Audi A3 Steering rack

[Hitch]

Thought it was inner tie rod shaking around...but upon closer inspection it seems my rack is dead....

My usual man says hes too busy for the next 3 weeks...
One or two others only want to fit a £1000 rack....

So i'm tempted to get a used rack and see about chucking it in myself, thats my question....

Being reasonably mechanically minded, and a reasonable tool kit, i'm not too worried about tackling a lot of jobs...
Anyone done a rack on an A3? From a quick scrabble about underneath, looks like the sub frame is made up of big cast ally lumps.... do all these need to be dropped off to get the rack in/out?
ARB mounts will need to be unbolted, so i suppose drop links off, wishbone mounts look like they might be able to stay....?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Only helped a friend, but the pinch bolt from the steering to rack was a pig

 

[Ton-up]

Don't forget to put an extortionate £30 by, for tracking!

 

[anto44]

its not too bad to do yourself. subframe is in 3 pieces, leave the 3 pieces bolted together and remove as one unit.
Put car on axle stands.
remove front wheels.
unolt track rod ends, 3 13s on bottom ball joints, lower anti roll bar link nuts.
remove plastic trim in front of pedals and disconnect column from rack.
remove 2 16 bolts from dog bone mount.
remove 2 13s from exhast bracket at back of subframe.
remove 3 tx30 from shiney cover in exhast tunnel on top of rack.
unclip loom.
remove bolts holding subframe to body and lower about 1 inch.
remove 10 bolt holding loom to subframe (the bolt is right where the loom meets the subframe pointing down).
lower subframe completely and disconnect plugs from rack.
undo 4 bolts holding rack on and swap racks.
turn phone upside down and re read above to reassemble

 

[hareng]

Same as the Golf done mine on todd last year on axle stands.
Proper recon rack not a paint job delivered think was £130 from a place in Tamworth.

Only problem had couldnt undo one dogbone bolt and O2 sensor. Could only drop as low as the O2 sensor cable would allow not a great deal but enough to crawl on belly and reach up to it.
Made a tool to insert back in steering column spline.
The two hydraulic feeds are different threads try not to screw the wrong one in, they should still line up.

There is some talk of using the correct green fluid VAG specify not the usual power steering stuff.

 

[Hitch]

Same as the Golf done mine on todd last year on axle stands.
Proper recon rack not a paint job delivered think was £130 from a place in Tamworth.

Only problem had couldnt undo one dogbone bolt and O2 sensor. Could only drop as low as the O2 sensor cable would allow not a great deal but enough to crawl on belly and reach up to it.
Made a tool to insert back in steering column spline.
The two hydraulic feeds are different threads try not to screw the wrong one in, they should still line up.

There is some talk of using the correct green fluid VAG specify not the usual power steering stuff.

It's a 55 plate, pump/rack all one unit... no fluid mess from what I can make out...

 

[Hitch]

its not too bad to do yourself. subframe is in 3 pieces, leave the 3 pieces bolted together and remove as one unit.
Put car on axle stands.
remove front wheels.
unolt track rod ends, 3 13s on bottom ball joints, lower anti roll bar link nuts.
remove plastic trim in front of pedals and disconnect column from rack.
remove 2 16 bolts from dog bone mount.
remove 2 13s from exhast bracket at back of subframe.
remove 3 tx30 from shiney cover in exhast tunnel on top of rack.
unclip loom.
remove bolts holding subframe to body and lower about 1 inch.
remove 10 bolt holding loom to subframe (the bolt is right where the loom meets the subframe pointing down).
lower subframe completely and disconnect plugs from rack.
undo 4 bolts holding rack on and swap racks.
turn phone upside down and re read above to reassemble

That's the sort of thing I want to hear!
Any special tools? Got spline/torx bits sockets... odd metric sockets and spanners...

 

[anto44]

No special tools needed. Just don't seperate the subframe, leave it in one piece.
Mark the subframe to the body before removal and refit back to the marks.
Also disconnect the column from the rack with wheels pointing straight and refit in same position, don't let the steering wheel turn when its disconnected from the rack

 

[anto44]

Its an electric mechanical rack. electric motor drives the rack through gears no pump or fluid at all

 

[Mee]

And the outer bush as these can wear, and they are less than £5 from VW.

 

[Hitch]

If you pull the gaiter off the end of the rack and shake the tie rod you can see a fair bit of movement between the housing and the actual rack its self.

 

[Hitch]

@Hitch - £200
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-A3-8P1-8PA-8P7-2003-2013-Electric-Power-Steering-Rack-/182543400755?fits=Car+Make:Audi|Model:A3&hash=item2a806f3f33:g:cKQAAOSwDKtY1RLL

This is their faceache page : https://www.facebook.com/psrspecialiststeering/

Nice one...


Spoke to Dave at PSR just now, helpful guy... New rack being sent out today. Now to decide if I'm going to fit it the weekend...