wobbly steering

[Adam_W]

my 2000 2.5 tdi has started wobbling through the steering wheel, can feel it moving side to side in my hands, usually at slow speed.

Any idea what it might be? going to check the wheels arent loose but that to me seems unlikely as id expect it to have shown before now (had the car months) and id expect to hear a banging as the wheel comes away from the hub.

any ideas?

Cheers

[TDiBoraSam]

Could be problems with one or more of the front bushes? Wishbone, steering rack etc.

[Eddie]

Can of worms this one check ur tyres i had this once on a 3.0 Senator and the tread had started to lift on the o/s/f tyre fine at moderate speed but all over the place at low speed then as Sam said any part of the front suspension get it up on axle stands wheels off and start levering with large crow bar. Ed

[Adam_W]

cheers, theres a job for tomorrow then

[Adam_W]

pumped the tyres up to the set pressure (were all about 1/2 a bar down) and all the wheel nuts are on as they should be, if anything its worse now, its worse when coasting or off the accelerator, put the clutch down at 60mph and it feels like you've lost the wheel weights.

will pull the wheels off sometime but its a little worrying, is it likely to be a bush or is something out of balance?

[KeithS]

I don't know if its of any help but I had a problem like this a couple of years ago. At anything over about 60mph I had wobble as if the wheels were unbalanced. It turned out that the rear tyres were worn a bit (although still within legal limits) and replacing them cured the problem.

[Adam_W]

just jacked up a side at a time and checked the movement in the wheels, doesnt appear to be anything there so i have no idea whats causing it, very strange as its intermittent and only when off the power/coasting, might have to take it somewhere :(

[Adam_W]

strange problem this, i thought it was ok as its been fine for a few days but noticed that it seems to do it when turning left or with any left steering on at all, any ideas?

[Adam_W]

had the front wheels balanced the weekend and thought it was ok, but no.. that familiar tugging at the wheel is back, feels like its pulling once on every revolution as it changes on speed, also never happens when your on the gas, and turning slightly to the right seems to lessen it.

Im at a loss

[TDi-iac]

A bit of an odd one that. Try checking your ns driveshaft for play (the weight of cornering may lock the play out.) A bizzare one is to check your timing belt tension also, as when it is a teensy bit loose then power on/power off will cause a *v* slight judder wich can be amplified through the transmission.

[Stevebt]

Hi

Have you looked at the CV joints? Have you had to replace the boots recently? Also can you hear any clunking/knocking when you pull of slowly at full lock either way?

[Adam_W]

iv not had a real good look at them no, iv only had it like 3 months or less so not touched it, will have to have a look the weekend, i think i heard the odd clunk but never really sure if its me the seats or the car

[Eddie]

This happened to mine two days after replying to this post weird eh stripped her down today the summary is upper wishbone arm bushes perished on three of the wishbones replacing the whole four tomorrow got the parts today £137.34 but i get trade cos its a taxi £99.31 two front tyres absolutely goosed wire popping from under tread inside wear on each tyre osf the worst of the two the two arm bushes had gone on this side,outer driveshaft gaitors gone £20.00 had to buy 17mm hexagonal sump plug remover the hub bolt is 17mm allen key vw refused to sell me the special tool ''dont sell tools mate'' no but they employ them mate.Did a full service as well using castrol edge arm & a leg per gallon emptying the old oil into me old oil barrell noticed the shiny copper washer of the sump plug b*******d!!!!!! will post tomorrow to tell if i cured it

[Eddie]

Hey lads what a pig of a job this is everything and i mean every single nut and bolt has never ever seen a smear of copperslip its took me 1 and 1/2 days to get the o/s/f stripped down even the abs sensor was seized solid dreading it when its all reassembled and the abs light comes on, also noticed after taking the hub carrier off that the front lower wishbone ball joint was knackered so its of to the shop tomorrow to spend a little more of the folding stuff (it is running out) saw a tip somewhere about using the hub bolt to split the outer cv joint beware if ur drive shafts are hollow it doesnt work,by the way lads are the hub bolts reusable or are they like stretch bolts use once then discard and if not are they a dealer part only??

[TDi-iac]

The hub bolts are re-usable. Thread lock is a must, however!

[Eddie]

TA for that TDI is it still 150lb then a further 180 degrees if u use the old bolts,just found out tonight when i turned the ignition on to reset the service counter that the speed sensor that was seized in the hub has given up the ghost abs & esp lights remaining on so its back to the shop tomorrow for a new one ta Ed

[Adam_W]

well i had a chance to drive it where i could hear what was going on (radio off, windows down, 2am) theres a rubbing/squeek noise that gets faster the faster you go and louder when the steering wheel starts to jiggle, now if turning left into a side road (90 degreees) i get a bang/clunking from the front left.. so im thinking its more serious than just the tyres/wheels, could it be.. wheel bearing? driveshaft (CV)? brakes? anything else?

[TDi-iac]

well i had a chance to drive it where i could hear what was going on (radio off, windows down, 2am) theres a rubbing/squeek noise that gets faster the faster you go and louder when the steering wheel starts to jiggle, now if turning left into a side road (90 degreees) i get a bang/clunking from the front left.. so im thinking its more serious than just the tyres/wheels, could it be.. wheel bearing? driveshaft (CV)? brakes? anything else?
If the sound is more like a humming then it is your wheel bearings (even if only one side is going, the other is probably on its way out too. If it has worn out completely, this could also account for a small clunking sound.

Can't recall the exact layout of all the linkages in the passat, but try checking the anti-roll bar connection for the clunking sound if it appears when cornering over bumpy roads.

[Adam_W]

no its not humming and iv been swinging off the wheels, cant see any play, its definatly a clicking/clunking when cornering (both left and right now) seems to be developing, my gut says the outer CV on the nearside but im going to speak to a dealer about it

[Adam_W]

just for future reference.

Was the outer CV, pulled it off and the bearing cage had broken up, right mess.