mk4 golf pas steering leak woes

Pete · 2011-03-26T16:02:23+00:00

So I woke up to my mk4 golf 1.6 16v (azd engine) leaking power steering fluid through the track rod boot which was held on by a cable tie. Called the aa guy who tried varies clips on it to hold the boot on ended up with a jubilee clip and that is holding the fluid. He filled up the pas resevoir and watched for leaks no leaks BUT the boot filled with fluid and is now bursting (not literally) and he said as soon as i drive it it will burst and the steering will get heavy. But its safe to drive to the garage 5 minutes away ?He said its probly the rack thats given up or or the pas pump but more likely the rack as its pushing all the fluid one way and not discharging the excess back to the pas tank.Having done a search on gsf its £390 odd for the rack and you get £110 back when you bring the old one back,He did also say it could also be a fault on the discharge value which should distribute the pas fluid back to the tank.Financially this is disasterous for us cost wise, just the part let alone the labour that may be involved. Is it a couple of hours maybe ? or more ?Also after some advice on what the problem might be and advice on what to do ?Quite devasted as its not untill now I realise how important and how much I rely on my golf.Forgot to add, he did say the seals are likely to be damaged in the rack as of this so it will poosibly need to be changed possibly.Also would you get one from GSF or theres a few on ebay like 330542150530, 250793369533. Theres genuine ones from golfs but I'm unsure which I need or how old they are, I don't fancy changing it for a used one about the die and ending up having to pay again for the job to be done.

Mar 26, 2011 40 Replies

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alright, I have to ask, why did you not go to your regular place?

From my own point of view, I never try to play down the expense of doing a good job, I don't have to. So many people have been turned over by trying to get a cheap job it is amazing to me that anyone tries when they already know somewhere reliable. As for somewhere that uses 'unknown quality' mechanics............. That smacks of Quik-Fit. Rant over.

Fair point. When I initially called the AA (only basic cover) he said it won't be driveable very far, I said there's a garage 4/5 mins away he said that's all it would make. So going on his advice I limped to this place.

But I did notice it wasn't that bad driving, but thought he's way more qualified than me to know what's safe, so took his advice. The specialist I use is 16 odd miles away (we live out in the sticks so nothing is usually near, he didn't think it could make it anywhere near that far so I opted for the local garage

Cost was not an issue, I just had no way of getting it anywhere safely according to what the AA guy said.

Although this local place do my MOT's and odds and sods, never had a issue with them.

Apparently the mechanic who did it used to work there but sometimes works part now when they need extra help.. so presumably they know and trust him

I guess next time i should get it towed to my usual place.

A call to them this morning wasn't to encouraging, when I went in Monday they were still trying to find the airbag fault, god knows what they did on it yesterday sounds like nothing to be honest, today he said its on the tracking machine now, and they think its a broken wire causing the air bag fault but have yet to fix it. He said it should be ok to pick up tomorow if somethings wrong he will call me.

This place is not known for shoddy work, its a small town so reputation means a lot, we know lots of people who use them with only kind words to say. But my experience on this occasion is Mickey mouse.

I have this nagging feeling they are going to call me tell such such is broken and I'll have to pay or some crap along those lines.

Turned out to be a headache for me daily dealing with them.

If its not done by tomorrow I'll ask them to stop work and arrange for it to be transported to my specialist, to re-do the entire job as I have no faith they have done it correctly tbh.

I appreciate your rant because it is bloody dismal! ... its like when will this end. Well if its not done by tomorow it will be transported off and that will put an end in dealing with them any further.