This was sent to me as an e-mail. Respond to Paul Stern (<a href="mailto:sternlaw@sprint.ca">sternlaw@sprint.ca</a>).

I have a 1993 S4 (5 cyl., 2.2L) that I bought new. It has never been hit, looks great, and only has 85,000 miles on it - all city and highway driving.

The problem is that the steering rack has completely detached. The welds have broken on the steering rack mounts, so that the rack is floating.

This is a bizarre problem - unheard of by various mechanics. It would seem to reflect a serious manufacturing defect.

Ever hear of this? Any thoughts? Is this going to happen to other cars?

The owner may want to have a dealer field service rep check it out. If the welds were the defective part, it could be argued that the problem was corrosion and thus would fall under the 10 year perforation/ corrosion warranty. It would definately be worth a try...

HTH

I was thinking along the same lines of shooting for the corrosion warranty....way to go Jason!

so you should all check out your steering rack weld points. Audi changed to a beefier mount on the '97(!) S6, which was only available in Canada AFAIK. So, very late in the game, Audi DID recognize this as a weak point.

AOA doesn't seem to jump through hoops to own up to things, so good luck.

HTH,

He needs to have the mounting points rewelded to new plates which then need to be welded to the car body. My understanding us that it has nothing to do with corrosion, just metal fatigue.
Needless to say, do NOT attempt to drive the car while it is this way.
Jim

Not common, but I've heard of this before.
Check Scott Mockry's web site http://www.sjmautotechnik.com
for a report about another such car.
Worth checking on everyones car, btw.
Chris