Steering pulls badly to left & right, and moves on it's own when stationary

[CJM]

Hi
I wondered if anyone else has had this problem with a 2010 1.6 TDI and if they found a solution?

The steering pulls sharply left and right particularly when going round bends and much worse at speed. Also if you move the steering wheel when the car is stationary, it moves back on it's own!

I've just bought the car and a full inspection only threw up 'NS track rod inner joints lose where it connects to the steering rack'. And an MOT done just a few days before we bought it had an advisory of 'Play in Steering rack inner joints NS front'. It was not that bad when I drove it home after I bought it. However, our local garage replaced the steering arm and checked the loose track rods two days after buying the car which made the problem much worse and also resulted in vibration on braking. Not really sure what they did as there was no problem with the steering arm according to the guy who did the inspection.

Two garages don't know whats wrong, although agree the steering is not right. Not sure where we go from here apart from starting to replace everything, pump, steering rack? The car seems a bit young to be having such major problems, it's done 70,000 miles, and it appears that is has always been serviced by a main VW dealer since new. If anyone has any advice or experience of this problem I'd be grateful for any help.

[joe6]

Have you checked for error codes using VCDS or similar? This might show up something. The repair could have affected the tracking - but would hope that 4 wheel alignment was checked after completion. Rear track problems can also make the car drive oddly. Sorry not much help but not come across this personally.

[CJM]

Thanks joe6 for your reply. Apparently there are no error codes and the car was retracked after the initial repair and we had the second garage check it and they confirmed it was ok.

Second garage thinks it could be the PAS pump and the guy who did the inspection, when we bought it, thinks it could be a stuck valve or solenoid in the steering rack. He suggested flushing the lubricant through and replacing it, which might unstick a sticky valve. He's going to try and get back to take a second look at the car as he can't believe he could have missed something like that. He didn't notice anything when he drove it although we did notice a problem but thought it was caused by the issue highlighted on the MOT advisory. It certainly wasn't that bad until after the repair.

It is a very strange problem, not quite what we were expecting when we bought the car!

[joe6]

Hope you get it sorted quickly.

[joe6]

CJM did you get it sorted? Like to hear what the problem was.

[RUM4MO]

Can you confirm that these earlier 6R Polo still used hydraulic power steering, ie electric pump and normal power rack?

One outside reason for steering (returning) when the car is stationary is when the top bearings are seized.

Edit:- wear in the steering rod inner knuckle does happen, and can usually be detected by rocking the steering wheel with car stationary and engine off, so I can't see why the first garage did not notice that and replace these steering rod(s) and TREs - though if the strut top bearings were seized then maybe you would get a similar "feeling" from the steering wheel? Also, if toeing is way out, then the steering can get very grabby.

[CJM]

@joe6 No, we haven't solved the problem, you can drive it but it's not ideal. It hasn't got any worse of any better. We're just about to take it to another garage where the mechanic has been highly recommended. Other than that it's going to have to go to the VW Dealer but that is going to be expensive as I think they will just change everything until they hit upon a solution!!

[RUM4MO]

I now know that an early 6R Polo does still have electro-hydraulic steering system, but the top bearing will be less prone to seizing than the previous 9N0/9N3 models.
I might be interesting to find out what the steering angle sensor output looks like as the steering wheel is turned fully left to right, also, has the steering rack been left with it being at the straight ahead ie mid point when the road wheels are straight ahead?

Maybe prove/test by turning the steering wheel fully towards the left side with the car moving forward very slowly, note how the final position of the steering wheel, now turn it fully to the right hand side with the car moving forward slowly - did the steering wheel turn the same amount when going both ways, if not get back to the garage that replaced the track rod and ask them to sort it out.

Edit:- changed a "so" to "not" as I had not made what I meant to say very clear a at all!!

[CJM]

Thank you for that info RUM4MO, I'll give that a try and let you know what happens.

[RUM4MO]

I've edited my last posting to correct what I meant to say!!

[CJM]

Thank you. Yes, I read that bit a few times but guessed what you meant. I haven't driven the car yet to try it but will in the next couple of days.

[CJM]

@RUM4MO I tried the steering wheel test and it was pretty even. The movement of the steering wheel when the car is stationary seems to have stopped now. Perhaps the fault has moved on a bit.

This is my daughters car and I hadn't driven it until today. She's away for a few weeks and I'm trying to get it sorted for her. I have driven VWs for more years than I can remember and I was quite shocked at how bad this problem is. I found that the steering feels light, sloppy and unresponsive with a lack of feedback of the position of cars front wheels. There isn’t much feeling of the tyre contact with the road when cornering. Adverse cambers and bumps in the road result in twitchy steering which needs to be corrected. The steering is so light it’s hard to gauge if anything is happening and I’m sure there is a slight delay from movements of the steering wheel to actual movement of the car, bit like driving a boat!

On long bends and roundabouts, it is impossible to move the steering wheel in a smooth motion and take the bend at any speed, as it twitches continuously away from you to the right on a left hand bend and to the left on a right hand bend and without being able to feel the tyres pulling against the road it is easy to oversteer and you could end up wandering out of your lane or worse. Small corrective movements of the steering wheel end up in exaggerated movements, probably because you can’t feel what’s happening. So to get around a roundabout or long bend you are continuously pulling the steering wheel back to where it should be to override this automatic movement of the steering wheel. No matter how hard you try it’s impossible to drive smoothly in any direction for any length of time.

Don't understand why two garages can't find this fault. It's very noticeable.

[CJM]

Today I took the car to a VW dealer and paid them £144 for a diagnostic on the steering. Apparently it needs a new steering rack and is too dangerous to drive! At a cost of £1300 I am shocked that a steering rack should wear out on a 6/7 year old car. I've driven nothing but VW's over the last 30 years and never had a problem in that area of any of them.

I am also bitterly disappointed with the full inspection that we had done before purchasing this car, that was £150 down the drain!!! Her previous Polo she bought developed numerous electrical faults over the 10 years she owned it, many of which were never resolved. I'm not sure I want to buy any more VWs!!

[iichel]

i've deleted your other topic, maybe it's better to simply continue the discussion here

[RUM4MO]

CJM, have you considered sourcing a used rack including pump and getting a VW Indie to fit it - it would be good to know if it was the pump or the actual power assisted rack that was faulty.

Or does that sound like being a risky cash wasting idea?

Edit:- It looks like the original manufacturer of these racks, TRW do remanufacture power racks, maybe try to see what one would cost I would expect that you would get money back on the old rack.

https://www.trwaftermarket.com/en/produ ... and-pumps/

Remember, VW dealer would only ever supply and fit a brand new rack - I'd guess.

ECP quotes £555 for a remanufactured TRW rack from TRW. (Edited)