Do I need another steering rack after 1000 miles?

[addo402]

Hi all

Think I know the answer, which is that I need another new rack, but wanted to check if others have had the similar issues, especially on track.

I replaced my rack with a new Gen 2 from Eurocarparts, four years ago. Since then the car has done less than a 1000 miles. However they have all been on track as I race in the MK5 Golf Production GTI championship.

In the last two rounds at Brands Hatch and Silverstone, after a few laps, the level of assistance would be intermittent for each corner, which makes racing interesting, not knowing how much strength I need to use to get it turned in!

However once off track around the paddock and using the car on the road (it’s road legal) I cannot replicate the issue.

Obviously when on track we do use the kerbs and sometimes a little more, but I’ve not had any contact on the front wheels.

So the question is has anyone else had similar issue and/ or do I need to bite the bullet and get a Gen 3 with updated loom?

Cheers

Adam

[pudding]

Yeah get the Gen 3 and move on.  The Gen1/2 were weak as hell, and the original loom was also under sized for the current draw, which may or may not explain your randomised PAS strength!  Either way, bin both off and get the Gen 3 goodness onboard.

[addo402]

Yes thanks.That is the conclusion I am coming to and looking at getting Gen 3 rack and loom from WPS which seems the best compromise. Too much risk to get one off eBay and TPS\VW is silly money.

I actually ran half a season with no power steering after the first one failed. Removed the motor, but was still very tough, however just about drive able once going, until you had an oversteer moment, I could not put the lock on quick enough. Nearly had a very big scary incident at Brands so went back to power steering. It saved going to the gym for a while though!

[pudding]

Yeah I got mine from a rack refurbisher for £350 + a £50 core charge because they didn't want my Gen 2 in exchange    In the case of the Gen 3, it's likely just an inspection as they rarely go wrong. 

VW were around the £1500+VAT mark last time I enquired, plus £110 for the Gen 3 harness. Yeah, good luck with that VW.

Blimey, I didn't know you could run them without assistance because when the engine isn't running, the steering feels really rubbery, like the column shaft is a bread stick or something.  I guess that's just the motor not doing anything and when removed, normal feel is resumed, similar to hydraulic PAS being crazy heavy with no assistance until you swap it out with a non-assisted rack?  I wonder how EPS behaves during a failure on the road? Still rubbery and squishy like a cheese string?

Anyway, when you get a rack, try and get one from a MK6 GTI as it will have the right 'sports' steering profile its module.  Diesels, 1.6s etc just have the 'normal' profile.  You can't write a different profile to it without some code you get on a sticker with a brand new 'virgin' VW part.  SKN code I think they call it? Or some such.

Other than that, it's just simple VCDS stuff to tell the steering and ABS to communicate via the angle sensor in the rack, rather than the steering column clock spring.