Do we need no stinking power steering?

Translation- you're too cheap to fix it! In our state if the power steering doesn't work you can't pass the state inspection. Now if you have an older car in which VW had PS as an option then you could remove the power steering and replace it with an regular unit.

By "disengaging" the power steering, are you proposing removing the pump, disconnecting the hoses, or both? Doing so may leave you with a car that was much more difficult to steer than a non-PS vehicle. The gearing is usually quite different on PS units than manual units. It may not be just "a little stiff". On some cars, it is very difficult to turn the wheel when the power assist does not work. These systems are designed to allow you to wrestle the car safely to a stop in the event of failure. Driving it around that way not be practical.

If that particular car model/year had a manual steering offering, then you might remove the pump, hoses, and gearbox completely and replace it with a manual gearbox. But the cost and labor to do so might exceed what is would cost to fix the PS system.

Good Luck, Mike

Keith E. Loyd wrote:

_______________________________________________________________________________ Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 -

I may be misremembering this, but I thought when I got my '87 Scirocco (with power steering) on the road I compared the lock-to-lock turns with my '84 Scirocco (no P/S) and found that the '87 had fewer turns. If I've remembered that correctly, that would mean a different gear ratio.

I've also had the experience of loosing the P/S on the '87 (leak in the rack, lost all fluid) and it seemed a good deal harder to turn the wheel at low speeds and when stopped than the '84 was. It seems to me that loosing all the fluid is similar to disconnecting the P/S hoses which (I infer) is what you're thinking of.

- Bill

Jim B.

Right, I had an '86 GTI without power steering, though it was fairly light (maybe 2300 lbs?) after living with it for almost 15 years, there were more than a few times I thought of going through the trouble of adding power steering. Depends on other things too, like the aspect ratio of your tires (the 60 series ones on the GTI could be inflated to higher pressure to make it easier to steer, at possible expense of wear due to overinflation). My '78 Scirocco was so light (maybe 1900 lbs) and had narrow 70 series tires, it didn't need any power steering (which is part of the reason I didn't think I would need it on the GTI, but would have prefered having it, though I didn't buy the car new myself, so didn't have original selection of its options). As mentioned, the power steering was also quick ratio compared to manual unit, so you had more responsiveness along with the reduced effort.

If you like the car otherwise, I'd get it fixed...if rack is OK...though pump or hoses aren't cheap, probably is worth doing...not many people would be interested in buying a car with broken power steering, I would think.

Not a good idea. Some parts of the system will be working harder than design so you may loose reliability and safety.

I'd forgotten that point. The '87 has wider tires on it than the '84 did.

- Bill

I guess what I saw in this question is, why do we need PS on Jettas? I was a bit surprised when I went into the showroom back in '99 and saw it had it. I guess like everything else its considered a cool bell/whistle and if it didn't have it it'd be like it didn't have power windows or something (the horror!). With different gearing and a bigger steering wheel it probably wouldn't be all that different, except in parking lots.

dean.

a bit surprised when I went into the showroom back in '99 and saw it had it.

P/S has been standard on VWs since the A3s here and most late A2s had it as well.

These days, cars are heavier, have quicker steering ratios, and have smaller steering wheels.