Power steering feels REAL heavy at low speeds intermittently

[pontiff]

My wife has an 08 GTI (88k on the clock and full service history if it matters) and recently she has been reporting that during low speed maneuvers (like parking etc) it feels as if she has a flat tyre / the power steering goes real heavy. Restarting the car resolves the issue but she says that its starting to get more and more common, so there is obviously an issue that isn't going to go away on its own.

I have a rosstech vagcom which I connected and have found no faults logged at all so I took it to my local specialst who like me, could not find anything wrong with it.

Not being heavily into Golfs (since I dont drive it that often), Is this something common to fix?

anyway, if anyone has any thoughts / suggestions that would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Aaron

[jessv3]

Have you checked the power steering fluid? Is the pump noisy when you are doing low speed manoeuvres? It could be a small power steering leak or some air in the lines. If there are bubbles in the fluid that would indicate air in the lines and most likely a leak. Also, make sure you top it up with OEM vw/ audi fluid only or you could destroy the steering rack.

[pontiff]

I believe that these racks are sealed mech/electric units thus do not have user serviceable fluid reservoirs in them

[jessv3]

oh, thats good to know, I didnt notice that there was no reservoir under the hood. Typical VW making it hard for the sake of it.

[Umai Naa!!]

Given the nature of the problem, a fault code should have been logged somewhere.

Could be a steering angle sensor fault, or possibly even an issue with the rack itself.

2008 was when they started putting the steering angle sensor in the rack itself. Before that, it was on the steering coloumn behind the steering wheel.

I'd be taking it to a dealer for further diagnosis.

Another thing it could be is poor contact on the high amperage fuses on the front of the fuse/relay box in the engine bay. That'll usually throw a lot of low voltage codes.