Disabling Servotronic

[Andrew Duane USG]

Hairy green toads from Mars made Rokas Reipa say:

> Well, I'm slowly getting fed up with the power steering on my 93 100S. Its
> unnaturally light at high speeds, Cadillacesque in parking lots(read: meant
> for geriatrics) and it feels weird when turning at highway speeds. I know
> that Servotronic can be disabled on these cars by pulling some relay behind
> the glovebox. However, I am kind of wary of messing with something this
> vital on a car, something that is factory-designed no less. What are the
> repercussions, if any, of disabling servotronic in terms of rack/power
> steering pump life expectancy? I know the steering will be quite a bit
> heftier and that's fine by me; I just want to know if I'll have to replace
> components sooner as a result. Lastly, if it's a safe modification, can
> someone post a semi-detailed procedure on how to disable it? The last thing

I am proud to say that no servotronic has lasted more than a week in
any of my Q's. It is factory designed, but since it is strictly a US
feature, it is also factory designed to not be installed. Just pull
the relay and enjoy proper handling once again. European cars run forever
without this "feature".

My '95 A6QW had it pulled the day after I bought it. Years later when
I sold it, I plugged the relay back in to make it "stock". Back to that
god-awful over-assist. I let the new owner try both ways, and as far as
I know, he dumped the relay in the trash.

My new '00 A6Q didn't even make it out of the dealer's parking lot.
And in 2+ years and many dealer service visits, they never commented
once on it not being there.

I think on your '93, the relay is in the main relay box under the hood.
Big, black, #391 (I think!), but with SERVOTRONIC clearly stamped on
the label. Hard to miss.

--

Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7)			duane at zk3.dec.com
HP/Compaq Corporation			Andrew.Duane at compaq.com
110 Spit Brook Road			Andrew.Duane at hp.com
M/S ZKO3-3/U14
Nashua, NH    03062-2698		(603)-884-1294