Help! Steering Wheel Slips (FREE SPINS!) while turning!

My wife drove my TDI '01 golf and when I got in, the steering wheel was cocked at a 45 degree to the left as the car drives straight.

I thought maybe she had hit a curb or something.

However, as I drove it I didn't pull one way or other.

But, then I was making a very slow turn into a parking lot and making my first turn, I could feel the wheel "free slipping" (best way I can describe) like the wheel was free-spinning for a portion of the turn and then suddenly the wheel "caught" and I was able to complete the first turn. Then I turned back the other way and, hell, it did it again... While the wheel "slips" the tires do not turn - the car continues move straight - if I don't brake it would head off the road or whatever tangent I happen to be headed for... then when it 'catches' the tires turn as they should

The wheel was then totally upside down when in the 'straight' position.

Later, the car was parked and I had my radio on for quite a while and my battery ran low. I was parked on a hill. I tried to push start but needed to turn it to the left to head the car downhill. The steering wheel just spun in place and wheels would not budge... it started raining really hard so don't know if moisture enhanced this problem or not... I had to rock the car back and forth while trying to turn the wheel. It finally turned enough to get the car rolling and bump-started it.

I felt the wheel slip a few other times as I made turns. This is really dangerous but before I take it to a mechanic I want to know if anyone can diagnose the issue... I do know that when I purchased the car the steering wheel has always had "play" - not left/right but forward-backward play..

I can push/pull the steering and it has a good bit of play... could it be as simple as the nut that holds the wheel on is loose?

or some other issue?

thanks!

Deep Fried

Can you pull the wheel forward and back?

I would NOT drive the car until you get this sorted.

-J

The steering wheel engages a splined shaft. If there is considerable front/back play, then perhaps the bolt holding the wheel to the shaft has come out, but that is surprising because of the torque spec for that bolt.

You'll need to pop the airbag assembly off to look at the bolt and shaft/wheel engagement.

If you've been driving with this for a long while then I suppose its possible that some of the splines have been stripped off and you may need to replace the whole steering gear from the floor up.

I'd have it towed to a mechanic.

IIRC its either a 10 mm or 12 mm tripple square bit that is used to remove the nut that holds the steering wheel on. As mentioned above, the airbag module has to be unplugged and unclipped first (battery disconnected for safety) to get to the retaining nut. I would check the nut tightness and if tight, remove it and check for ruined splines, most likely on the steering wheel (I think the steering wheel is cast aluminum or pot metal, not as strong as the steel steering shaft that is plined also.

Another possibility is the steering unversal joint that connects the steering rack to the steering shaft, or a loose bolt that clamps it. I believe the U-joint it is splined also, and held on the rack & pinion steering gear with a clamp bolt, retained with a nut and likewise on the steering shaft end. The universal joint could have failed too I guess, but it appears to be a slippage problem, so I would guess either loose bolt(s) or stripped splines.

PDJetta said:

IIRC its either a 10 mm or 12 mm tripple square bit that is used to remove the nut that holds the steering wheel on. As mentioned above, the airbag module has to be unplugged and unclipped first (battery disconnected for safety) to get to the retaining nut. I would check the nut tightness and if tight, remove it and check for ruined splines, most likely on the steering wheel (I think the steering wheel is cast aluminum or pot metal, not as strong as the steel steering shaft that is plined also.

Another possibility is the steering unversal joint that connects the steering rack to the steering shaft, ot a lole bolt that clamps it. I believe it is splined also, and held on the rack & pinion steering gear with a clamp bolt, retained with a nut and likewise on the steering shaft end. The universal joint could have failed too I guess, but it appears to be a slippage problem, so I would guess either loose bolt(s) or stripped splines.

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IT should be a 50 or 55 torx bolt holding the steering wheel on. I have one out in the tool box. IF you try pulling the air bag your self make sure you pull the ground wire off the battery and you can use a short reg. screw driver to pop the air bag just do not tear up the hole in the back of the steering wheel with the screw driver, it only needs to go into the hole short ways.

I've only pulled one on a 98 New Beetle and it was a triple square bit.

12mm triple square 100%...had dozens of wheels off never seen a torx on any MKIV.... to the OP it could also be a stripped rack or stripped pinion...also the rack yolk tension spring and nut could have come loose (never seen it) allowing the rack yolk to loosen on the rack.... and please don't drive it until it's completely sorted.....it's not just your a$$ on the line....

thanks for the replies

wow, seems like a lot to digest...

update: The light for the air bag has come on... hmmmm, does this mean the steering nut/assembly is a faught to the point that it has damaged or effected the air bag?

Also, when you say "pop the airbag" - what does this mean? does this make the air bag un-usable? pop the airbag sounds like it means damaging it.


sorry, but I am not well versed in the intricacies of steering.

I also noticed that when the car is off and no power steering assist the slippage is very easily invokes by just turning the wheel... but when car is running the power steering seems to minimize the slippage to all but a tiny bit.

does anyone know of a tutorial or thread w/ pics that shows how to dissemble the steering wheel (pop airbag etc?)

Thanks for your help.

deep fried

Deep Fried said:

wow, seems like a lot to digest...

update: The light for the air bag has come on... hmmmm, does this mean the steering nut/assembly is a faught to the point that it has damaged or effected the air bag?

Also, when you say "pop the airbag" - what does this mean? does this make the air bag un-usable? pop the airbag sounds like it means damaging it.


sorry, but I am not well versed in the intricacies of steering.

I also noticed that when the car is off and no power steering assist the slippage is very easily invokes by just turning the wheel... but when car is running the power steering seems to minimize the slippage to all but a tiny bit.

does anyone know of a tutorial or thread w/ pics that shows how to dissemble the steering wheel (pop airbag etc?)

Thanks for your help.

deep fried

Click to expand...

Sounds like the wiring connecting the airbag may have been over-extended by the steering wheel spinning in the shaft.

If it spins more when there is more power steering boost, that indicates something has let go in the shaft to where the friction that remains is the only thing guiding your steering.

This is a serious safety issue. Consider the car not driveable.

If you are not comfortable with this sort of maintenance I would have it towed to a service centre equipped to deal with it properly.

Gary

in this context pop the airbag=remove the airbag assembly so you can get to the nut retaining the steering wheel to the shaft.

OP: No offense, it sounds like this may be beyond your skills. Given this is a critical safety component (steering and airbag), I would get the car towed to a trusted shop.

Tony

jimbote said:

12mm triple square 100%...had dozens of wheels off never seen a torx on any MKIV.... to the OP it could also be a stripped rack or stripped pinion...also the rack yolk tension spring and nut could have come loose (never seen it) allowing the rack yolk to loosen on the rack.... and please don't drive it until it's completely sorted.....it's not just your a$$ on the line....

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I tried one of my triple squares and it will work also which I did not know. when we were installing euro cluster most weekends way back years ago the instructions then called for a Torx which I have also used on maybe 50 cars. Really does not matter as long as it works.

Torx is 6 pt so it would hit every other triple square (12 pt). I guess it would work but I'd prefer full engagement.

You would feel the looseness in the steering wheel, plus the grinding if the wheel was spinning on the shaft. I highly doubt the wheel would spin/strip the splines unless it was loose. This sounds more like a steering rack issue.

Air bag light is on because the clock spring is overwound and either broke a wire, or something unplugged.

As for the torx v xzn debate.... this is how I overcame the 5 pt security torx on the MAF screws... common denominator between 6 and 5 is 1.... ground off the other 5 and presto...

TonyJetta said:

OP: No offense, it sounds like this may be beyond your skills. Given this is a critical safety component (steering and airbag), I would get the car towed to a trusted shop.

Tony

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I second this.

As far as your SRS light on now, it's most likely because you've broken the clock spring in your steering column. I bet your horn doesn't work anymore either.

i hope you are still not driving this car. i would have it towed into the shop i would not even risk driving it to the shop. im sure any reputable place that is good with vw will be able to take care of you seeing as this problem has nothing to do with the tdi engine. best of luck to you

Deep Fried, how was your issue resolved? I just tightened the loose nut on my 2001 Jetta yesterday after having it wobbling for months. I now think it may have worsened to the point that you reached, with a stripped spline, if that is indeed what happened to yours.

The OP does not seem to be active here lately, but I'm also curious as to the outcome.

Same issue

I have the same exact issue.
Getting towed to a shop once I leave work.

Please let us know the cause.

jimbote said:

12mm triple square 100%...had dozens of wheels off never seen a torx on any MKIV....

Click to expand...

T55 works perfectly fine. Old thread but it was bumped,

turbovan+tdi said:

T55 works perfectly fine. Old thread but it was bumped,

Click to expand...

sure TV, but the bolt is a triple square not a torx, the teeth are really too coarse for the fastener and it could strip with repeated use (the bolt is soft)... i can also use a t30 to remove a 5mm allen bolt but eventually it'll strip the allen head or fold over the torx splines ... in a junkyard situation i would prob use a torx bit but the wheel bolt is a common 12mm triple square so why be sloppy ?

jimbote said:

sure TV, but the bolt is a triple square not a torx, the teeth are really too coarse for the fastener and it could strip with repeated use (the bolt is soft)... i can also use a t30 to remove a 5mm allen bolt but eventually it'll strip the allen head or fold over the torx splines ... in a junkyard situation i would prob use a torx bit but the wheel bolt is a common 12mm triple square so why be sloppy ?

Click to expand...

I agree, the right tool is the proper one but a T55 works. Its tight and if it strips out the bolt, then its had red loctite used and hit with 300 ft/lbs.

Some don't have triple square at home or wherever, as in my case, had to hit the wreckers, only have Torx at home, so T55 it was.

anyone solve this? My thoughts, wheel is off spline, or the teeth are FUBAR on the rack, assuming the tierods on the inner and outer and all the other parts are good. First thing i would check the PS fulid for burnt smell and the boots for leaks. if nothing abnormal then its the steering wheel or link in the arm.

I would start first with the steering tie rods/ball joint/steering rack.

It is doubtful that the interface between the steering wheel and the steering column/shaft would be loose and then catch after a range of non-engagement. The steering wheel and the shaft it mates to have a large number of small teeth, and the engagement is solid. There just isn't room for selective teeth to strip, which is what would be required to have a range of slip then engagement.

On the other hand, it would only take a few teeth stripped from the rack and/or pinion to have this happen. Or perhaps some problems with the ball joint or tie rod could do this as well.

Any decent shop that knows anything about this car can do this; it is not TDI or diesel specific, so find a good mechanic.

You can check this yourself by finding a way of grabbing the u-joint of the steering shaft down by the firewall, behind the pedal(s) (probably closest behind the brake pedal) and then see how it is turning when the steering wheel is in the 'slip' part of the problem. If it is turning with the steering wheel, then you can quit playing with the steering wheel and focus on the exterior parts of the steering system, which are the rack, tie rods, and ball joints.

Good luck. As pointed out in the original thread, this is a severe safety issue and the car should absolutely NOT be driven until this issue is sorted.

Cheers,

PH