Power Steering Problem

[PeterHBne]

Haven't read this one here to my knowledge.

Sometimes when turing the steering wheel from left to right and back again at a standstill you can feel/hear mild clicking.

Think of a volume knob on a stereo where when you go from 1 to 10 and back to 1 there is a mild mechanical click for each turn.

If I turn the steering wheel veeery slowly the click comes with maybe each 1cm of turn. Just audible but you can feel it through the steering wheel.

It comes and goes - it has nothng to do with the tyres or the road surface I am on.

Difficult to tell if it occurs when moving as any road noise or feeling through the wheel disguises the clicking.

I probably get it twice a week but it lasts only briefly.

Difficult to go to the dealer unless it is a problem you can demonstrate.

Anyone else have something like this?

[callen]

I haven't experienced this problem but I would assume that it has something to do with the massive strain that you are putting on the power steering.

I was always told that you should never just turn the wheel when at standstill as you will very quickly destroy your power steering.

Try doing this on a car without power steering and you will feel just how much strain it puts on the power steering motor.

My 2c....please correct me if this is not the case though???

[VW GTI]

This is very much the case, the only time I'll EVER dry steer is to get out of a very sticky car park where some knob parks too close (haven't had to do it in my GTI yet thank god). Even rolling at 1km/h would be 1000x better.

[PeterHBne]

No - 99.9% of the time I can turn the wheel from lock to lock smooth as silk - occasionaly i get this clicking business as described.

This is with engine running by the way.

Sometimes any movement on the steering wheel at standtsill causes this glitch.

[PeterHBne]

No-one else is getting this?

I probably get it 1 out of 10 times when I start the car. No rhyme or reason to it.

[Blitzen]

Haven't read this one here to my knowledge.

Sometimes when turing the steering wheel from left to right and back again at a standstill you can feel/hear mild clicking.

Think of a volume knob on a stereo where when you go from 1 to 10 and back to 1 there is a mild mechanical click for each turn.

If I turn the steering wheel veeery slowly the click comes with maybe each 1cm of turn. Just audible but you can feel it through the steering wheel.

It comes and goes - it has nothng to do with the tyres or the road surface I am on.

Difficult to tell if it occurs when moving as any road noise or feeling through the wheel disguises the clicking.

I probably get it twice a week but it lasts only briefly.

Difficult to go to the dealer unless it is a problem you can demonstrate.

Anyone else have something like this?

May have something to do with the electric power steering motor slipping slightly. It could be a small amount of free play in the motors shaft, or between the gearing itself.
You may want to get it checked out...Don't let a small problem rear into a nasty one.

[Jmac]

Like the guys say you are loading the steering on standstill , Can be a number of things that click, Does it come from your feet area or up high at the wheel?

[PeterHBne]

Like the guys say you are loading the steering on standstill , Can be a number of things that click, Does it come from your feet area or up high at the wheel?

No - it's when the motor is on and is through the steering wheel.

Normally the motion of turning the wheel from left to right and back again while at standstill with the motor on is smooth as silk.

The feeling I have described happens completly at random - doesn't seem to affect the function of the steering but is very noticeable.

Again I can only describe it as a clicking that you can feel through the steering wheel and the clicking is proportional to the amount of steering wheel input. That is, turn the wheel 5cm and you might get 5 clicks - turn it 10 cms and you get 10 clicks.

I get it occasionallly on start up but then it dissapears. Won't get it for another 10 start ups then it reappears for the next 2 start ups then dissapears for the next 20 start ups.

Weird.

I would be wasting my time trying to describe it to a VW dealer without them feeling it at the time which is hard to do.

[VW GTI]

So does it click while you're moving and turning the wheel from lock to lock?

I'd probably stop dry steering if I was you, it's not good for the car.

[Ben_GTI]

hmmm
1. please for the love of your poor car don't turn the wheel unless your rolling.
2. Yea trying to explain it to VW will be a bitch.

[Jmac]

I think you may have a problem starting with your Igniter coil (clock Spring) This may be clicking. This is mounted to your steering wheel at the back. Earlier Models were prone to that mate
Jmac

[noone]

Resurrecting an old thread, seem to have developed a clicking noise at the top of the struts or in the strut bearings (Jesus, not these again...).

Had a look today, seems something in the bearing or strut mount is clicking on both sides, but more-so the drivers side. The vibration resonates through the spring, its audible in confided spaces. With the car on stands, the clicking still occurs and is almost definitely coming from the top of the strut area.

I checked the 3 bolts holding the strut bearing in place, nothing of interest there...

How tight should the nut on the top of the strut (visible from engine bay) be? I noticed when the wheel turns, the whole strut rotates, but not on axis (like a drive shaft), so there has to be some allowance for the change in angle (might have to explain that again)...

I'm expecting its the bearings (again), but I cant understand why my car seems to chew this part (I've replaced it a few times now, when I've changed my suspension, most recently about 10,000 kms ago.

Cheers.

[Blitzen]

55nm of torque for the strut top bolt mate.

I had basically what you have described, and it turned out to be my sway bar links binding.

[noone]

Yeah, I wish it was as they are cheap and quick to replace. You can feel the spring ring when it clicks, nothing through the hub or steering arm (thankfully)

[PeterHBne]

I had my bearings done twice under warranty (about 15k and 40k) now at 75k.