Does anyone know how to change the steering rack on a mk1 golf gti ? 1.8

Hey,

I'm about 85% sure that my steering rack needs changing, so for the sake of this thread just assume this is at 100% as I'm desperately trying to work out costs/difficulty of this endeavor.

So to make this quick, if anyone knows of any threads that currently exist covering this topic I would appreciate a link if one can be found.

If not, anyone's opinion on the difficulty of replacing the steering rack would also be muchly appreciated.

For the sake of money, assume money to purchase parts isn't relevant, with just the actual mechanical difficulty being the most important factor here.

Kind regards,

Bill !

 

On a scale of 1 to pain in the butt, this is a pain in the butt. Power Steering, or non-powered?
Jack the Car as high as you can get it and support it on stands.
Remove the wheels.
Remove the outer tie-rods off of spindle and inner rods.
Remove the Inner tie-rods.
Remove the Ground strap on the horn (attached to the Steering Rack mount) This is an important little ground as it is the major ground for the horns.
Disconnect the steering gear box from the Steering column u-joint.

Remove the Transmission linkages.
Remove the lower Transmission mount.
(May have to remove the down pipe). I know I did.

(Power Steering) Is the addition of removing the 2 hoses all the fluid out of the res.
Drain the res.
Disconnect the 2 hoses, (the one on the back you have to remove the passenger side mount and loosen the drivers side (don't remove)
This allows you to pivot the rack to get to the Back Hose.)
Place the Disconnected hoses in a plastic bag so it doesn't drip all over you.

Remove the passenger side mount, Pry the rack out of the mounts, wiggle it to the left, and to the right.

Why is is a pain in the butt… Because if you don't have it on a lift, then you are flat on your back working upside down and everything is falling in your eyes.  Best time to remove it is If you have to do a clutch change…

Power steering will self bleed when you turn the wheel lock to lock on the reassembly.

I think that is about it, Be sure that you re-connect that ground wire to the new power steering rack and frame otherwise your horns won't work.