MOT FAILURE !! :(

[ldoshiv2]

Recieved refusal slip back looking like football Accumulator!
my car has failed on :

1 track rod end ball joint has eccesive play - new track rod end.
2 nearside power stering component leaking from a failed seal - new power steering rack.
3 nearside front brake caliper has seized
4 rear offside brake caliper leaking
5 offside rear trailing arm has eccesive play in a pin/bush
6 parking brake below requirements
7 nearside front tyre needing replaced
8 offside front tyre needing replaced,

My 2 front tyres have about 5-6mm tread but the inside has been destroyed because of tracking!
and my power steering rack began ******* out fluid 2 days before MOT ! typical,,

Any suggestions where I could pick up a cheap steering rack new/refurbished, and does anybody know what is meant by the rear trailing arm, it seems a bit vauge ? much appreciated, cheers guys...

 

[murran]

if its a non quattro then theyre simply on about the beam axle bush. best off replacing both sides tbh

 

[aragorn]

Yep, and it'll transform how the car drives too.

Racks a bit of a ***** of a job.

 

[ldoshiv2]

expensive?... it aint a quattro, already spent £1100 on it, just keeps eating all my money. starting to think i should upgrade...?

 

[THE MONSTER]

expensive?... it aint a quattro, already spent £1100 on it, just keeps eating all my money. starting to think i should upgrade...?

You want to be thankful it's not a quattro then even more to go wrong..

The Steering Rack is a bit of a Job but inevitable on these cars..

You have to trade yours in has an exchange for a reconditioned Rack..

Here is the place to exchange it I can recommend them having done mine in the past..

It will cost about £130 I think with you having to pay P+P for them to send you the Rack and P+P to send yours in return..

You can receive the Recon Rack first then send them yours when you get it out they just take your card details..

Two man job to be honest with you pulling on one end and your helper pushing on the other..

The extraction of the Rack is only bettered in difficulty in putting it back in..

There is a break down thread somewhere available about explaining it in detail for the above..

Good Luck..

Make sure you mention what Car model the Rack came out of the V6 is different..

Power Steering Specialists - Western Power Steering

 

[Nitro]

That is a worry, you say steering rack failure is inevitable on these & I have a quattro. (which you say is worse) At what sort of age and mileage do they start to fail?

 

[CHRIS555]

I had to do the rack on my B5 2.8 Quattro last year, pain in the **** to get one!

One very very important note - make sure whoever does it uses the CORRECT POWER STEERING FLUID otherwise it will be wrecked again quickly - some people use none VAG fluid and it buggers up the joints etc so make sure they use the real stuff from Audi.

 

[THE MONSTER]

That is a worry, you say steering rack failure is inevitable on these & I have a quattro. (which you say is worse) At what sort of age and mileage do they start to fail?

I did not mean the Rack was worse than any other(you referring to Quattro's)..

The racks would be the same in the A4 b5's apart from the V6 it's the Quattro in general I was referring to because just the set up something else to go wrong that was all..

But the improved handling and what comes with the Quattro is the risk you take..

My car had done just over 90,000 when the Rack went leaking from the seals big time which is what happens in the end ..

Can go any time I suppose but to be realistic your looking at 90,000 plus..

Once it's done should see the car out really unless your very unlucky..

 

[murran]

racks arnt too bad to do on these imo. watch where you get a recon rack from. ive seen badly reconditioned ones leaking again within a week...... if its been painted thickly in black paint by the recon people then id worry!

and as said above, proper vag mineral oil only (green stuff).

 

[ldoshiv2]

thanks for all your help guys!! I tracked a new one down today and got one for £147 + VAT, got 2 brake callipers, £55 each + VAT new, new track rod end £10 + VAT and 2 budget tyres for £110 delivered, which I think is very cheap considering they are 215,35,19 ha-ha! still not too sure about the rear trailing arm though, I think this may be it .. ? any ideas. AUDI A4 95-01 REAR REAR AXLE BUSH OE QUALITY on eBay (end time 15-Nov-10 13:26:30 GMT)

 

[Broken Byzan]

Sounds like you have it sussed. Thats the correct bush, just make sure you do both sides

 

[ldoshiv2]

thanks mate!

 

[ScottyP45]

the rack is a bitch to do. my previous b5 suffered the dreaded track rod end seal leak and ****** out when turning, soon used more fluid than fuel, and when a mate looked up the job on autodata in the garage, it came up flashing in red for excessive labour time.....still anything's doable with time and tools eh. I think it quoted 8 hours labour for a mechanic to replace it.

 

[ldoshiv2]

holyyy shittt!! Family friend doing it for 80 notes, was gonna go for a second hand rack but i thought, job worth doing, worth doing right..

 

[Nitro]

murran, I changed the fluid in my pas system a couple of months back, put in new Mineral oil, it came from Germany (think it was made by bosch) came in a green container, but the fluid was not green it was almost transparent. But it was Mineral oil. Should I worry?

 

[ScottyP45]

I think any mineral will be ok on the seals, problem is when folk use other ps fluid (some are atf - and thats diesel lol) which softens / eats / or shrinks the seals depending on what you chucked in, but best to get audi green mineral its not that dear.

 

[THE MONSTER]

holyyy shittt!! Family friend doing it for 80 notes, was gonna go for a second hand rack but i thought, job worth doing, worth doing right..

They are all second hand Racks even from Audi they have been reconditioned..

The trusted place to get one from is as already said(Western Power Steering) them guys have been doing it for 20 yrs and they do all the Racks for larger companies that's what they do and all they do nothing but Racks all day long and cheaper than your quote..


Take no notice if they tell you it's an easy job it's not you need 2 pair of hands pushing and pulling swearing and cursing it's just in a bad place to get at it properly..

If your guy is careful when he takes the Track Rod ends off you can Tipex them and very carefully count the threads so that when you transfer them to the Recon Rack they should be spot on..

I spent a lot of time looking into this when I needed one and looked at Audi prices and everything and was really happy (lucky) if you like to have found this place which is where places like Audi and other companies have them reconditioned ..

Has for the Bushes I would only fit OE ones but that's just me with something like that you only want to be fitting once..

The guys from E-Bay you are buying from have a nice record 4 NEGATIVES in a month..

I have a shop on E-Bay and my own shop website here and in Spain and can tell you I would not trust someone with that record..

But it's your call...Has a guy once told me you can take a horse to water but you cannot make him drink..

 

[ldoshiv2]

got the axle bush, a recon rack and callipers today. need to send back my old ones though, guys doing work tomorrow, will let you all know, cheers for your help !

 

[ScottyP45]

good luck mate :thumbsup: