Well.. I bought another one.

[coke]

Yeah I found it. Praise Google. I wondered if emptying the fluid out of the rack would've made it easier to steer, but I also think a manual rack would be easier anyways. I dunno.

[TylerDurden]

IIRC, Hagar sprayed a drained PS rack with dry lube with good results.

[bbob203]

the theory behind it is having a little of fluid in the rack to circulate keeps it smooth and the power rack has a short turning radius than the manual. I really like it a lot.

[steevz]

On the gasser I'm swapping ATM, I just cut the metal lines.. turned the wheel back and forth to relieve some pressure, then cut a piece out of the rubber PS hose and looped the two together adding two hose clamps. Haven't tested it yet, mind you.. but I've heard that looping the PS rack makes it feel much nicer then just plugging the holes.

....and the power rack has a shorter turning radius than the manual...

^ And this. Plus, I don't have to get an alignment done. The wheel is perfectly center and the car drives dead straight, didn't want to mess with it. Almost every older VW I've had the wheel sits cocked to the side a bit even right after an alignment.

[coke]

Thats because the tool that is doing your alignments is not centering your wheel before he does it.

[steevz]

douchebags..

[coke]

Uh huh. The machines don't tell you if the wheel is centered. They just align it to specifications. So if the technicians don't take the time to physically CENTER the wheel, then your vehicle will still be aligned, but the wheel will not be centered. If it tracks straight on a flat road with no crown, but the wheel is crooked, it means its aligned well, and you just need to remove the wheel and center it. Otherwise, if the wheel is crooked, and it pulls one way or the other, go back to the alignment drunk and make him do his job right

[coke]

Well it came home today. Come to find out, it has more like 400k miles and not 238k. LOL. It runs good though. Exhaust is shot, so I'm patching it up tomorrow for inspection purposes. Someone replaced the rear bumper with an older A2 bumper, not the big bumper style which annoys me greatly but its just one more thing to find and replace.

[surfcam]

I guess I'm annoying. I put a old bumper on my 91TD so I could put a cheap trailer hitch on it. I gave the big bumper away.

[coke]

Wouldn't be so bad if they did it right, but it was a hacked together job and it looks horrid.

[coke]

Well I cut a 3 foot section of rotted exhaust pipe out today and replaced with new pipe. That quieted it down. Figured I'd put a power steering belt on it and fill it with fluid . All appeared to be well until I backed out and all the ATF I put in was on the garage floor. Oops. Rack is shot. Pissing fluid out the P/S tie rod boot. So, looks like I'll be swapping in a manual rack and getting rid of the power steering junk.

To do: adjust headlights, front wheel bearings, inspect/replace rear wheel bearings, dash lights (for night driving), tranny fluid change, oil change. Rear wheel felt a little tight when rotating, so either brake issue or wheel bearing. Time will tell. Oh yeah, blower motor resistor. Works on all speeds but max.

[bbob203]

do you have to take out the cluster to replace the nightlights on it? I've been driving with a dark cluster for months.

[Dakotakid]

How did you determine the updated mileage (400K)?
Let's see, it you have all speeds (blower motor) BUT high, I don't think that is the resistor....right? It's the other way around with a resistor problem.

Something which would really help this car, if indeed it has so many miles, is to replace the bushings on the control arms. I have over 500K miles on my '85 Golf and replaced these bushings with oem stuff along with the larger spindles, larger ball joints, and larger axles (100's) and I was totally impressed with how stable this front-end feels. You don't need to go to the large stuff, but you would be much more stable with new bushings. Even if the rubber is not torn loose in the metal orbit, they are still trash as they allow too much movement. A front alignment is not necessary afterward.

You can install the bushings (circular ones) with a stout, larger vise....you don't need a press to accomplish the task. Removal of the old ones requires a punch, sharp knife (maybe), and a hacksaw. Put a small amount of grease in the orbits as you squeeze them in...done. Don't forgt to orient them properly for the pivot. Also, be very careful in removal of the bolts if this car has seen corrosion. It is preferred NOT to twist off a bolt. However, even that is not the end of the world forever....just temporarily!!!!

[bscutt]

Not sure about the MKII but on the MKI the high blower position runs through a separate relay. Mine was not conducting well, took me several years to go troubleshoot and fix (3rd position working was enough for me to let it go for a while) but it was a combination of cruddy connections at the relay and at the plug going into the heater box if I recall correctly. Try wiggling stuff to see if anything makes the blower operate on high.

[coke]

Thanks for the tip on the relay. Wasn't aware of that one. I've never had a blower motor not work on high position, always the latter. Took it for inspection today, got a leaking strut. So, wheel bearings and struts are one of the top things on the list of things to do next to swapping in a manual rack.