Scirocco Central

Hi guys,

Know absolutely noting about cars and would be grateful for help/advice.

Had to get egr valve changed about 6 weeks and since then car hasn't really been the same in terms of steering although it's hard to pin point as also had tyres changed.

Basically car steering wheel bends to the right a lot and on motorway 50+ constantly sits to the right. I've had alignment done 3 times and checked again recently by different company and seems fine.

When I accelerate steering also moves right then moves back into centre position until I accelerate more

What I'm wondering is can any components/ parts be effected when changing an egr valve that would cause this issue?

Thanks

Changing the EGR really shouldn't affect the steering at all.

First things to check are the basics.

- are all the tyres mounted the correct way round (ie correct rotation).
- are all the wheels mounted flat and true on the hubs.
- are the tyre pressures correct.
- how's the brakes. It is braking straight and true.
- are any of your brake calipers significantly warmer than the others after a drive. Possibly indicating a seized caliper.

After that you'll be looking at thing like track rods, top mounts, broken springs (it's the time if year they start to go), worn bushes, etc.

Paddy has given some great advice there - if i were to add anything , then assuming that everything was fine before , then I'd say the tyre change is the clue here.

Even with correct alignment , you may experiencing 'tyre conicity' (Google it) . It should be easy to rule this out at the root cause of your problem by swapping the wheel & tyre assemblies across axle ( put the left wheels on the right and vice versa) . Take your car for a drive again and see if there has been a change in its behavior.

Lee

Hi guys,

Thanks for the help.

Paddy I'm not sure if the wheels have been mounted correctly how would I test this? They were fitted by euromaster so I would think so.

Braking is fine doesn't move the wheel at all it's solid all pressures at 35psi I've messed about with it at 32-33-34-35 but same result.

The issues is worse when I accelerate and I don't even mean putting my foot down just normal light acceleration but on motorway much worse and makes wheel sit to right.

I've had bushes, ball joint checked and just had an mot 2 weeks ago. Not sure if one calliper hotter than other I'll check this out thanks.

Lee I'll also try swapping the two front tyres right to left and see how that goes.

Get back to you guys with the tests thanks again.

Have they been properly balanced?

Places like euro master and kwik fit quite often employ monkeys who don't really know what they're doing.

And I'm assuming you had the same tyres on both side? Just to rule that one out.

Before you changed the tyres had they both worn evenly?

The easiest way to check out if the wheels are mounted properly is to take them off and refit them yourself making sure that both the hub on the car and the mating surface on the wheel are clean and free from defects or debris. Some copper grease on there is normal and it helps stop the wheel fusing to the hub.

As cleandiesel said above I also assumed that you had new tyres all round. A significantly more worn tyre could cause issues too.

Also don't actually touch a brake caliper/disk after a drive as even the cooler ones will still burn you. I had a seized caliper on the rear of my Scooby recently and when I got out of the car it was smoking (so totally gone and seized totally on) and easy to diagnose, you could also feel the heat off it just walking past. I doubt it would be that bad as you'd have noticed it by now. Just put your hands near and it should be enough to tell if one is warmer then the others.

It could also be the tyres. On my last car (Clio RS200) I had both summer and winter wheels mainly as I ran what amounted to read legal slicks during the summer. When on the summer wheels the car always tramlined (following the slight grooves made by trucks/busses) and pulled slightly to the left. Changed the wheels and it disappeared. Had the alignment checked countless times to no avail. It did affect how the tyres were wearing so I just lived with it.

Also what are the tyres and what size did you get fitted?

Thanks for the responses guys.

CleanDiesel - Had the wheels balanced when the tyres got fitted. I understand what you are saying about the monkeys they employ but to be fair it was older guys in the branch at euro master and not the young neds you see in kwik fit.

The tyres were actually changed a diffrent times about 2/3 weeks apart. I did take this into consideration but to be honest don't see why it would cause this particularly on a stright motorway if the wheel is sitting to the right and get's worse when i put the foot down it pulls me across lanes.

The tyre on the right doesn't feel as grippy as the left either. Again I thought this was simply because it was a few weeks older but surely it wouldn't cause such a severe problem due to wear in weeks. I hadn't even done that many miles so the diffrence should be very little wear. Whats weird is the right tyre looks like its already unevenly worn, probably because it's not performing correctly i assume.

Both tyres are same brand conti sport contact 5 and size is 235/40/r18/95w. Ordered both times off black circles and fitted in local euromaster. The front right got changed to start with and alginement done. Left side then changed 2/3 weeks later.

Felt the temps by putting my hand on each side of the fronts and both seem about the same I don't think its brake issue but then I've not really got a clue about cars.

I'm going to try swapping the right over to the left and vice versa to see if any there's any diffrence.

I do love my car but this problem is really driving me mad and making me want to just sell it! Hopefully can find the problem soon.

Will post back to let you guys know how the swap over went.

Just because you bought the tyres a few weeks apart doesn't mean they are the same ago. The date code will be on the tyre sidewall somewhere. It will be four digits on their own, it will be something like 2315. The first two digits are the week it was made and the second two the year so my example would mean that the tyre was made in week 23 of 2015. Doubt that will be the issue but if the tyre is years old (it's known to happen) then it may have caused the rubber to deteriorate.

Having said that I'm not a fan of Continental Sportcontact tyres. They are way way over priced for their performance. And from experience (they have come standard on my last 3 cars) they don't like the cold and wet with a tendency to go harder and reduce grip. They are a tyre I'd never buy with my own money as better can be got for a lot less.

Thanks Paddy.

So just to clarify, when i swap the two front tyres over to each side, if the right tyre is indeed the issue, it should pull to the left rather than the right this time, would I be correct saying that?

If the problem is conicity then it could actually be a combination of both . Mounted tyres are actually cone shaped - it's the reason why , when you roll a wheel & tyre down the workshop it veers off centre . The side that it veers to is the side off the assy with the smaller diameter . The sharper it veers - the more severe the cone shape. You can easily see this effect when you whip the wheels off your car by rolling them along any smooth , flat surface.

The severity of the 'cone' and also it's direction can have a huge effect on steering pull . If you imagine that both cones have their smallest dia on the left - then the car will pull to the left . Swap them over and it'll pull to the right . More usually , the cones will point in opposite directions (either 'in' or 'out')- effectively cancelling the conicity effect out . However if one cone is far more severe than the other , then this 'dominant' assy will be the one responsible for the pull and also determine the direction.

Again you can test this theory for yourself. When rolling your wheels , they should both veer off course at the same rate (even if they veer in opposite directions) . If one veers significantly quicker than the other - then that's your problem .

Note - the tyre that veers quickest isn't necessarily your problem assy . That may be the 'norm' for this type of tyre , and the other one may be unusually good .

Lee


From my phone

If swapping side you side does help. Try front to back.

There could be some torque steer magnifying any other problem. On 9/10 cas the near side drive shaft is shorter than the off side causing the car to veer right slightly under power. Although a lot of cars now have some sort of fancy design to counter it and I'd expect a decent modern car like a Scirocco to have whatever it is.

Did it start happening when you had the passenger or drivers side tyre done? Did it get any worse or better when you had the drivers side done? You mention having the alignment checked a few times, had it moved between checks, if so on which side and to what degree?

Have you had it 4 wheel laser tracked?

Not had a chance to swap the tyres round yet because of the constant rain in Glasgow!

Basically I changed the front right tyre due to a burst on existing on 12th sept and this was done by euromaster. I got a free alignment check done at the same time and was shown it was out therefore they done it for £32.50. Wasn't the hunter machine was the one before hunter came out (not sure of the name). All seemed fine with the car afterwards.

For about 4 months the engine management light came on and off intermittently therefore when car went in for service on 17th sept I got vw to check why. They advised me the egr valve was the cause and quoted something like £800 to replace. I said no and went to a Glasgow based vw / audi repair centre. The mechanic quoted £570 so I went ahead.

After that the steering when seemed to be badly to the left however i checked tyre pressures and they all seemed out for some weird reason so I got them all back to 35psi and it then seemed fine.

I then got the front left tyre changed as it was near end of life and knew it would have failed MOT come 5th Nov and after spending money on repairs, service and first tyre I just wanted it to be done with and have the car back to normal.

Somewhere between all this I accidentally cliped my front right alloy off a pavement when parking and this caused the steering wheel to badly vibrate. I got kwik fit to move the alloy from front right to back right and vice versa. This eradicated the problem.

Shortly after I think this is when I noticed the problem that currently exists therefore I got kwik fit to check the alignment on the hunter machine and got it straightened up.

It seemed fine for about a week then the problem of the wheel sitting to the right and looking like it has torque steer has continued.

Naturally I felt I may have damaged the alloy that was on the back right which could be the source of the problem but I took if off and put the spare wheel off, went for a drive and it was exactly the same, slightly worse if I'm being honest. I do not think its the alloy.

I had the mechanical parts checked arms, bushes etc and all seems fine and solid and passed the MOT no problem. Had my alignment rechecked and is still fine. Tyre's look fine and dont have any sign of a bubble that maybe hitting a kerb could cause.

Feeling like at a loss that's when I posted on this for some of your advice which has been very helpful.

I'll get the tyres changed over on Thursday to see how the car reacts to that.

When you say hit the kerb, do you mean scratching the wheel when parking, or say sliding into it head on with the wheels turned, etc...?

Edit: nevermind just re read your post and see clipped when parking. That won't cause your woes.

There could be damage in a number of places causing this, although you've had most the obvious ones checked it seems. Before switching the wheels over, when you've got them jacked up try grabbing each one top & bottom and giving it a wobble up and down and then again grabbing at each side and wobbling side to side. There shouldn't be any play either way and the wheel should stay perfectly still.

It's just a basic way of assessing some of the things you've already paid to hve looked at although kwik fit would almost certainly have used the same advanced method for diagnostic.

Another thing that needs looking at is the arb and drop links as these can twist easily with impact. You should be able to look at it yourself after jacking it up. Do you have any clunking or other noises when turning full lock in either direction? Try get someone to listen/turn the wheel for you as some noises can be so quiet you can't hear them from inside the cabin as I have found out for myself in the past.

Also try measure your suspension, gap from centre of wheel to the arch, it's extremely unlikely this is what's causing your problem but it's another thing ruled out. Also try the pressure test push the car down on each side see how it raises up.

If you were any closer I'd have a look for you unfortunately the Irish Sea is in the way.

Didn't realise you clipped a kerb this unfortunately opens a whole separate list of possibilities. The most obvious have been given above with the ARB (anti-roll bar) and it's associated drop link but the steering track rod end could have been damaged slightly causing the car to pull. But I'd have thought this would have shown on an alignment check. Thankfully they're cheap (usually anyway, I've not priced one for the 'Rocco yet).

The vibration in the wheel that was moved was most likely caused by it being knocked out of balance. And as it was on the front the vibrations were passed up through the steering hence why you felt it. It will still be vibrating on the back you just font feel it.

Should I just put it into vw and get them to check all the steering components? Just don't fancy paying the scum £75 an hour!

Should this thing be bent that I've attached the photo? I took it when I took the f/r tyre off on Sunday to have a look. I thought it was strange but took the left off and that one seemed the same so assume its normal?

It's hard to tell from that picture is anything is bent or out of shape. It would only take a degree or too to affect the car and you really won't see that with the naked eye.

The part with the threaded bar is your steering arm going into your track rod end. And damage to either of them will affect your steering but it really should show up in an alignment check.

Thanks paddy.

Had kwikfit change the fronts to each side earlier simply because it keeps raining and I can't out to do it with work. Got them to check the tie rods and stuff said everything seems fine.

The steering wheel is now to the left so feeling like it's defo the tyre or maybe alloy if that's damaged.

If i change it to the rear would it make any difference bearing in my the tyre maybe manufactured wrong? Or is it simply a case of having to buy a new one?

So if I'm picking it up right the car is now pulling to the other side?

It would be worth trying the tyre on the back as it doesn't cost anything (or not much anyway) and a new tyre is around £75.