So, I'm a new A6 owner. It's a 2001 2.8 Avant Tip. Sold the '99 A4 Avant.
I've noticed that when turning RIGHT at speeds between walking and maybe 30mph, there is a resistance to turning the wheel right, as if there is little to no servo assist, but then if I continue to turn the wheel, it feels like something breaks away, and turns with full assist. It's very odd. There is NO noise, squealing, nothing. I can only equate the feeling to if you were trying to change lanes into a lane that had a lip to it, like a higher level of asphalt, and was providing resistance to the wheels turning, but then the wheels broke away and turned into the desired direction. Help?

 

I had an old Buick (81 Skylark) in HS that did that, turned out to be the steering rack. For me, while turning left or right, it would sometimes be hard, then suddenly become easier to turn. My 93 Volvo 850 had it's rack go bad at 300k with similar symptoms.

Not saying you have a bad rack, but that's what it sounds like. Maybe there is some sort of valve that is sticking. It might be worth changing the fluid to see if it helps. Use Pentosin 11S fluid.

 

It's got only 73k miles, so hopefully not the steering rack?! I'll check the fluid. Read some other steering threads where people say to over-fill the fluid. I'll report back.

 

I would also agree with the steering rack diagnosis. I would first double check none of the tie rods are broken, if all the linkages look ok, then replace the rack.

 

checked the fluid; it's full. The tie rods were recently replaced. I'll check the rest.

 

you may have a blockage in the rack. i would remove the rack & flush it out.

 

Danzan, could you please expand on that? I'm not too experienced with racks. What do you mean to flush it? I just assumed that the rack was just the steering mechanism and didn't realize that the fluid was actually going THRU it. Am I correct to assume that the fluid is pumped through it through valves, thus providing the assist? The only work I've done on steering is my old '73 Datsun 240z.

 

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