1997 A4 steering rack?

After 156k miles the car has developed creaking, clunking, some shimmy and some "wandering".

Cold in the morning is wirst, as everything warms (ambient temp) the symptoms lessen.

All the rod ends are good, could it be the rack?

Thanks.

Reply to
Bikegeek
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More likely a problem with the control arms and or motor / transmission mounts.

The steering rake would be more likely to exhibit problems by leaking fluid which you can check by feeling the rubber accordion boots on the rack. I have seen rack mounting bolts loosen up can cause clunking but it is rare.

Reply to
TonyJ

Yes you really need to check all of those control arms well and they can be a little tricky to check too! ;-) The steering rack would show its looseness easier I would think.

Here they discuss the control arm issues..

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Buster 06-21-2002, 03:00 AM"I have this problem, but have been unable to get a dealer to properly diagnose it. In the meantime, I have: floating/wandering at freeway speeds, increasing difficulty with handling the car, creaking and clunking. I called another dealer (other than the one that told me there's no problem, and who I seriously doubt even looked at it), and that dealer wants to charge me $250 just to look at it. He also said "control arms NEVER fail on these cars," so I don't think I'm going to spend any $$ to take the car to him!" CONTROL ARM KIT PROBABLY NEEDED!!! Excellent brand recommended, and there are many brands out there so please be careful with your choice! I am trying to research these brands some.

I need to do all of my control arms too, since I have replaced the Front Lower Left Rear and need the Front Right Upper Front one now! :-(

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

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