steering wheel grinding

[froggy8]

hi guys,

 

got the steering rack replaced yesterday, started driving the car tonight, been fine at first then all of a sudden as i was turning right from standoff to set off the wheel made a click noise then a grinding noise. it seems to click on a standoff but while driving it makes a grinding noise for 1 second then moves freely after that. it only does it when the wheels are centered and only going right.

 

i want to know if it is because it a new rack and needs to bed in?

 

many thanks

[sepulchrave]

No bedding in required, I wonder if they've refitted it incorrectly and pinched the rack by using the wrong bolts.

[froggy8]

thank you for confirming that, i will take it back to garage tomorrow. problem is i will need my car around 5pm tomorrow, if i take car down about 11 am, would you think it will be done?

[sepulchrave]

It'd take me about ten minutes to check once it was up in the air, the problem is that the rack casting may have been damaged.

[LGM]

I can’t remember how many bolts are used to hold the rack in but I know there’s 2 different sizes and if they’re switched around incorrectly it can damage the pipes as it’s gone too far through. 

[Breezy_Pete]

It's the dogbone engine mount rear bolt (item 23 in below link) getting mixed up with the gearbox-to-engine bolts that's usually where things go haywire, mostly during clutch work. It's 61mm long and goes up right underneath the left side of the rack tube. Some of the gearbox bolts are 65mm which is long enough to dent the rack tube underside if switched.

 

The bolts that hold the rack onto the subframe are the same ones that hold the subframe to consoles I think, item 8 at 84mm long:

 

mounting parts for engine and transmission - Fabia(FAB) [EUROPA 2005 year] (7zap.com)

 

Not the clearest diagram in the world ever. I've got an annotated version somewhere that tries to clarify what goes where, but I predictably can't find it just now.

 

Removing that bolt 23 and measuring from underside to tip would be reassuring/condemning. Very hard to see the point where it emerges under the rack.

 

[Breezy_Pete]

In a 'Polo' folder, but I think everything's the same. Red annotations are the console-to-subframe plus rack mounting 84mm long bolts, I think. The item 23 (M10x61) rack-killer one is just about readable in the original diagram with its dotted lines.

 

[sepulchrave]

The last time I did a rack on a VAG group car I had to drop the subframe and suspect the garage would have done the same, this would necessitate removing the dog bone, so...

[Breezy_Pete]

But not the gearbox, so...no 'similar' length bolts.

[sepulchrave]

43 minutes ago, Wino said:

But not the gearbox, so...no 'similar' length bolts.

Let's assume it's been refitted correctly then, so what's up with it?

[Breezy_Pete]

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Removing that bolt 23 and measuring from underside to tip would be reassuring/condemning.

Check the bolt, then wonder about alternative explanations.

[froggy8]

update:

 

the mechanic told me it is a dry joint and that if the noise does not go away in a few miles then he will replace it.

[mrgf]

That sounds mighty suspicious to me... A dry joint, if I read that correctly, will be un-lubricated. If not lubed from the get-go, surely much of the long-term damage will already have been done? As Sepulchrave said, no bedding in required!

 

At least they know from the offset. If they have penised it up, they need to repair it!

[froggy8]

that was what the mechanic said, somewhere along the steering column is a dry joint. he did say that he will replace it on monday as i need my car for the weekend and monday is the only day i have off.

 

he said it is safe to drive it too.

[sepulchrave]

17 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

that was what the mechanic said, somewhere along the steering column is a dry joint. he did say that he will replace it on monday as i need my car for the weekend and monday is the only day i have off.

 

he said it is safe to drive it too.

 

Words a mechanic will never say:

 

"I messed something up and now I've fixed it properly, there'll be no charge and I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

 

Words a mechanic will always say:

 

"I'm infallible, something else is wrong with with it, it'll cost you more money if you want it done."

 

 

[froggy8]

should i say something to the mechanic about the bolt or let him figure it out?

[sepulchrave]

6 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

should i say something to the mechanic about the bolt or let him figure it out?

 

Leave it to him to work it out.

[froggy8]

1 minute ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Leave it to him to work it out.

thank you, i think that would be best as i have a feeling they probably wouldnt listen to me anyway.

[froggy8]

update:

 

took my car in early this morning and just rang them now to see how far they are at, he has finished fixing the steering rack now, when asked what was wrong? he said he had to put a new rack in as the other one was faulty.

[sepulchrave]

16 minutes ago, froggy8 said:

update:

 

took my car in early this morning and just rang them now to see how far they are at, he has finished fixing the steering rack now, when asked what was wrong? he said he had to put a new rack in as the other one was faulty.

 

That's a stroke of luck since it's a guaranteed repair and won't cost you a penny.

[froggy8]

2 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

That's a stroke of luck since it's a guaranteed repair and won't cost you a penny.

true, i asked him if he will get some sort of compensation for the faulty rack, he said he hopes so. he should get some sort of money back wont he?

[froggy8]

4 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

That's a stroke of luck since it's a guaranteed repair and won't cost you a penny.

i am sorry but what do you mean, stroke of luck? 

[sepulchrave]

1 hour ago, froggy8 said:

i am sorry but what do you mean, stroke of luck? 

 

I mean for you, because you don't have to muck about arguing the toss or paying extra.

[froggy8]

50 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

I mean for you, because you don't have to muck about arguing the toss or paying extra.

i understand, thank you.

 

just drove the car for abit and it seems fine, still feel bit hard to turn, not like it was before but still easier than no power steering.

[mrgf]

I think the weight can be adjusted on vcds so perhaps that needs looking in to as your old one may have been set lighter.