98 A6 Quattro, 160 k

I went to get my safety and emissions done on my car and the safety failed because there was a lot of play on the front passenger tire. The guy doing the safety check said the steering was very loose and it may be missing a bolt. Does anyone know which bolts and where I need to look to tighten them. I had an Audi shop do this for me about 6 months ago, I want to try and tighten the bolts myself but I am not sure where to look. The shop said they had to remove the battery to access the bolts 6 months ago. Does that sound right?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

The inner end of each tie rod is bolted to the steering rack. I don't think is an easy proposition, but good luck.
The steering rack itself I think it has two bolts but you may have to pry the boot to access them.

 

What does the steering rack bolt to? How many bolts are there are where are they located? I think that is where I am getting the play in the tire. The Tie rods were replaced about a year and a half ago, they wound not go bad this quickly would they?

 

Apparently it has some adjusting bolts that you should be able to get to.

 

Thanks for the information. I will try this out this weekend and see if I can get play in the front tire to go away. Thanks again!!

 

You're very welcome. Since the adjusting bolt(s) is(are) off the boot, you should be able to locate it easily.
I'm not familiar with a quattro and 30v engine bay (just know they're pretty crammed from pics, as compared with a 12v), but on mine I have to take the air intake box/throttle body off to get to the rack.
Good luck.

 

A 98 is a C5, not a C4. There are no adjustable bolts. There are two attaching bolts under the battery and three up near the worm gear area of the rack that you have to get to from below. They are attachment bolts and are not adjustable. But, that doesn't mean they aren't loose.

Good luck,

Bob

 

I know 98 is a C5...The illustrations come FROM BENTLEY, Bob, although it's true that's listed under "Avant 1998, AFC". Don't both (Avant and sedan) share the same engine bay for a particular year? - ....don't shoot the messenger...

 

I don't know what the Bently says, I just know what my experience from replacing a rack says. The rack is tucked up under the plenum.

Bob

 

I was able to tighten the steering rack by removing the battery and tightening 2 bolts. I had to use a spline socket to tighten them. The play in the front tire is now gone.

You are saying that there are 3 more bolts I should check but they can only be accessed from underneath the car? What needs to be removed to access these bolts? are they also bolts I will need to use a spline socket to tighten them?