I just had the power steering pump and steering rack replaced on my 2003 Audi A4. As soon as I picked up the car from the mechanic I noticed that the body of the car tilts side to side when I turn the steering wheeleven when stationary. The body of the car leans enough that it is even noticeable to someone observing from outside the car. When I turn the steering wheel to the right, the body of the car leans left, and vice-versa. The car never did this before. I'm bringing the car back to the mechanic for an alignment after 200 miles (was told that the new rack needed to break in), so the mechanic is going to take another look and try to diagnose the problem, but right now he's baffled, and says that maybe it's supposed to do that. He can't confirm because he doesn't have another A4 to compare it to. I think that the issue is causing problems when driving, because another new problem that I noticed is that my ESP light starts flashing and my car starts stuttering to try to regain traction when taking tight turns (most often on highway acceleration ramps). I also had new rear brakes/routers installed and two tires replaced as part of the same job. Anyone have any ideas or experienced this before? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated; otherwise I'm afraid my mechanic will end up keeping my car for a long time and trying to fix things that aren't the problem.

2003 Audi A4 Quattro 3.0 liter V6, 60k miles

 

The leaning could only happen if something was notput together correctly, check how the track rod ends are connected to the bearin housing (from the bottom or from the top)and let them set the alignment.
As to the ESP, the rack should be fitted in its centre position (check that it is), but sometimes after alignment, you must calibrate the ESP. Right now, from what you describe, the steering wheel sensor is offset to the left.

 

Thanks for the suggestion manin59. I'm taking my car back into the shop tomorrow morning and will share the info with the mechanic, hoping that it points him in the right direction. I'll provide an update soon.

 

Turns out that the leaning problem was due to a bad tie rod that had to be replaced. The mechanic told me that it must have been going bad and then was further damaged when they replaced the power steering rack. The ESP problem was corrected by re-calibrating it after the alignment job, exactly as diagnosed by manin59 (thanks again).