B3 90q Steering Issue....

[Bob Gregory]

Just completed front suspension replacement (control arms, ball joints, TREs, strut inserts - Sachs Advantage, strut mounts - Boge w/Mount Savers).  Got car aligned - tracks straight, no wobble, almost noiseless, great.  But... now there is an odd (variable?) amount of steering play at the center point.  When turning left after right (and vice versa) there are a few degrees of turn in the wheel where nothing happens.  At times it's real subtle, other times it's pretty dramatic, and seemingly not speed related. 

After turning in one direction, the steeing wheel is not centered, biased towards whatever the last turn direction was, and the feel at the wheel is loose - however, the car doesn't wander on the road.

After some experimenting, the "dead spot" seems more prominent after a right turn.  If you wiggle the wheel slightly at any point during a "steering" event, there is little or no dead spot.  After any turn, wiggling the wheel will bring it back to center, with a normal, solid, "connected" feel at center.  A co-worker described this symptom as "kind of like pumping the brakes".

So what's going on?  Obviously a steering rack issue.  Doesn't seem like a worn spot on the rack, because wiggling the wheel brings back a solid feel.  The fluid level was a bit low (~5 oz) but is now full.  The fluid is old (OK very old).

Would be nice if the rack doesn't need to be replaced - all forums full of PITA descriptions of rack replacements.  Is it possible that fluid is so old that it is creating issues (= easy fix)?  Groping for good news here!

Didn't notice the steering issues pre- suspension replacement and alignment - could the looseness (primarily CA bushings and bad struts/strut mounts) and bad alignment cover up the symptom?

Thanks in advance.

Bob G - '88 90q
 



 
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