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Car is a Mk1 Golf/Rabbit Cabriolet.

When I do a tight turn, eg a U turn, upon centering the car again the steering wheel is about 45 degrees off center even though the car tracks correctly. I can "correct" the position of the steering wheel by wiggling it left and right a little.

The (non-power-assisted) steering rack and tie-rod ends are relatively new and there is no evidence of uneven wear on the front tyres. As mentioned, the car tracks correctly even with the steering wheel at the 45 degree angle. Steering behaves normally when cornering normally.

I've checked to see if the steering rack is attached loosely by standing outside the car and jerking the wheel to-and-fro but cannot see any movement (mounting bushes were also replaced at the same time the steering rack was) but I'm not completely willing to discount it yet.

Would anyone know what could be causing this issue?

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    Similar mechanics.stackexchange.com/q/94205/81910
    – hazoriz
    Commented Feb 2 at 16:11
  • Any update on this issue? The similar question @hazoriz linked is mine, I never solved it though.
    – Luke
    Commented Feb 2 at 16:19
  • @Luke - yep, was a loose bolt on one of the steering rack mounts causing the entire rack to slide slightly within the mounts.
    – MeltingDog
    Commented Feb 7 at 5:18
  • Thanks for the update! I'll have to take a second look at mine.
    – Luke
    Commented Feb 7 at 12:23
  • Yeah mine was kind of hard to diagnose. Of the 4 bolts holding in the rack only 1 was loose and it was hard to get at.
    – MeltingDog
    Commented Feb 7 at 22:53

1 Answer 1

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This turned out be that one of the bolts on one of the steering rack mounts was loose. This caused the rack to not be as "clamped down" as it should've been. The rack was sliding slightly within the mounts.

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