Play between steering wheel and wheels..

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Signal - 16 Apr 2008 23:20 GMT

Hi.. I've been experiencing a disconcerting sensation in the past
couple of days with my MkIII golf.. a looseness in response between
steering and wheels. Noticed this when turning at low speed, esp. on
uneven ground. It's unnerving, so I'm not driving it.

Got all new tyres at correct pressure, no obvious problems with power
steering, no loose wheel bolts. Any ideas? I wonder if the front
struts/support assembly may be a bit tired.. could that be it?

TIA

--
S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t

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dave AKA vwdoc1 - 17 Apr 2008 04:09 GMT

On a second generation Jetta, I saw the rack slide back and
forth......................its bolts were loose.
Check yours out and check the u-joints at the bottom of your steering column
near the brake pedal.

Of course check all suspension parts including the wheel bearings carefully!

> Hi.. I've been experiencing a disconcerting sensation in the past
> couple of days with my MkIII golf.. a looseness in response between
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
> TIA

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Mark Randol - 17 Apr 2008 04:54 GMT

As VWDOC noted, it could be those things, but on mine it's been the
control arm bushings and the strut bushings. I'm betting the strut
bushings. They only seem to last about 40kmiles, but the struts go for
a bit longer 50-60kmi.

If that's it, since it's all got to come apart anyway, may as well
replace the struts too for the small incremental cost. Otherwise in
about 10kmi you'll probably have to pay the labor all over again for
what's basically the same job. And the labor on this job if the main
part of the cost. IIRC ~US$500. I think that's about a CAN$25. :(

The control arm bushings aren't part of the strut/strut bearing
replacement, but you may as well check how much it would be just to swap
'em anyway. Had mine done at about 90-100kmi.

But yeah, get under there and shake stuff around. Could be anything but
my experience has been those go first.

Mark
'95 Jetta GLS

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