96 jetta BIZARRE steering problem...please help

[impostal22]

I have had my 5 speed jetta for almost a year now, and it has around 130k miles on it. There have been very little in the way of problems with the car, but this definitely qualifies as a problem...

There are actually two main issues:

The issue is that the steering sometimes feels like it is VERY loose, to the point where sometimes the contours of the road will determine where I go instead of me deciding. This has always been an issue, but I have learned to adjust, and accepted it, but if anyone knows what the problem could be, that'd be great.

The other issue, which has just started very recently, is a little more unsafe. Basically, the steering sometimes feels really firm, and then when shifting, the steering wheel will go very very loose and just kind of cause the car to jerk left or right really sharply. A variation of this is when I'm in gear, and trying to just go around a slight curve in the road, I will turn the steering wheel the amount that it used to take to take such a turn, but the car would not really respond, so I turn the wheel a little more, and then all at once the car turns very sharply and very fast in the direction of the turn. I am not sure if this is a great description of what's going on, but I hope it's a start.

Any help anyone can give would be great, because I would really like to know what is going on.

[amorton]

This is not a definite answer, but sounds like you may have a worn steering rack (which can be tightened), and you may have other issues like bad tie rod ends, ball joints, worn out struts, etc. These problem(s) would explain the strange handling in both your situations. Find a good repair shop (not the VW dealer) and have them check tie rod ends, ball joints, steering rack, struts, and anything else that may be worn or loose. And do it soon.

[impostal22]

thanks for the speedy response . two questions:

about how much would it cost to fix each of those possible problems?

and why soon? is there potential long term damage, or is it dangerous to drive, or what?

[amorton]

I do most of my own work, so I don't know how much it would cost at the dealership. To do tie rods ends- maybe $200-$400, appx the same for ball joints, if you need a new steering rack I would suggest a new car, struts would be several hundred. The do it soon issues is 1) if it handles funky during normal driving, imagine what happens when you do an emergency maneuver like a hard swerve 2) ball joints that break cause havoc and quite possibly an accident- ever see a car with the corner of the bumper on the ground and the wheel at a funny angle? that's a broken ball joint 3) parts that are worn create stress on other components which cause them to wear faster, such as tires. The longer you wait, the more expensive it will get. If your car is in otherwise good shape, it may be well worth it to have it all done.

[impostal22]

one more thing...i think that it only happens when i'm trying to go around left curves, not right (i'm not entirely sure about this, though). also, the car definitely seems to pull slightly to the right (it always has). maybe this will help narrow down the problem...

[vdubclub13]

Originally Posted by impostal22

one more thing...i think that it only happens when i'm trying to go around left curves, not right (i'm not entirely sure about this, though). also, the car definitely seems to pull slightly to the right (it always has). maybe this will help narrow down the problem...

if it pulls to the right and it isnt your alignment, it could be on of your control arms. also, do you have power steering?

[impostal22]

yes, i have power steering..