Steering rack

[MidnightBlueS2]

Hello all,

Coming back from Banbury yesterday after having picked up the car from Doug & Mihnea ( who by the way, did a fabulous job on the car, thread with pics coming soon ), my power steering pump slowly lost all it's fluid and as I had a ferry to catch and as it's my wife's 30th birthday this week-end, I had no choice but to keep on driving on the highway as the pump wasn't groaning yet...

I drove about 100 km with the warning light flashing

Got to Dover right on time and then, the p/steering started to groan slightly and I started losing my braking pressure...
Put the car on the ferry and called recovery to meet me in Dunkerque where I planned to have them recover me all the way to Liège, Belgium...
Got home at about 3am exhausted and I started the car just to get it in the garage and now the p/steering pump is groaning loudly when turning the wheel and there's no more power braking anymore...

Here are my questions:

Is the p/steering pump beyond repair ?
Could my steering rack have been damaged by the lack of hydraulic fluid ?
Could my power braking system have been damaged by the lack of hydraulic fluid ( brake fluid level is fine ) ?

Help please !

David

[s2dude]

Hello all,

Coming back from Banbury yesterday after having picked up the car from Doug & Mihnea ( who by the way, did a fabulous job on the car, thread with pics coming soon ), my power steering pump slowly lost all it's fluid and as I had a ferry to catch and as it's my wife's 30th birthday this week-end, I had no choice but to keep on driving on the highway as the pump wasn't groaning yet...

I drove about 100 km with the warning light flashing

Got to Dover right on time and then, the p/steering started to groan slightly and I started losing my braking pressure...
Put the car on the ferry and called recovery to meet me in Dunkerque where I planned to have them recover me all the way to Liège, Belgium...
Got home at about 3am exhausted and I started the car just to get it in the garage and now the p/steering pump is groaning loudly when turning the wheel and there's no more power braking anymore...

Here are my questions:

Is the p/steering pump beyond repair ?
Could my steering rack have been damaged by the lack of hydraulic fluid ?
Could my power braking system have been damaged by the lack of hydraulic fluid ( brake fluid level is fine ) ?

Help please !

David

David

Sorry to hear about htis trauma not good when things like htis happen.
AHve you tried refilling the power steering reservoir fully with the correct audi green fluid?

THen bleed the sytem with 5 full turn of the wheel lock to lock.

THen try the car again. Groaning may well have gone.

I had a terrible groaning all the way home after a PS fluid leak...filled the fluid up....and bingo all gone.
As you were on a motorway mainly?? you will not have been steering much anyway.......but I would not think the rack will be damaged though I am only guessing here...Likewise unless the pump was the fault it may well be ok.....

FIrst question is WHY the hydraulic fluid went down like this....?

Refill and identify any leaks if you can......dont fill to the brim of the reservoir though...only to the top groove of the inner white shell!!!

hth


eidt// your bomb may have depressurised but power braking should be ok for so short a time

[MidnightBlueS2]

Little update.

I got hold of some hydraulic fluid ( not Audi, but Kroon Oil SP 3013, according to their list, they say it exceeds manufacturers requirements for the RS2 p/steering system ), so I put it in to see where the leak is and to replenish the system so that it doesn't stay dried out if you see what I mean...

P/steering groan went away immediately, the belt whined a bit at first and then the top screw plug started to leak with a very noticeable pulsating squirt

Turned the steering full lock, left and right while filling up the system and no more groan anywhere, then I turned off the engine as to not empty the whole system again...

So that seems to be good news, isn't it ?

I'll be replacing the o-ring under the plug again this sunday ( I love my mechanic ! )but my original questions remain...

HELP !!!

[MidnightBlueS2]

Thanx !

Have you read my latest post ?

I really hope I don't have to replace my p/steering pump !!!

Could yesterday's very intense heat wave in the UK be responsible for my screwplug o-ring leaking ( it's only about 1 year old ) ?

David

David

Sorry to hear about htis trauma not good when things like htis happen.
AHve you tried refilling the power steering reservoir fully with the correct audi green fluid?

THen bleed the sytem with 5 full turn of the wheel lock to lock.

THen try the car again. Groaning may well have gone.

I had a terrible groaning all the way home after a PS fluid leak...filled the fluid up....and bingo all gone.
As you were on a motorway mainly?? you will not have been steering much anyway.......but I would not think the rack will be damaged though I am only guessing here...Likewise unless the pump was the fault it may well be ok.....

FIrst question is WHY the hydraulic fluid went down like this....?

Refill and identify any leaks if you can......dont fill to the brim of the reservoir though...only to the top groove of the inner white shell!!!

hth


eidt// your bomb may have depressurised but power braking should be ok for so short a time

[s2dude]

Thanx !

Have you read my latest post ?

I really hope I don't have to replace my p/steering pump !!!

Could yesterday's very intense heat wave in the UK be responsible for my screwplug o-ring leaking ( it's only about 1 year old ) ?

David

Hehe

No. I must have written my post as you wrote yours!!!

That changes things for the better definately....

New screw plug and firm seal may well cure all problems.......It may make slight noise till screw plug fixed due to overworking the pump (pressure leak)

I really dont think you have damaged major components....or even the hydraulic pump most likely.....due to getting a recovery like you did......


Sounds like it will be fine to me

[MidnightBlueS2]

Even my balls are crossed on this one !

[s2dude]

Even my balls are crossed on this one !

Hehe

Keep us updated

[Audi Parts Guru]

and then the top screw plug started to leak with a very noticeable pulsating squirt

Mine's just started to do this

same place too

[MidnightBlueS2]

Mine's just started to do this

same place too

Sorry to read that ! Why does the fekkin p/steering even need this plug is beyond me !

For those interested, my mechanic dropped by yesterday evening with his modified Hazet tool bit that he modified so that it fits in the big + on the screwplug and all he did was retighten my screwplug and voilà, NO MORE LEAK !!!

I can't believe all this grief was due to an unscrewing plug that probably started to unscrew due to the tremendous heat on the M25 when I was in a few small traffic jams ( 35 degrees celsuis on the car's outside thermometer so I can't even fathom how hot it must've been under the hood ).

Took the car for a spin this morning to get the engine hot as he had retightened the plug when the engine was cold and YES, YES, it was starting to unscrew again !!!
I've retightened it now again and I hope that since the engine was hot, it won't budge anymore

I'll keep on posting in this thread till I get to the bottom of this nuisance

Take care all y'all !

David

[Graham]

The plug sounds like it neds a new o-ring, it should be the seal which seals the oil in not the tightness of the plug, get some nice viton high temp jobbies, the plug holds one of the pistons in which give you the high pressure for the brakes--it feeds the bomb of 140 bar pressure, there is also one underneath the pump at the bottom.

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8634

HTH
Graham

[rotoryboy]

Order part number 026 145 541, It's not listed on the FA for the S2 but is the right part. I have replaced it twice in 2 years. HTH (this is the cross headed plug and a new rubber seal)

[MidnightBlueS2]

Thanx Mark !!!

[porkkis]

The plugs are there because there are pump pistons behind them and they have to machine the cylinders somehow...

The o-ring size is 17x2mm. Just get new o-rings and replace. Remember to lube it at assembly or it will be damaged during the tightening.

Your pump is probably beyond repair. What you should have done is cut the pump v-belt...
It's harder to steer and brake but a grown man can do it without a prob.

[MidnightBlueS2]

Another little update.

Plug has stayed fully screwed in since a few days ago but I 've still ordered a new screwplug and o-ring kit that should be here in a few days...
My coolant system has also been temperamental ( header tank was either full or empty depending on the thermostat so the warning light was coming on now and then ) as there still was some air trapped in it due to the Samco coolant hoses being fitted but with the help of Doug over the phone to bleed the system and some pink Audi coolant fluid, everything has returned to normal...

P/steering pump seems in perfect working order and isn't making a single little noise even on full steering lock... So fingers crossed that 100km driving with only a little fluid in it hasn't damaged it. Audi's are tough !

Take care all y'all !

David

[panzerwagen]

I also experienced this problem....

this is what I found.....
1/ The hoses going to the PS reservoir are held on with crap & shoddy clamps. When the hoses get heated up as they do in summer driving, they tend to expand to the point that the clamps holding on will give just enough for the PS fluid to leak out!! I changed all the clamps to FI clamps, no leaks now!
2/ The power steering pumps belt also tends to get a bit loose during the summer driving months. Retighten it!
3/ Also check the cap on the reservoir. It also tends to leak. Lord knows why !