[A3king]

Hi everybody!,

I have had my A3 for about 5 months now and its done 20,000 miles. About a week or two ago i noticed a change in the steering and need help!.
It seems to surface when the car is cold and also only does it when stationary!, the problem is that the steering goes very stiff as you are turning the wheel, its a pain when reversing into a space or something and im sure did not do it when i got it.
A friend has a 3.2 one and his is fine, i took it back to my local audi delaer and they took a look but said that this type of electric steering which adjusts iteself etc does tend to have this effect but surely it should not be stiff when reversing into a space?.
Anyhow wondered if anyone knew anything?, as i think i will take it back again as it still has 15 months of audi warranty remaining.......To me it feels like the system is low on oil but i am guessing that is not the problem?, anyway any help would be great, thanks everyone and happy new year
jem

 

[mandy]

Hi Jem :00000732: and Happy New Year!

I can't say I've noticed this problem although I have heard of steering problems - mostly creaking tho! Have you actually tested your friends 3.2 personally to compare?

Mandy

 

[A3king]

Hi Mandy!,

Thanks and happy new year too!. I have tried my friends 3.2 when the two cars are parked on the drive.......mine seems to have this tightness that comes and goes and his is perfect, very easy movement from lock to lock!
What do you reckon?
jem

 

[mandy]

Sounds strange... I reckon you should take a visit to the dealer! Let us know the outcome, good luck.

 

[RickT]

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I know you have said it feels like the fluid, Have you checked it??

(i know you will laugh when i say this........ but have you checked your tyre pressures?? (even if one drops to 20psi you can really notice the differance and the tyre does not always look too flat)

Cheers!!

 

[A3king]

happy new year to you too!

I have not checked fluid as not sure where it is?!!, there is nothing in the manual about it and its not like the golfs i had where the reservoir was easy to see, where is it?!!
Will check tyre pressures, had not thought of that!
Cheers
jem

 

[RickT]

Im not sure where the fluid is on the A3 - however it will be a round screw top about 3inch, (probably not a yellow lid or blue lid)

it will depended on which engine is in it.. i think they all tend to be on the right hand side (when looking into the engine bay from the front) -


COME ON A3 OWNERS.... Any ideas where it is??

 

[accord50pc2]

If it is a 2006 A3 it has electric steering there is NO FLUID for this setup

 

[RickT]

its a 2004 - (as per the profile) ANY IDEAS WHERE IT IS?? or has this year got electric steering too???

Cheers

 

[biffamjb]

I have a 2004 A3 2.0TDI Sline and the steering is exactly as you described. I have phoned the dealer and they told me to book the car in. I asked about fluids and was told that it had electric steering so it would need diagnosing via the Vag system.

 

[A3king]

Hi biff,

Thanks for that, mine has to go in soon for its brake fluid change so i will get them to have a good look at it then.
Thanks and would be interested to know what they say about yours
all the best
jem

 

[RickT]

Brake Fluid change?? whats making you change the brake fluid??

Is that all you are changing??

Thanks

 

[A3king]

Hey,

Sorry for late reply!, they want it in because it will be two years old middle of feb and they say it has a brake fluid change after two years?......also they are doing a mid term safety check, not sure what that is all about!!
cheers

 

[ehp]

Hi All,

I have bench tested an Audi A3 steering gear and found that it takes something like 60 to 70 inch pounds of torque to move the steering wheel whenever the electric steering unit has turned itself off (e.g., goes into its shutdown mode). This is because the power assist sub-module includes a worm gear set driving a second pinion that in turn drives a second set of rack teeth on the steering rack. The 60 to 70 inch pounds of torque is required whenever the unit goes into its shutdown mode. Evidently jem's electric steering unit is intermittently going into its shutdown mode. I certainly hope that neither jem nor anyone else experiences such system behavior when their cars are in serious motion such as on a freeway or a mountain road!

ehp

 

[bacbourne]

Hi Jem, I have a 2007 2.0 TDI A3 and have had similar issues. The steering is generally heavier. I originally called Audi roadside support out as i thought the car might be dangerous to drive on. They plugged a diagnostics laptop in and no faults came back (annoying).

Unsatisfied that they thought nothing was wrong, i took the car into the dealer and they ended up replacing the whole steering rack (slight overkill i thought!)

Anyway, this solved the issue for about 6 months, 10000 miles and the other day it's gone again! So i think this is an electrical issue.

The idea is that the steering is supposed to be light at slow speeds and heavier at high speeds to stop you swerving if you sneeze on motorways etc!

Clearly the CPU is getting in a muddle and it is heavy at low speeds like yours.


I'm off back to the dealer but i'm glad it's not just my car; no offence )


Any one else found this??

 

[panzrwagn]

Hybrid electric steering means the power steering pump is electrical, not belt-driven off the engine. It does not mean there's no oil involved.

Full electric power steering, like in an A3, is 'dry' and a motor applies boost directly. A problem in reverse is either a software (steering is getting boost signals based on faulty logic) or signalling issue (steering is getting boost-signals based on wrong data) or a mechanical - the mechanism is simply binding to to wear or misalignment of components.