The ujoints in the steering shaft  are known to cause this problem.
Oil the hell out of them with used motor oil.  If they are to rusty
you will need to replace them.

            Eric                   86-VW4x4
            vw4x4@fyi.net          86-SS Syncro
            Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler
                                   92-Jetta GWC
            www.fyi.net/~vw4x4/vw4x4.htm

On Thu, 6 Mar 2003, Shawn Wright wrote:

> Lately my '88 Westy has been acting strange when steerring - the power
> assist seems to come and go, causing the wheels to not want to return to
> centre easily, and making turning corners not very smooth.
> The fluid level seemed ok, but I added a bit to be sure, since it is was
> hard to read through the reservior. No change. I flushed the system &
> cleaned the filter about 4-5 years ago, so I was planning to do this again
> in hopes it will help. Anything else I should check? (tire pressures are
> fine - 50psi front on Yoko Y370s).
>
> ps: I was thinking of replacing the filter until I checked the price - $45
> at the dealer, and Bowwow does not have them. Last time I just washed it
> in solvent & it seemed to do the trick. Is this ok?
>
> Thanks
>