Tyguy9

Hello everyone! Am back with another question based of other user experiences. I currently have a power steering leak and eventually found out it was from my steering rack on the driver side (The boot clip snapped and I was able to see fluid coming from the rack directly). I finally was able to remove the entire rack assembly today and bought a used steering rack from some retailer on Ebay. My question is, this rack is a 2002 Audi A4 and has 4 bolts to mount it rather than 3. Do I buy a brand new one or is it wise to install this 2002 rack?

To be honest, I am more leaning towards a new rack but just simply don't want to wait another 3 weeks like the previous order. Any thoughts?

turbo510

When my '05 3.0 needed a rack a couple of years ago, I went with a Bosch/ZF rebuild from autohausaz.com. It had been factory-overhauled in Hungary or some other European country, came in a ZF carton, and has worked perfectly since. They are a bit over $400 though, but for me the fact that the critical internal seals, etc, were OE, was important. They are in stock for your car and ship in one business day. Lucky for you the 1.8T is a piece of cake compared to changing that thing on the V6.

Tyguy9

Thank you for the reply!

I actually bought the Bosch/ZF rebuild yesterday believe it or not and it came in today. I was able to insert the rack back into it's original position, but after putting everything back together, a problem occurred. My input shaft does not connect to the universal joint connecting to my steering shaft. Is this normal and if so, how can I fix this? If not, is there a way to push the steering wheel behind to give more space for the input shaft?

If this is not normal AND cannot be fixed, then I honestly have no idea what to do...

Tyguy9

Oh forgot to mention. When I drained my power steering fluid, it was a milky texture for some reason. I looked up why and apparently a lot of water entered my reservoir (Which makes sense as some days it rained and I left the hook open with cap open). There a proper way to flush this? After draining the entire reservoir, I added more regular mineral based fluid but it was still milky (Most likely because there was some in the pressure hoses...).

turbo510

I bet you don't do that again! Water in the system is no good, similar to water in the engine oil, it makes an emulsion that is corrosive, so you've got to flush that out as well as possible. I would suggest putting the front wheels in the air on jack-stands, then disconnect the 'return' hose to the reservoir and aim it into a catch container (the return-hose comes back from the rack, by way of the cooler loop I think, while the reservoir's supply hose goes direct to the pump). You may want to have some way to collect the old fluid as it drains from the reservoir, as you disconnect the hose. After the reservoir drains out, plug the return hose connection on the reservoir so you can fill it with fresh fluid. With the engine Off, turn the steering wheel lock-to-lock multiple times, while keeping the reservoir filled at all times. When the fluid looks good and clear continuously, re-connect the return hose and fill the reservoir to the proper level. After driving the car for a bit, I would still use a turkey-baster to remove most of the reservoir's fluid, and again add new fluid.