Pwr steer or alignment?

[ss2115]

Hi.
Newly aquired 1997 Gold mk3 has a peculiar steering problem and I'm hoping it might be something someone knows about.

Steering wheel is straight and level and no pulling left or right other than the gentle slide off to the left on cambered roads.
Turn to the left and its about as easy as I would expect, but has a weak return to centre.
Turn to the right and its heavier and the self centering is quite strong.

Fluid level is a smidgen under halfway when fluid is hot and about 1/4 stick when cold.
Front tyres at 32psi / rears at 30psi.
No abnormal wear on the tyres obvious. They are about 50% worn. However, don't know if they have always been on the car as we only just purchased the car last week. (ie: Dealer could have swapped them on to hide poor wear).
Fan belts are both tight.

I am aware that a bent steering rack can cause this problem, but in my experience is usually accompanied by a fluid leak on the bent side and there are no leaks or wet patches to be seen under the car.

Is this anything common with Golfs?
If I need a new rack, can anyone suggest a trustworthy place for an exchange rack in Sydney? If they can do the fit and align as well all the better.

Thanks in advance.

[Jarred]

I would take it to a trusted mechanic or wheel alignment place first.
For the sake of 40 or 50 bucks you could get an alignment and solve your problem (possibly)
Ive had cars before which drove straight, but were still "out".

[ss2115]

I would take it to a trusted mechanic or wheel alignment place first.
For the sake of 40 or 50 bucks you could get an alignment and solve your problem (possibly)
Ive had cars before which drove straight, but were still "out".

yeah - my intitial thoughts also. Its booked in to Bob Janes tomorrow for a checkover and 4 wheel align if neccessary. I told them the story and they'll poke around under it for anything bent or unusual.

[Ironman]

yeah - my intitial thoughts also. Its booked in to Bob Janes tomorrow for a checkover and 4 wheel align if neccessary. I told them the story and they'll poke around under it for anything bent or unusual.

I did the same thing today. Took car in for a 4 wheel alignment. I just put in a new steering rack as mine was bent and leaking fluid took about 3 hours to swap rack over. Was slightly toeing in. Before I got everything done I made sure I went thru everything that needed to be done beforehand to make sure I knew what I was talking about. Check this link out it will help you. And just do a printout to give you the details on correct camber etc.

Going to the alignment shop

[ss2115]

I discovered over the weekend that the rear engine mount at the gearbox end is gone. Allows a lot of up/down movement, although I couldn't see any sideways movement.
Didn't observe the mount under the manifold very well, but decided if one was gone I'd do both anyway.
(The large round front mount looks fine with little movement.

I'm now wondering if perhaps right hand tuns might be binding up the steering a bit and left hand turns the opposite if the engine is being allowed to move excessively.

Does this seem a plausible explanation?

[-88-]

My Vento has the same sort of issue...
I have 3 new engine mounts and dead even wheel alignmnet, I've narrowed it down to an inconsistent bypass valve on the rack, basically restricting the pressurised flow and lessening the power effect but only to one side.

[wai]

A wheel alignment is one thing, though this only checks the wheels in the straight ahead position.

Check that you have the rack in the middle position when the steering wheel is set to point straight ahead. You can do this by making sure the wheels are pointing straight ahead and then checking the distance from the end of the steering arm to the pivot point of the track rod. They should be exactly the same. Over time you would be surprised how different these lengths can get, and this can cause slight differences in the amount of turn angle you will get between the wheels.

What you need to establish is that the wheels turn the same amount in each direction. It only takes a small change and at the extremes, the difference can be significant leading to the differences you experience.

[mk1turbo79]

This is actually becoming fairly common in the mk3 racks.

My Vento has the same sort of issue...
I have 3 new engine mounts and dead even wheel alignmnet, I've narrowed it down to an inconsistent bypass valve on the rack, basically restricting the pressurised flow and lessening the power effect but only to one side.