Steering rack & power steering question

[MAXRPM]

Mk4 jetta I changed the steering rack, I got it from the wrecking yard, i got steering fluid but it is not circulating, and PS is not working, tried to bleed it off but fluid is not going through reservoir,, i also changed PS pump from my other ALH, the question I have is although there are no leaks in the system, could the steering rack still be bad?

 

[Tdijarhead]

The thing that circulates the fluid is the pump. If the rack is not leaking it should be ok. If the fluid is not circulating then the likely culprit is the pump unless you hooked something up backwards or a line is plugged.

 

[Tdijarhead]

The thing that circulates the fluid is the pump. If the rack is not leaking it should be ok. If the fluid is not circulating then the likely culprit is the pump unless you hooked something up backwards or a line is plugged.

 

[MAXRPM]

Thxs for the input,, maybe my return line and pressure line at steering rack are reversed, do you know which line is on the top to banjo bolt, is it the one coming from reservoir? Or going to pump?

 

[ninedee_golf_tdi]

I think they have different size banjo bolts.

 

[MAXRPM]

Yes you are right, so they are positioned correctly, now I'm going to pull the banjo bolts to see if they have obstructions,,

If there is no obstruction then I will proceed to pull steering pump,, which is a PC of cake to pull out

 

[CanadianALH]

I wonder if these racks are just starting to hit their life limit. This is the second I think I’ve read about here in a couple months and mine went like two months ago.

 

[MAXRPM]

If t

I wonder if these racks are just starting to hit their life limit. This is the second I think I’ve read about here in a couple months and mine went like two months ago.

What happened to yours? Was it leaking? Mine was leaking then I got me one from the wrecking yard, it looked good so I bought it,, i also bought me a subframe,, replaced bushings with audi TT bushings then my tie rods, and now I still do not have power steering.

 

[Tdijarhead]

My original rack died at about 250k, I like you bought a junkyard special it’s still in there at 496k. Why did you swap pumps? Was there a problem with the old one?

 

[BobnOH]

Junkyard rack could be clogged.

 

[MAXRPM]

Cause i ran steering pump dry for a week and ruined it completely

 

[MAXRPM]

Junkyard rack could be clogged.

How do you unclogg it?

 

[BobnOH]

With the lines disconnected, compressed air followed by solvent followed by PS fluid.

 

[MAXRPM]

I believe 1 of the banjo bolt is a M18 X 1.5MM, does anybody know the other one what size it is?

 

[Nuje]

M16x1.5 from what I recall.

 

[MAXRPM]

Thank you I'm trying to get me a bolt with barb to flush it with air

 

[MAXRPM]

Shoot I've done everything to the steering rack that I purchased from junk yard blew air through all hard lines inlet oulet, changed reservoir and no steering, coming to the conclusion that the steering rack can't only be bad if it leaks but even if it does not leak can still be bad, I may have to replace it again, I'm all ears please advice I can always give a try if anyone has a suggestion, thx in advance

 

[P2B]

Is PS fluid circulating?

 

[Sting]

I wonder if these racks are just starting to hit their life limit. This is the second I think I’ve read about here in a couple months and mine went like two months ago.

Yeah, I had mine and the pump replaced last year. But as far as I know it was the original unit, so 20 years is pretty good in my estimation.

 

[MAXRPM]

Is PS fluid circulating?

I see air bubbles but no circulation, I've changed 2 steering pumps, so it is not the PS pump, I'm going to try to bleed off system, at this point it makes no sense to me, what I'd hate is
if I were to purchase another steering rack and get the same results.

 

[P2B]

I see air bubbles but no circulation, I've changed 2 steering pumps, so it is not the PS pump, I'm going to try to bleed off system, at this point it makes no sense to me, what I'd hate is
if I were to purchase another steering rack and get the same results.

I believe the bleeding procedure is to lift the front wheels and turn the wheel lock to lock slowly ~10 times, engine not running, check fluid level, then start it and turn wheel a few more times. That's how I do it after rack or line replacement.

 

[MAXRPM]

I believe the bleeding procedure is to lift the front wheels and turn the wheel lock to lock slowly ~10 times, engine not running, check fluid level, then start it and turn wheel a few more times. That's how I do it after rack or line replacement.

I've done it several times more than 20 times, I'm going to try to do, something like when we change the PS fluid, I'm hoping that are pockets of air trapped in the system, and hopefully it is that

 

[Nuje]

I thought it needed resistance for the pump to do pumping and thus, push the air out. If bubbles are coming into the reservoir, that would indicate that it's pushing the air out. Have you tried it with the wheels on the ground so the PS pump needs to do real work? It sounds nasty at first, but as the fluid fills the system, it should get better pretty quickly.

(I know it's hard on the system, but I had a guy driving with that noise for at least a week before we were able to replace the leaking HP line. That rack is still going strong tens of thousands of km later.)

 

[MAXRPM]

I thought it needed resistance for the pump to do pumping and thus, push the air out. If bubbles are coming into the reservoir, that would indicate that it's pushing the air out. Have you tried it with the wheels on the ground so the PS pump needs to do real work? It sounds nasty at first, but as the fluid fills the system, it should get better pretty quickly.

(I know it's hard on the system, but I had a guy driving with that noise for at least a week before we were able to replace the leaking HP line. That rack is still going strong tens of thousands of km later.)

I have done it both ways, on the ground and off,,

 

[MAXRPM]

I found the culprit, it was not the pump or steering rack, it was actually the PS inlet hard line, had a restriction in there and it was preventing for the P Sterring fluid from circulating from the system

 

[GlowBugTDI]

I found the culprit, it was not the pump or steering rack, it was actually the PS inlet hard line, had a restriction in there and it was preventing for the P Sterring fluid from circulating from the system

And the restriction was??....

 

[ghohouston]

I had well over 400k on the factory rack on my 2001 Jetta. Never a leak either. The passenger side did develop play though.

 

[MAXRPM]

And the restriction was??....

Someone that had the steering rack on the car when I bought it from the wrecking yard used a copper fitting tubing imserted in a cut line I imagine reducing the flow of PS fluid going into the steering rack, rack came with PS hard line attached

 

[BobnOH]

I found the culprit, it was not the pump or steering rack, it was actually the PS inlet hard line, had a restriction in there and it was preventing for the P Sterring fluid from circulating from the system

OP-

Mk4 jetta I changed the steering rack, I got it from the wrecking yard, i got steering fluid but it is not circulating, and PS is not working,

Figures