[Vwdiesel] steering rack

[Scott Alexander]

My '82 Rabbit has power steering.  Around center, it's quite vague.
That is, I can reverse the direction that I've most recently turned the
wheel and move it a few inches without having substantial affect on the
direction the car is going.  The suspension bits, tie rods, etc., were
all replaced recently.  Also, when the tie rods went in, we didn't
really worry about centering the rack, so it's unlikely that it's
sitting on the same spot it was before.

What I'm trying to figure out is if this is characteristic of the PS
system in these cars?  The other cars of that vintage that I've driven
have manual steering (which I've found to be tight and reasonable
effort).  I'm thinking that if this is characteristic of the PS, it'd be
worth pulling out the current rack (along with the pump that's a pain to
get to, the hoses that are in the way when doing other work, and the
related bits) and putting in a manual system.  If it's not typical, I'd
be interested in any suggestions on what might be causing the problem.

Thanks,
Scott Alexander
Warren, NJ
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