Hello all, and thank you in advance for your help. I just purchased a '99 S80 T6. I bought for cheap enough that I feel all the repairs needed will be worth it. My question is this: My steering rack needs replacing, and I would like to purchase one and do the install myself. Is there any way to tell if I have the rack with or without the variable assist without taking it out and looking at it? It's still drivable right now, but it's going to need to be done here pretty quick. I don't want to mess around and buy the wrong one. Once again, thanks for any advice.

 

ok i had my steering rack rebuilt and it cost me around 1400-1500 canadian final out the door as far as i remember ( i saved tax on the labour too which is 13% here )

1) call the dealer and give them the vin, they will tell you if you have speed assist, my 99 t6 had it, i think all t6's have them that were manufactured after feb 99 not sure

2) you DONT want a used rack, get it rebuilt, this way you know the seals are all new and will not leak - wanna do this again in 6 months if it starts leaking again ?

3) the sub frame has to come down and you have to support the engine and tranny as far as i know, if you are comfortable doing that then by all means diy...otherwise pay someone trustworthy to do it!!! and dont wait, i waited and one day ALL the fluid just came out as i watched, good thing i was like 5 minuted from my buddy's shop at the time...and make sure you use PENTOSIN PSF CHF202 its oem, or just go to the dealer and pay premium, NO OTHER FLUID IS COMPATABLE (do it right , do it once)

just some suggestions.

PS of and you think you got ur car cheap so you can spend money on maintenance, well i gotta tell you, these cars are not cheap to maintain...

 

Thanks for the input Andrei. One more quick question though: Are the racks from other years compatible? Or is the 1999 rack different in some other way from other years? Thanks again

 

not sure, again if yo uget a used rack its hit and miss i think, you really need to make sure the guy selling it knows which 99 it came from

 

From looking at VADIS, it appears for Speed Sensitive Steering, 1999 - 2004 use the same steering rack. The good news is you don't need to take the rack out to check to see if the vehicle is equipped with speed assisted power steering, because it is also requires an electrical connection and relay unit. I'm trying to find where the module is located to see if it can be viewed easily to determine if the vehicle is equipped.

 

its just a plug that connects to the steering rack, the sensor is internal...

 

Here's what I see in VADIS...

There is a module (22) that is not internal, there are also some wiring harness reflected, so they must go somewhere, right?