Loose/vauge steering issue

[hasekna]

Hi guys recently i've been having a few issues with the steering on my Mk2 Golf 16v PAS.

The symtons are:

Loose/vauge feelings steering.
Lots of play in the steering wheel.
Car following the contours/camber of the road.
On acceleration and sudden lift off of the throttle, the feeling of the front end of the car jerking back and forth.
Feeling the gearstick moving while turning.
Also more recently, difficulty going into reverse unless the wheels are straight.

I have replaced the front engine mount with a solid one, and changed the wishbone bush's to poly with new bolts, ball joints, track rod ends and drop links. After this the car feels no different at all and all these symtons are getting worse.

I have tracked the fault down to worn/loose steering rack bush's. I've had a freind turn the steering wheel while I have been observing and I can see the rack moving side to side taking up the slack in the bush ect.

My question is what width bush do I need? I've been told there are 15mm and 18.5 widths. Also do I need two? And lastly is at worth using poly bush's, I thought I might as well because the one's I've been looking at on ebay are only around £10 a bush.

Thanks

[rob.043]

If you get poly bushes there are two to choose from, ones for power steering racks and ones for non power steering racks... I would imagine thats where the different widths come from. So order a pair (you need two) of the power steering rack bushes. Im happy with the powerflex ones i got. Venom motorsport seemed to be the cheapest place to get them at the time.

[hasekna]

Thanks for the tip, those ones on venom are the cheapest I've found yet! I've just been out and measured the width of the strap near the gearbox, and it is 20mm. This strap is originally a non-pas strap though as I converted to power steering. Will I need pas specific straps or do you think the new bush's will be ok in them?

Edit:

I found some others and I've found two part numbers for pas bush's.

Non Power Steering Rack Mount  2  PFF85-231
 
Power Steering Rack Mount  1  PFF85-232 18.5mm
 
Power Steering Rack Mount  1  PFF85-233 15mm
 

[rob.043]

I dont know what the differencce is in the mounts, as mine is non-pas. I think it would be best to get pas strap's and new bushes to suit, as having the 'wrong' straps may be part of your problem. I dont know what the differnet widths for pas rack mounts are all about, is that for a standard rubber mount- where are those numbers from?

[rubjonny]

the U clamp is the same pas and non-pas, its only the bush which differs due to pas rack being bigger in diameter