Steering rack leak?

[Goran]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

So a broken servotronic rack is heavier than a non-servotronic? Is it any different while moving? I really dislike how light working servotronic is at low speeds - it feels like driving on ice.

What was leaking on the old rack?

I really disliked how light the servotronic rack was at slower speeds too. I only found out how different it is on my old S8 when the servotronic relay failed. At first I thought it felt too heavy at slow speeds but I quickly got used to it. So when I bought my current S8 which had a working servotronic rack, the first thing I did was pull out the relay
It felt great, much more precise because a bit if extra effort was needed, and it just felt right for the size of the car, like you could feel what the car is doing.
I was hoping the non servotronic rack would be a bit heavier than the servotronic, but it seems just as light as a working servotronic.
Just pull the relay if you want to try it for a few days.
They gave me the old rack back, he said it was one of the hard lines on the rack. I’ll have a look and let you know.

[Goran]

I just had a thought it could be because the manual car is less heavy? Its hard to remember exactly, I think that the auto felt heavier with the relay pulled. The manual feels just right. And with the standard rack it feels too light. Maybe the standard rack feels better on a auto car?

[Goran]

Sorry to rant even more
I drove my father in law’s Citroen, I think its a C3?
The steering felt heavier than on my D2!
That is just depressing

[MikkiJayne]

In theory it should be possible to tune the servotronic to be weighted just how you like, anywhere between broken and max assist. Its just a PWM signal on the solenoid, with a ratio of speed to pulse width controlled by the module. Either fiddle with the speed signal in to the module, or drive the PWM directly with something like an Arduino and you can have whatever configuration you like.

If it was just one of the pressure lines failed on your servotronic rack thats a pretty simple fix using stainless braided hose and banjo fittings. HEL (who are 6 miles from me and do stainless brake lines) could make those up easily enough, then you could reinstate the servotronic with custom settings. I have three D2s with servotronic now so its something I want to investigate.

[ainarssems]

Servotronic on my S4 feels like it's either on at very slow speed or off once you get moving. I have not noticed any gradual increase or decrease in assistance.

[Goran]

I think it may need to be fully rebuilt. It had play in it, I got several warnings during MOTs
When I save up some cash Im going to get it rebuilt. I dont like the feel of this non-servotronic rack.