binliner 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 A bit of background info... I've had coilovers on the car for about 3 months (lowered about 50-60mm) and had the camber set and 4 wheel alignment done after theyd been fitted. About 10 weeks later the car was pulling to the left and steering felt twitchy so I went back and they said the tracking was way out so they readjusted everything FOC and it was fine. Now 2 weeks later its pulling towards the kerb again and you can feel the steering wheel twitching, especially at slow speeds.Question is could it be something other than the tracking? or if it is the tracking what would cause it to keep going out? Anything I should be checking? Link to post Share on other sites
jcorallo 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 I think its getting tired Justin - if its anything like mine.I'm having to replace nearly all my suspension bushes to get rid of a similar problem.My rear bushes are toast and the front control arm bushes squish so much that the car dives about the place of its own free accord now. Plus I still need to replace my strut top bearings, the ARB and bushes.....Its amazing that ANY part of the MKIII suspension that is worn seems to have such a drastic effect on sterring feel.Get it up on jacks/stands with each wheel in the air in turn - the bushes should be rock hard (I mean ROCK HARD) with no squish and no cracks/splits - try and lever the bushed joint and see if there is any squish. Front control arms are common - just get a strong screwdriver inbetween the arm and the subframe and see if you can squish the arm away from the bushing - back and forth.If the rear circular bush on the control arm is worn, the wheel moves back and forth in the arch on accel and decel. They take a lot of strain and wear quicklyJules[ Edited Thu Feb 12 2004, 05:57PM ] Link to post Share on other sites
mina 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 Hmmmm.....would that explain why despite having the tracking checked 3 times - my car still pulls to the left?Why would the steering also feel lighter when turning left? Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 cheers jules... its in the garage for something else on monday so while its there I'll get them to check the bushes.... is it better to replace with poly or will that make it a lot harsher ? Link to post Share on other sites
ukdub 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 my bushes need changing as well. I am going for standard bushes mainly because the car doesnt live on the track it is a daily driver as i am sure most of the vr6 's out there are. Link to post Share on other sites
VR6Steve 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 Mina, it could be. Have you checked your PAS fluid recently? Justin, no idea sorry Link to post Share on other sites
jcorallo 0 Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 After my jaunt to Santa Pod - thats when I finished off my drivers side control arm bush. The extra strain it was under from the harsh starts I gave it have mashed it to bits.Now when I pull up to the traffic lights on the way to work in the morning and come to a stop, I can feel the car squish/rock back and forth on the bushes about a cm each way - it feels HORRIBLE!!! It feels like my tyres are glued to the road with elastic and its all wobbly. Yack. Like I have wobbly tyres that are low on pressure (they're not btw).The rear axle bushes mean I can wobble the car through quite a few degrees left and right when going in a straight line - toooo much rear wheel steering happening - feels like I'm on ice. Very weird.My car is fooked. Anyway, I have a GSF bag full of goodies now - 2 x rear bushes, 2 x lower ball joints, 2 x strut top mount kits, 2 x control arms, 2 x track rod ends.At £50 a go for tracking and £300 a go for a full set of rubber, I'm doing it ONLY ONCE THIS YEAR! Jules Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 update... its in the garage today, problem was the tie rod ends were loose Link to post Share on other sites
jcorallo 0 Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 woah! do you mean loose or do you mean worn?!?I'm wondering if this is happening on mine also. The tie rod is fully replacable at the rack side - so I might try that also.I replaced my lower control arms and top mounts and bearings this weekend, and although its much better, the steering still fooks about the place.The hunt continues!Jules Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 loose the locking nut hadnt been tightened properly apparently Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 spoke to soon... after doing that and having tracking & camber set up again.... it still pulls to the leftIve swapped the front and rear wheels becuase one of my front tyres was worn on one edge aand it still pulls to the left!the garage cant find anything wrong Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 spoke to soon... after doing that and having tracking & camber set up again.... it still pulls to the leftIve swapped the front and rear wheels becuase one of my front tyres was worn on one edge aand it still pulls to the left!the garage cant find anything wrong Link to post Share on other sites
jcorallo 0 Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 check list:1) un-even tyre pressures2) un-even coil-over settings3) binding brake(s)4) camber5) tracking/toe6) front and/or rear wheel bearings7) rear axle bushes8) inner and outer rack ball joints/tie rod ends9) front control arm bushes10) lower ball joints11) incorrectly centred rack/steeringwhere is the place you are taking it for the tracking? you could do the un-thinkable and take it to a stealership and see if they can track it? or at least get a diagnosis?Jules Link to post Share on other sites
just2zang 0 Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 coilovers.. Mine had problems( made by avo).. sometimes springs settle in differently. Mine were still settling after 3 months!!e.g. my right side sat lower even though my springs were set at the exact same level.. One spring may be weaker, etc.. probably not the problem, but coilovers are an absolute bugger to set up exactly. hence why i have gone for normal lowering springs and uprated shocks this time round Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 cheers guys... Jules when you say uneven coilover settings do you mean height or damping (or both) and would it have any effect if the top nut wasnt tightened properly?Ive been taking it to John Austin VAG specialist... dont know who does the tracking for them... I'll phone them today and see if theres anything on that list they didnt check Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 another question how do I check if my wheels themselves are okand how do I check 3,7,8,9,10 & 11 on your list?! Link to post Share on other sites
binliner 0 Posted February 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 just checked with the garage and they checked everything on the list bar the coilover settings, they even checked the tracking on 2 different machines to be sure!... so im going to check the coilover settings in a bit Link to post Share on other sites
mina 0 Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 Hmmmmm...me thinks my car might have the same problem - time to get the tape measure out.. Link to post Share on other sites
Macca 1 Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 binliner, did you get this sorted in the end?Mine is suffering from pulling strongly to on side, but the weird thing is that one day it will feel fine, one day it will be terrible, next day fine etc. etc. and even during a journey it seems to come and go (regardless of road camber)I have also had teh ABS light come on and off, although not necessarily in conjunction with the dodgey steering, but i have read about the traction control system whereby if a wheel is detected to be spinning, the brakes are applied slightly to that wheel to stop it.could this be malfunctioning in some way?The on/off nature of my problem has made me wonder if it may be a faulty electical sensor of some kind. Link to post Share on other sites
acf8181 0 Posted August 29, 2004 Report Share Posted August 29, 2004 first of i'd check the wheel alignment...mine felt awful after i'd fitted the suspension cause it was way off (it was off the grid on the computer alignment guage actually!)you are right that if the abs system shuts down you also loose the edl...so could theoretically be that.oh, and just to make things even more compicated you can loose the edl without the abs, and without the warning light going on![ Edited Sun Aug 29 2004, 10:49PM ] Link to post Share on other sites
Macca 1 Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 thanks for the info mate.Ive had the alignment checked twice now and both times were fine, tried all sorts of tyre pressures and all the easy things to check. I guess to check my theory i should have a look at the wear on the brake pads to see if its uneven. Link to post Share on other sites
acf8181 0 Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 well, if the edl is intermittantly cutting out then the pads will still wear evenly.see if there's a pattern...does the car only feel strange when the abs light is on? if so, that proves its cause the edl keeps switchin off. sort the abs prob and it should go away, theoretically. Link to post Share on other sites
28v6r 0 Posted August 30, 2004 Report Share Posted August 30, 2004 Over how far are we talking that the steering pulls to the left?? Any Ideas...The light heavy symptoms that is refered to else where is the rack failing, although still operating undernormal circumstances I'm afraid that it's on it's way out.....A heavy feel on the steering however is the opposite, the power steering pump is failing by not delivering enough pressure to the system.. Best thing to start off with is phone VAG technical help desk, and ask for the recommended settings via the manual that they would use for the car (Or rather SHOULD use for the car!!!)Then pay for the stealer to set the car up correctly, they may decline due to coilovers being installed but on the other hand it MAYBE set correctly...I did this after a long hard slog against my stealer who maintained that the car was set correctly (VW Caddy) the manual states that the car should be set to 0 mins.. mine was not and scrubbed tyres, eventually I got them to set the car as per factory and the car drives spot on!! over say 1/4 of a mile the car will SLOWLY drift off to the left, and to test that this is correct will do the same on the wrong side of the road, proving that the camber will eventually pull the vehicle in. Before hand my Caddy pulled quite hard to the left, maybe in say 200 yards or less...Start at the very begining with the check list given, prising gently but with a little force on all the bushes there you will feel what is weak and maybe moving under load...Bimmers are notorious for this, but in their terms its called tramlining, whereby the vehicle will "wander" all over the road and be pulled by poor road surfacing etc. Answer: track control arm bushes both top and bottom!! The Golf won't have both I think, but certainly the lower may be affected... Link to post Share on other sites
VR6Pete 1,455 Posted August 31, 2004 Report Share Posted August 31, 2004 sounds like the same symptoms i had a while ago, my rack is within the last 200 miles of it's life now... Link to post Share on other sites
Macca 1 Posted August 31, 2004 Report Share Posted August 31, 2004 How much to sort the rack then, if im getting the light/ heavy symptoms.The camber effects it a lot, the car pulls to the right, so generally the camber balances it out. If the road tilts slightly to the right though, the car would be off the road pretty quickly! say sub 50 yards Link to post Share on other sites
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