Hey all, 

 

So long story short, my mechanic has diagnosed that at some point in the near future I will need a new steering rack.

 

To get to this point, approximately 2k miles ago I had a clunking/clicking lock to lock. I attributed this to topmounts. My front shocks were leaking (not just weaping) so I changed:

 

Topmounts

Shocks

Springs

ARB droplinks

Outer track rod ends

 

After this, the clunk was more defined and around slight right hand corners at reasonable speed there was an obvious clunk. 

 

This led my mechanic to believe it was the offside inner track rod due to knocking when being unweighted slightly.

 

Got it onto the ramp and with no resistance on the front wheels there is an obvious free play in the steering wheel before you get a clunk before you get the rack to engage, albeit less than half an inch. The clunks lock to lock are not noticeable however with no resistance on the tyres. There is NO play in any of the track rods or joints. 

 

Wobbled the steering wheel with my mechanics head in the driver's foot well and he could not feel or hear anything from the steering column. But underneath the car he can faintly hear the clunking from the steering rack area. Adjusted the rack preload adjuster which made no adjustment.

 

The only conclusion he could come to is that something in the rack is failing, which doesn't seem uncommon for VAG cars.

 

A quote from TPS was £1658 + VAT. Neither TPS or my local dealer would provide a part number annoyingly but I suspect these are a variable rack unlike stock Octavia's.

 

Questions:

 

-Can anyone provide a part number based on the car/reg?

-Can anyone recommend a company who can provide a refurbished rack?

-Is there anything else I am missing before I look at changing the rack?

 

Thanks in advance! 

Newest part number revision for 1N7 which is Dynamic steering is 5Q2423056J and i can get that for £1990

Newest part number revision for 1N3 Speed related variable assist (servotronic) and 1N5 power steering mobility aid is 5Q2423055L and that is £1930

 

You now need to find out which of those 3 PR codes your car has, someone with fulltime access to erwin or you can pay yourself for a 1 hour slot for £8 to work it out.

 

Either of these racks can be had second hand on ebay for less than £250 but they do need coding to the car and paramterising using ODIS

1 hour ago, ApertureS said:

Newest part number revision for 1N7 which is Dynamic steering is 5Q2423056J and i can get that for £1990

Newest part number revision for 1N3 Speed related variable assist (servotronic) and 1N5 power steering mobility aid is 5Q2423055L and that is £1930

 

You now need to find out which of those 3 PR codes your car has, someone with fulltime access to erwin or you can pay yourself for a 1 hour slot for £8 to work it out.

 

Either of these racks can be had second hand on ebay for less than £250 but they do need coding to the car and paramterising using ODIS

 

That's good to know, thanks. So would need a VAG specialist to make it work properly. From eBay pics I can see where the part number is on the motor, we couldn't find it whilst underneath. I got another code from the casing which I suspect is probably just for the casing and may be used for multiple racks I'd guess.

 

I'm reluctant to buy second hand to use, but have found a refurb place which supply a Skoda Octavia rack for £300, another user on here has used them but didn't put alot of info up as to what rack he had. Once I have a part number Ill contact them and see if they have one in stock. Short of that I'll probably buy a 2nd hand one to send to them for refurbishment to minimise downtime and labour. I can't justify £2k for a new rack unfortunately 😔