grotch11

my power steering unit groans when I start up and turn the steering wheel. anyone else have this experience? something to worry about?

Phil

Check the fluid level, common issue

the16v

Same problem on our '04. Look in the fluid res and there's almost nothing there.

adg44

Yup, had this problem on my GTI and it was low fluid.

grotch11

I checked - it was a bit low, got it topped up at the dealer, but its still noisy. Can these units go bad?

DenimAvant

cuz they said it was faulty from the factory. I was always getting this low groaning when I was doing low speed maneuvers such as backing up parking and stuff. Pretty lame, cuz they had a hell of a time diagnosing it. They probably didn't really want to do it as I'm sure those things are not cheap. They originally told me steering rack but then they decided to check everything over which was a huge waste of time. In the end, they said yah, it was the steering rack! Anyhow, it was replaced and now all is fine. Check the fluid levels occasionally though. As they said it was a "unrepairable" leak in the rack that was causing the groaning. Good luck.

gstq

Kinda sucks coz it sucks because it sounds like the pump is failing.

It seems to be a 3.0 problem. I told the dealer when the car had only 2000 miles on it and they agreed that it was noisy and replaced. I get the car back and it is making the exact same noise!! So it seems to be a design issue - a couple of other people on the forum have complained as well.

needforsleep

Mine groans with proper fluid level.....dealer's checked it twice and says they won't do anything