[Vwdiesel] steering rack

[Roger Brown]

Scott Alexander wrote:
> 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.

You might try tightening up the adjusting screw and nut on the rack.  It sits near the steering column attachment point, facing 
the firewall.  I did this on my old '81 manual rack and it tightened right up.

-- 
    Roger