the Cooper S which I had at the time. When my car arrived (July) I was still impressed, there seemed to be plenty of weight and feel, although it did feel a little more vague than what I remembered from the test drive. The first rack was replaced in October, and felt awful afterwards. Really really light, really vague, and the tracking was all over the place. It felt like the steering ratio was wrong too - like I had to turn further than before for the same steering amount. The car went back, had the tracking improved, but was still pretty dire. The resistance was inconsistent; at slow speeds it was vague and light, when pushing on, it had more weight and directness, but still really removed. If it felt like it did then at the test drive, there's no way I'd have bought the car. The second new rack was fitted in March - much better weighting than the last one, more direct, and somehow felt smoother. Tracking / alignment seemed slightly out, but since this noise has come back, it has felt pretty vague and 'slow'. It's hard to explain but it's like I haven't got full confidence in the car - something isn't quite right and feels more vague or remote again. I'm pretty obsessive about tyre pressures and so on, so it's definitely not those. I was so frustrated after the first rack replacement I did actually go and test drive another GTI, but worryingly it felt much the same. I believe there are settings that can be changed, but was bemused when one of the managers at this dealer claimed he'd had 3 GTI's and in each one the steering was different! Hope that helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bal5sidhu Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Matt thats v helpful. Your comment about not having full confidence in the car mirrors my thoughts. Had a good thrash on twisty lanes the other day and the steering's lack of directness and feel makes you hold back. I'm speaking relatively - it's in a different league to my previous volvo but not as good as i remember from test drive. I'm finding that mine does not increase enough in resistance as speed increases and feels too detached. It also feels vague in the straight ahead position with a little too much slack. At low speeds it is quite meaty - should be other way around as far as i know. Having read your comments i think the best thing is to get the rack setting checked on VAGCOM and take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazdot Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Is there any info from VW or your dealer about how they plan to rectify it? Another new steering rack?? [/ QUOTE ] I'm hoping it is a simple fix. As VW have not heard the new noise yet, and it takes a new steering rack to fix it, then i take it that i will have to wait again (but hopefully not 4 months). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncr666 Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hi Just been searching the forum about steering racks. I have an A3 2.0T FSI DSG (05 reg) which I bought new in July last year, within 5 weeks the steering rack failed (grinding noise turning left). Audi replaced the steering rack and within 2 weeks it failed again. I then waited almost 6 months for Audi Technical in Germany to come up with "the fixed rack" which once again only lasted 3 weeks. I have just had a 3rd replacement (fix type) and within one week has developed a 'clunk' when turning left. It's now back at the dealers and we are in discussions with Audi UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now