infrequent stiff steering

[cняis]

on the bottom of the steering rack, u will need to jack the car up.

looky here:

http://www.iol.ie/~kilkennyhockey//BentleyManual/SU01/ch7.2.5.html

you can get to it by looking up towards the rack from behind the o/s/f wheel

also, imagine that picture in reverse (as yours is RHD unlike the pic)

[golf mk2 tornado red]

sweet sorry for hijacking .tomorrow it will be .i live on a cobble road its a bloody nightmare

[cняis]

wish mine was more like yours, i have the opposite problem 

[rubjonny]

I agree with golf8v, sounds like top mounts to me, and check the springs are seated in the struts properly.

[cняis]

I agree with golf8v, sounds like top mounts to me, and check the springs are seated in the struts properly.

kthanx 

how do i check the top mount bearings for wear/seizure?

[rubjonny]

jack it up both sides and spinthe wheel, see if you can spot rough/stiff movement

[cняis]

jack it up both sides and spinthe wheel, see if you can spot rough/stiff movement

did that and it felt fine.

confused now.

seems like its only a problem if there's weight on the steering/suspension components. (especially slow turning such as parking/turning the car around). its no problem at speed.

 

[rubjonny]

hmm, maybe they only bind when under load.  any play in the top mounts?

[cняis]

will check when i have chance, is this just a case of popping off the strut top caps and having someone turn the steering wheel whilst i check for play?

[rubjonny]

yeah, and wiggle the strut about too.  Note there will be movement bwtween the top mount and shock tower, becasue the only thing holding them in is gravity, what you're looking for is play in the actual bearing