My Squeaky Steering - any advice please?

[GH77]

Hi,

Attached is a riveting 1 minute video of my squeaky steering wheel. Enjoy!

Is this a common ailment? Any quick fix anyone can suggest? The noise is definitely coming from down below and not the upper column as I also noticed it while I was doing the front suspension arms and moving the steering by holding the front brake discs. I unfortunately didn't have anyone on hand to help me investigate it further at the time and pinpoint the squeak.

There is no visible leak on the rack, the PS fluid has never needed topped up and remains at a constant level. Both track rod ends have been replaced as has one tie rod. The squeak is there when I first use the car, whether it is warm or cold outside. It only goes away after a good 2 or 3 hours of driving. Quicker if that driving is around town and needing lots of steering input.

Are the any points on the rack worth greasing, for example? Should the boots be filled with grease?

Thanks for watching

[PsYcHe]

Not seen the vid, but have you checked the filter in the power steering fluid reservoir?

[GH77]

Not in particular, no. I have unscrewed the reservoir cap and had a look. But really just for looking's sake. Didn't see anything untoward. I am presuming that the filter you mention is in that cap? Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?

[David's8]

Not the most entertaining video (yes, I watched it all) but its really hard to pinpoint the noise from a recording. There's no doubt that its more than slightly annoying. The fact that it goes away after a while suggests engine heat sorts it out which in turn suggests rubber seals/gaiters in or beyond the bulkhead area. (not rubber chickens..)

[Delboy]

Did some googling, seems as though its not uncommon.

Sound was described as rubber dragged on glass or squeaking a baloon.

Have watched your video would say its very similar.

This was the only plausible explanation that i could find and worth a look.

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?p=12533093

[GH77]

Thanks for the suggestions. I googled it myself a while back and came up with the same results. I've had all the column covers off before and lubricated everything I can see. No change unfortunately. I'll probably go back and pay more attention to the lower bulkhead area. Will let you know if I have any success.

Thanks again.

[HPsauce]

One thing to bear in mind is that sound travels and finding the actual origin can be a baffling exercise.
My other car had a very weird noise coming apparently from near the drivers feet (after some work around the engine). It turned out that it was being generated by the rearmost exhaust section rattling against part of the rear subframe and being transmitted along the whole length of the exhaust to the area of the catalyst by the engine.
You didn't notice it from the rear or below because of various flexible mounts, soundproofing etc.

[GH77]

So, finally got a couple of hours to myself and got the car up on axle stands at the weekend. The groaning is definitely coming from the tie-rod / track rod end area.
I'm thinking that perhaps when I was trying to change the track rod ends a while back I applied so much heat to the driver's side trying to separate it from the inner tie rod that I might have completely dried out all the grease on the ends of the rack. (Even with the whole tie-rod off, on the bench and applying a bit of Oxy to it, they still wouldn't separate, making me feel less of a weakling than I had when trying with blowtorch and spanners in situ)

I wasn't aware that these should be greased as ElsaWin doesn't mention this as part of the procedure and I always thought steering rack boots were more dust covers than grease boots. So, when I refitted the new inner tie rod and track rod end, I didn't grease anything. Should I have done?

Despite the lack of grease mentioning in ElsaWin, VagCat shows 'steering grease 250g' AOF06300004 as part of the steering rack parts. Can anyone offer any advice before I go greasing up parts I shouldn't? Fnaar

[GH77]

So, pulled back the rack boots and greased the moving parts beneath ...... No change, still squeaking

Can anyone suggest which part of the steering / suspension to attack next?

[ainarssems]

Outer track rod ends, I know they have been replaced but it does not mean it's not them. 9 out of 10 times it will be them.