not many people know this and its not listed in the haynes, but you can actually adjust the internal play of the steering rack on the felly.

its hard to get to, but heres how you do it!

follow the steering columb into the rack itself. Where they join it looks like a slightly bulged T junction. on the other side of this (bit facing the floor) is a 13mm nut embedded in the rack. Jack up the car, you will need to get right under it. find the nut (look near the cat converter and up the holes to the side of it) and attach your 13mm socket with an extension bar to a ratchet. have an assistant in the car ready to turn the wheel.

Turn the nut clockwise to reduce play (increases stiffness a little) until quickly turning the steering wheel 90 degrees in both directions no longer makes a knocking sound. You may need to loosen it a little if steering is too stif while driving.

I have adjusted mine and several others in this way, all of which were prior steering MOT failures and then passed with no prob. I was shown this by my local friendly skoda dealers!

and by the way, it is perfectly safe! (its actually listed in the pre-production skoda workshop manual, not the final version. luckily the mechanic i spoke to had seen the first draft)

iirc that's the nut for adjusting the pre-load on the bearings for the pinion gear isn't it??

yes, but it also moves the pinion gear slightly outward as well so it no longer runs in the wear-grooves time and use create one the rack gear itself, therefore eliminating the ability of the rack to move slightly independantly of the pinion. It is often this movement which people feel when checking for play in the rack. It also causes the odd knocking sound when sudden steering movements occur.

is this all applicable to fellys with pas?

not many people know this and its not listed in the haynes, but you can actually adjust the internal play of the steering rack on the felly.

its hard to get to, but heres how you do it!

follow the steering columb into the rack itself. Where they join it looks like a slightly bulged T junction. on the other side of this (bit facing the floor) is a 13mm nut embedded in the rack. Jack up the car, you will need to get right under it. find the nut (look near the cat converter and up the holes to the side of it) and attach your 13mm socket with an extension bar to a ratchet. have an assistant in the car ready to turn the wheel.

Turn the nut clockwise to reduce play (increases stiffness a little) until quickly turning the steering wheel 90 degrees in both directions no longer makes a knocking sound. You may need to loosen it a little if steering is too stif while driving.

I have adjusted mine and several others in this way, all of which were prior steering MOT failures and then passed with no prob. I was shown this by my local friendly skoda dealers!

Had a look in the Haynes lie book for a Favorit (haven't got a Felly one yet) and this is actually listed. It's called the Slipper adjustment and is described in the steering overhaul process in chapter 10. NiCE.

I have adjusted mine and it has made a small improvement to the knocking noises I'm getting. It has taken up the slack in the T-junction on the rack but I think my rack is too far worn for a total fix. Think I'll get a new rack on payday as it's only

well, i thought it was worth a try!

well, i thought it was worth a try!

Indeed. Well worth a try, and thanks.