I have recently acquired a 2006 Mk1 Fabia VRS which has a power steering fault. I know this has been covered many times but this has some strange symptoms. It may also be handy to note that the clutch and DMF has recently been changed.

 

If you turn the wheel to there right there is no assistance. If you turn it to the left initially there's no assistance then it eases up a bit and goes light then goes back to being no assistance at all. 

 

The steering light is not on. (The front foglights telltale is on even when they foglights arent)

 

There are no fault codes listed for the power steering. I did a live reading which stated the pump had 14.5 volts too it. The steering angle live data would change when turning the the wheel but was very delayed??

 

Also checked the battery with a digital tester which came back bad and replace. (I guessed either way I'd need a battery whether it would fix the issue or not) so replaced the battery with a new item from my local mororfactors but still have the steering fault. 

 

Any further ways of diagnosing or ideas would be brilliant. 

 

Thanks, Ryan

See if you can see the top of the rearmost dogbone mount bolt crashing into the underside of thr rack, denting it. Unfortunately there's a common eff-up where a 65mm long bolt from the gearbox gets accidentally installed here instead of a 61mm bolt that was there before the clutch change. 

Just now, Wino said:

See if you can see the top of the rearmost dogbone mount bolt crashing into the underside of thr rack, denting it. Unfortunately there's a common eff-up where a 65mm long bolt from the gearbox gets accidentally installed here instead of a 61mm bolt that was there before the clutch change. 

I get you. I had heard this may be a possibility. Thought I'd get a few ideas of what to check before I get the car on the ramp. I assume this then means I will need to replace the rack if this has occurred. What's the going rate on a rack out of curiosity?

Yeah, not repairable if that has happened. Probably pretty cheap to acquire a secondhand rack, not sure about new prices.

Member 'retro' is breaking a mk1 at the moment; maybe see if his rack is available.

26 minutes ago, Wino said:

See if you can see the top of the rearmost dogbone mount bolt crashing into the underside of thr rack, denting it. Unfortunately there's a common eff-up where a 65mm long bolt from the gearbox gets accidentally installed here instead of a 61mm bolt that was there before the clutch change. 

 

I was thinking this too. It's especially likely if the steering was fine before the DMF work got carried out.

 

I would say the fogs warning light being on is probably unrelated.

Edited 8 August, 20187 yr by TMB

Well, based on the foregoing, if the garage have fitted an over-length bolt, the issue is with their workmanship, so they get the bad news regarding the replacement rack!

I've attatched a photo. Is this enough of an impact to cause the steering to be literally non existent one way and half and half the other way? 

 

How hard is the rack to change? Drop the subframe job?

 

What rack am I looking for does it have to come off a vrs? 

 

Thanks again 

I'd say that's enough to cause it. Only takes a tiny dent in the outer rack tube to knack it up.

 

There is usually a label on the rack with a part number on it. I can see mine from the engine bay. And yes, the subframe would need dropping.

 

Edited 9 August, 20187 yr by TMB

10 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Well, based on the foregoing, if the garage have fitted an over-length bolt, the issue is with their workmanship, so they get the bad news regarding the replacement rack!

Start here.

59 minutes ago, Huntyfm said:

I've attatched a photo. Is this enough of an impact to cause the steering to be literally non existent one way and half and half the other way? 

 

How hard is the rack to change? Drop the subframe job?

 

What rack am I looking for does it have to come off a vrs? 

 

Thanks again 

 

Yes, the moron mechanic has ****ed your rack.

 

Yes, dropping the subframe is the easiest way to do the job.

 

Fabias all share the same power racks as long as it matches the pump.

32 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

Fabias all share the same power racks as long as it matches the pump.

And the angle sensor type. (Captive cable on early sensors, unpluggable on later ones, yours will be a later one). The thing the sensor looks at in the rack, as well as the sensor itself, is different between the two types.

Just a quick update. 

Bought a complete front subframe for £40 complete with pump, rack, wishbones etc. Changed the rack over which only took an hour with two fag breaks. Now it works perfectly. You can see there is a couple of mm indent on the old rack where the longer bolt fouled. Steering is effortless and spot on now. Would just like to say thank you for the help as otherwise i would of ended up changing all the steering components before the rack. 

Edited 14 August, 20187 yr by Huntyfm

9 minutes ago, Huntyfm said:

Just a quick update. 

Bought a complete front subframe complete with pump, rack, wishbones etc. Changed the rack over which only took an hour with two fag breaks. Now it works perfectly. You can see there is a couple of mm indent on the old rack where the longer bolt fouled. Steering is effortless and spot on now. Would just like to say thank you for the help as otherwise i would of ended up changing all the steering components before the rack. 

 

Take the old rack and throw it at the mechanic that caused this idiocy, tell him to stick it up his arse and learn his trade properly.

I had bought the car with the fault already there otherwise it would of been my own fault as I would of done the clutch myself. 

Might be an idea to get the front alignment checked, as there's quite a lot of play in the console-to-body mountings.

 

Must admit, I hadn't spotted the fact that you'd bought the car in this condition, despite it being your very first line.

The dogbone mount bolts are alleged to be 'stretch bolts' which should be replaced when removed. That ought to reduce the likelihood of this mix-up, but only if people read and observe this precaution.

 

 

Now I know for certain it's the rack and have corrected the fault I'll change the trackrodends for new items and get all the geometry set up correctly. It became obvious that with the correct bolt in one hand and the wrong one in the other it was about 8mm too long. It also didn't have the chamfered body on it either. 

 

Now my next challenge is to find leather front seats to match the leather rears it has fitted.