Remove power steering by RoccoRacer

3 minute read

Remove power steering

Compliments of RoccoRacer @ http://forums.vwvortex.com

Title - Power Steering removal/manual steering swap in VW's A1 chassis

Brief Description - My design philosophy is "keep it simple." Its also one less thing to leak. With that in mind, I began to wrestle the power steering out of my car.

Estimated Time to Complete - 4-6 hours

Make: VW

Model: Scirocco

Year: 1988

Engine: 16v

REMOVAL

Step 1: lift car and remove wheels

Step 2: press tie rods out

Step 3: drain power steering fluid

Step 4: remove power steering fluid reservoir

Step 5: remove power steering pump bracketry

two bolts on the back side of the block

a few more on the front underside

and finally, the long bolt at the bottom of the alternator bracket (which in this picture is missing)

Step 6: remove the lines into and out of the power steering rack (sorry, no pics, it got tight in there)

Step 7: remove boots and inner tie rod lock nut, and finally the complete tie rod assemblies (if you plan on using them again ever).

Step 8: basically disassemble everything around the rack - shift linkage, rear motor mount, steering u-joint, and anything else I missed.

Step 9: If you're like me, apply sawzall liberally (I ended up cutting the inner tie rods to get the assembly out easy), then take a break from the carnage.

INSTALLATION

Then, gather the new parts:

I forgot to put the non-ps water pump pulley in the picture, you need that, too.

Follow Bently's procedure for installing the new rack. Measure everything as closely as possible, so that your rack is centered properly, this will also make alignment easier.