Notchy steering

[ahsanx]

Hi all,

I've done a quick search and couldn't find any posts with a solution to my issue, although it's been posted before.

Ok so here goes; Audi A4 2012, multitronic, 143 (stop/start).

Out of the blue whilst driving I noticed that when moving slightly left or right the steering seems to have a notchy effect almost as though it's on a cog/ratchet.

It started yesterday morning happened on my route to work all the way there regardless of speed. On the route back and in the evening it didn't occur. So this morning, again, same thing all the way to work (16 miles). On route back on the motorway it was a lot more noticeable to the point where I could feel a resistance behind the wheel when negotiating bends.

I decided to pull up after leaving the motorway and moved the wheel to full lock left and right and proceeded with my journey and low and behold steering was absolutely fine.

Has anyone else seen this issue or know how to resolve it?

Regards,

Naz

[harj81]

I have a similar issue on 2008 v6 multitronic....didn't do it when last with Audi tho!

Be interesting to see if anyone has had a diagnosis and resolution

[niall campbell]

sounds like an air lock

which you would expect after an oil change of the power steering

If you haven't changed the power steering oil, then check the reservoir to see if you have a leak

However, going " Full Lock" on your steering is a bad idea. You should never hear the engine note or power steering note change , you will burst the seals

[rowdy-999]

However, going " Full Lock" on your steering is a bad idea. You should never hear the engine note or power steering note change , you will burst the seals

I'm sure a modern system can cope with that. It tends to be a recommend procedure to bleed a PAS system. Maybe doing it for prolonged period of time may be harmful, but when would you do that?

[niall campbell]

a modern system will cope with it as long as the seals last

if your doing a lot of 3 point turns or bad driver, then see how long the seals last

[ahsanx]

Thanks for the info niall. I didn't actually lock it to the point of note change TBF I had read something similar to what you have just said. It hasn't happened for 2 days now and surprisingly today has been pretty cold too.

I have to ask a novice question here but I can't locate the power steering reservoir to check it. Again it's the 2.0D 143 2012 stop/start engine. Can anyone point me in the right direction to that?

Audi told me my car had the software update for this issue in 2013 and told me I had to book it in for them to investigate further..

[ahsanx]

Ok to add to this I've been told my car doesn't have a power steering reservoir due to it being electronically controlled.