Steering/Stability issues

[lildil]

My 2002 1.9 Tdi tried to kill me, twice on a dual carriageway by fishtailing on a bend I have driven round many times at 70. I slowed down after the first one, feeling rather rattled but it did it again 5mph slower. So I called VW & I've just collected it from them, they had it for a week. It feels the same.
It seems to be wallowing, has too much play while it corners. It does not feel stable. In a straight line it feels like you are in a high sided vehicle on a windy day. Mechanic test drove it before it was "repaired" and said it was wallowing. Axel bushes have ben replaced.
VW said that everything checks out now & nothing is wrong, but it feels wrong.
The garage did not like my after market 18 inch rims. He also said my rear tyres were too budget. The rims have been on it since I got it in 2007 & been fine. The rear tyres are new last summer, not premium ones as I have on the front because I couldn't afford it at the time, didn't think it would make any difference.
It would be simple enough to get new premium tyres on the back. I don't see how it can be the rims as they've been on there so long. They wouldn't suddenly start messing with the car's ability to corner.
Any advice happily received and acted on, I don't want to die just because I chose rubbish tyres. The ESP light keeps turning on too, especially when cornering (or fishtailing!!). All issues have been in dry conditions and at slow and fast speeds, esp and instability kicked in at 25 the other day when pulling up at home too. So not just at high speed.
I love my beetle but right now I'm afraid of it.

[janitz]

To me that sounds like a problem with the sway/stabilizer bar on the front suspension. If one of your coupling rods were to snap I'd expect that type of roll as the two front wheels would be independent of each other.

I would hope that if you had it in the garage that they would have looked at that.

[lildil]

Thanks Janitz, I'll ask them, I've got new pirelli's going on tomorrow just in case. Yes I would hope they'd have checked that in their "34 point check"

[lildil]

What does anyone think about rear diff as a diagnosis? Surely this would also have been spotted by the Vw garage when they took the axel off to replace the bushes.

[lildil]

Do you think VW garage would have told me if I needed new shocks/struts? Looking online that also seems to be something that should be replaced if cornering is an issue.

[AccountingTroll]

Originally Posted by lildil

Do you think VW garage would have told me if I needed new shocks/struts? Looking online that also seems to be something that should be replaced if cornering is an issue.

How many miles / kilometers are on those struts?

Struts and sway bar bushings might me the ticket.

[lildil]

No idea on the struts mileage, car is on 100,200. I've had it since 67,000, it's not had new ones since I got it. VW garage said they checked them & they were fine. I got the new tyres put on & have been hammering it, I've had a few speedier people hammer it too, round roundabouts really fast etc. Seems much better on the pirellis. I wonder if I just need to build up my own trust in the vehicle again. But next service I might ask for new shocks, struts etc, just in case.

[jason m]

Originally Posted by lildil

My 2002 1.9 Tdi tried to kill me, twice on a dual carriageway by fishtailing on a bend I have driven round many times at 70. I slowed down after the first one, feeling rather rattled but it did it again 5mph slower. So I called VW & I've just collected it from them, they had it for a week. It feels the same.
It seems to be wallowing, has too much play while it corners. It does not feel stable. In a straight line it feels like you are in a high sided vehicle on a windy day. Mechanic test drove it before it was "repaired" and said it was wallowing. Axel bushes have ben replaced.
VW said that everything checks out now & nothing is wrong, but it feels wrong.
The garage did not like my after market 18 inch rims. He also said my rear tyres were too budget. The rims have been on it since I got it in 2007 & been fine. The rear tyres are new last summer, not premium ones as I have on the front because I couldn't afford it at the time, didn't think it would make any difference.
It would be simple enough to get new premium tyres on the back. I don't see how it can be the rims as they've been on there so long. They wouldn't suddenly start messing with the car's ability to corner.
Any advice happily received and acted on, I don't want to die just because I chose rubbish tyres. The ESP light keeps turning on too, especially when cornering (or fishtailing!!). All issues have been in dry conditions and at slow and fast speeds, esp and instability kicked in at 25 the other day when pulling up at home too. So not just at high speed.I love my beetle but right now I'm afraid of it.

The ESP uses a yaw sensor to sensor to tell when it needs to activate. It applies individual brakes to bring the unit into control. You could have a faulty sensor, or a loose connection that would cause teh same type of issue. Get it corrected quick as it can cause major changes to vehicle handling quickly.

[lildil]

Thanks everyone for your help with this. It really does seem much better on the pirellis & VW said they've checked, repaired or replaced everything else and everything they didn't is functioning perfectly. I've had a few other people (men) drive it much more quickly than I do & they all think it is now fine. I had to hold on to my seat as we roared round one roundabout, it was stuck to the tarmac like glue and no ESP light kicked in. So I think after lots of money "DilleyBug" is back!