How did I screw it up?

[StephanK]

Been having an odd problem since I did some work on my 2005 Beetle. I had some front wheel bearing issues, so I decided to do a bunch of stuff at the same time. I find out I needed new front wheel bearings, so I decided to do the whole steering knuckle, inner and outer the rods all at the same time (did the rear wheel bearings as well). After I did all the work, I've had some weird issues. There is a little noise in the steering at low RPMs, it also seems like the engine is running a bit rougher, like it had a little less power at idle.

The only thing I noticed when doing the work was that the old inner tie rods had a channel in the threads and the new ones didn't (the new inners also had a washer with them that I put on). From what I've found, though, there isn't any fluid flowing through there, so it shouldn't matter. I didn't have a tie rod tool, so I made one out of an old 3/4" drive socket, a piece of pipe, and a couple of bolts. When putting the new inners on, I don't remember if I put a wrench on the steering rack shaft or not. Could I have overtightened it and damaged the steering rack somehow? I also added some new fluid to the steering reservoir, but I had looked here before I did and got the Pentosin stuff.

Is it something I did, or could it be something totally unrelated? Seems odd that it started right after I got it all back together.

 

[BobnOH]

Could be the bearings didn't get tightened properly, no way to tell from the interweb. Engine power seems unrelated unless you somehow created binding in the wheels. Alignment might be a good idea, although I doubt that is the cause for the noise. just guessing....

 

[StephanK]

Could be the bearings didn't get tightened properly, no way to tell from the interweb. Engine power seems unrelated unless you somehow created binding in the wheels. Alignment might be a good idea, although I doubt that is the cause for the noise. just guessing....

I used the bearing tightening procedures found elsewhere on the forums, so I'd hope I didn't mess that part up! I'll double check the current bearing load to see if it's still correct.

 

[BobnOH]

Yea, good, most common mistake (from reading) is not tightening with vehicle on the ground, bearings under load. Strange sounds can sometimes be brake components or CVs.
Hate ask these type questions, but were the knuckle, tie rods real cheap?

 

[StephanK]

Yea, good, most common mistake (from reading) is not tightening with vehicle on the ground, bearings under load. Strange sounds can sometimes be brake components or CVs.
Hate ask these type questions, but were the knuckle, tie rods real cheap?

Yeah, I'll be sure to leave the car on the ground to recheck the bearings.
I used Moog parts, I've always had good luck with them before. I didn't go with the cheap Amazon parts, at least!

 

[BobnOH]

If you did them as per the instructions, they are likely fine.

 

[StephanK]

Think I found my issue, I changed my search terms and it led to me finding out the OAP seems to be locked up.. Gonna replace that when the new part comes in (I had replaced the belt and tensioner early this year, so I hadn't suspected any belt issues). I guess we'll see if that takes care of my issues!

 

[STDOUBT]

Been reading this site for 11 years straight, never heard of "OAP".
O'reilly Auto Parts?
Old Age Pensioner?
Orthogonal Arrays of Particles?
Sorry.

 

[jmodge]

Organic apple pies?

 

[StephanK]

Lol.... saw it abbreviated on another site, I meant the Overrunning Alternator Pulley

 

[StephanK]

It was indeed just the pulley making it sound rough and causing the steering noise. If a moderator wants to delete this thread, that's fine, it seems like the alternator pulley has been discussed at great length in other threads!