Servotronic Steering Rack Service.

[willg54]

I can confirm the seal rack end seal still leaks. why the hell are Audi selling kits that leak the ******* :corey: ers. I am not impressed at all....

Im going to try see i ZF can get me a single seal but i'm not holding out much hope...

Anyone else who came across this problem, what did you do?

Cheers

[willg54]

Right, Autosuppliers in Kidderminster do their own kit for a whole sum of £20...if it doesnt work they'll happily refund and try to fix the problem they couldnt believe Audi are selling dodgy kits. Its worth a try....

[LHD_Kid]

Right, Autosuppliers in Kidderminster do their own kit for a whole sum of £20...if it doesnt work they'll happily refund and try to fix the problem they couldnt believe Audi are selling dodgy kits. Its worth a try....

What a nightmare, did you manage to pressure test before refitting to the car?
I'm glad I waited to see how you got on... if the new suppliers stuff works, I think I'll give them a go...

Good luck...

Chris

[Error404]

Will i think the kit from the dealer IS a ZF kit

[AndyP]

Anyone else who came across this problem, what did you do?
Cheers

Chucked it in the bin and bought a re-conditioned rack

For the amount of work involved fitting it, I didn't want to take a chance with it leaking.

[willg54]

Will i think the kit from the dealer IS a ZF kit

Its not the ZF, its their own kit. The ZF kit is £76!

I may end up getting a reconditioned rack yet, but for £20 its worth a try. It cant be rocket science....

I didnt pressure test it...just poured fluid into the open end of the housing and fluid dribbled out of the seal around the rack....no point putting it under pressure!

[Error404]

yeah I wouldn't be surprised if it was a rebranded ZF kit since they made the OE rack
maybe worth getting it rebuilt by a specialist at least they will have the facilites to properly test it before it gets shipped back to you... IIRC about £150-£200 is the going rate.
If you are lucky you might even find a new old stock rack for that money

[benntenn67]

Steering Rack

Hi, I've not had a rack recon by this company, but I know of somebody who had calipers done with no probs -

http://www.steering-racks.co.uk/

[willg54]

Talk about embarrassing....I took another look at the rack today and the old rack end seal. I then realised, hiding under the plastic bush is an oring...the one I couldn't find a place for!

Quick rebuild and it appears to be holding fluid! I'm going to see if I can get it pressure tested somewhere this week.

Hopefully its all good!

edit

So people understand my ramblings...here's a pic to explain (not to the quality of other pics in this thead so i apologies!)

To make the rack end seal, seal A goes on the outside of the metal ring, C sits in the groove inside of the metal ring, then the bush B sits on the inside of C so you can't see oring C any more.

I had forgotten o-ring C basically....

Otherwise it's all the same as before. (note this a non-servotronic kit so a few seals are missing when compared to the picture on the first page)

[willg54]

still no leaks!

Moved the rack in and out alot and nothing is coming out, dry as a something very dry would be! pressure test will be the final test...think i might knock something up in the garage...

Anyone know what pressure the power steering system runs at?

[Error404]

d'oh! PAS system runs circa 140 bar

[willg54]

d'oh! PAS system runs circa 140 bar

ok...ill take it to a pro haha

me...140bar...powersteering fluid...that would be one very dirty garage covered in red liquid...

[A80Avant]

red liquid????

isnt it supposed to be green and only green???

[willg54]

red came out of it....im just using a bit spare to test it....

[Error404]

noooooooo! Audi PAS 101: Green Audi fluid ONLY, red ATF will **** the seals, that why it was leaking in the first place
Only use GOO2000 / GOO4000 from the dealer, and there is also a Febi aftermarket fluid that is the same spec... some say you can use Citroen hydraulic suspension fluid too but IIRc that more expensive than the real deal.