hard steering

[pastures16]

just jumped into the car to nip out turned the steering and it was very hard to turn on the spot near full lock no growning no leaks belt and fluid level ok any help on this please only had the car back in regular use for 2 wks now

[pastures16]

any help here before i go and spend a stupid amount of money on a rack or pump

[BrianSmith_S2]

any help here before i go and spend a stupid amount of money on a rack or pump

Not much help, but how are your tyre pressures??? too low and it may make the steering a bit harder??

Ball joints seizing up??? i know one went on my old coupe, but i changed the rack thinking it was that and it wasnt, so i wasted quite a few £££'s it was the ball joint.

Put front of your car on a set of axle stands, and with weight off the front of the car the steering should turn easily, if a bit tight then it may be the ball joint??

Hope this is reasonable sound advice.

Brian

[Rusty]

Mine used to do this (along with the other PAS / brake gremlins) before I replaced the PAS pump, used to disappear when I was on the move.

Got a secondhand PAS pump off the forum form one of those Avant thingys that keep being broken for parts . Great condition and much better than the 150k piece of ***** that was on there (Cheers Jon441cc ) slightly cheaper than a replacement new one at £300. Luck of the draw I suppose. Flushing the fluid through used to make a difference too and for £6 a go from GSF I flushed it through about 4 times in a month!

I had originally thought that my PAS / brake problem was bomb related but replacing the pump seems to have dispelled that one, cured the (!) and made everything quiet.

[s2dude]

Sounds daft but have you checked the hydraulic fluid level is topped up? Is it the green fluid in there ATM?

[pastures16]

level is fine
although the car has always had red atf and never had this problem before

[Jas11n]

level is fine
although the car has always had red atf and never had this problem before

Can't believe you just said that Si, how many times has it been said about using red ATF in a system designed for green mineral only? it even has a warning on the PAS bottle filler cap saying this?

Get it changed, red ATF WILL rot the seals in the pump, rack and the rest of the system.
BTDT on my old 2.3e where a garage used that. I needed new rack, new pas pump and three pas lines because of the red crap and didn't see any change from £700.

[dan_b]

level is fine
although the car has always had red atf

There's your answer right there. Completely the wrong fluid for the PAS system. Get it changed immediately for the genuine Audi green goo and pray to your particular deity that it hasn't rotted the whole system.

[WabTheKing]

sounds like seals have gone/going in the pump, there are companys that recondition them, i have done the atf trick and had to get a recon pump, i use normal hydraulic oil

[pastures16]

yeh i know but thought if it wasnt broke dont fix it dumb *** me
but on a good point all it turned out to be was a very soft o/s/f tyre blew it up and hey presto so what oil and how much do i need it says hyd mineral oil on the cap can i use any hrd oil any specs p/n etc

[Jas11n]

yeh i know but thought if it wasnt broke dont fix it dumb *** me
but on a good point all it turned out to be was a very soft o/s/f tyre blew it up and hey presto so what oil and how much do i need it says hyd mineral oil on the cap can i use any hrd oil any specs p/n etc

Green mineral fluid "G 004 000 (updated from "G 002 000". ).
Available from dealers, GSF, ECP also some good motor factors.
You can also use "Febi Bilstein M 6162" green mineral fluid. Dealers (Teeside Audi) head tech told me Febi Bilstein make the stuff for Audi.
Steer clear of green mineral fluid called LHM for use in s'citroen hydraulic systems, it's a lot thinner.
Can't remember off the top of my head how much the system takes from empty to full, two bottles (1 litre per bottle) should be enough though.
Too bleed, turn the steering from lock to lock a few times, it's self bleeding.
Last time I bought some it was £5 a bottle.

[AndyP]

You'll need a lot more than two bottles to flush out all the red stuff. When I got mine it had ATF in and it took at least five bottles to get rid of the red. The red shows up really well when it is mixed with the green so it's easy to tell when you've got rid of it all. Don't forget that you have to drain the rack aswell, take off the feed hose and wind the steering back and forth until no fluid comes out.
It's a real PIA to do properly. Good luck

[Graham]

The pump is easy to re-seal yourself, if your handy with your hands you can change all the seals in about an hour----HERE Is the link to the overhaul. I pray its not the rack as i have heard they are a biatch to do. Seal kits are cheap from the stealer, the hardest part is having the right tools to remove the coupling. They are on fairly tight, a puller should get it once the belt part of the pulley is unbolted

[MidnightBlueS2]

You can also use
http://www.kroon-oil.com/uk/products...did=276&m=desc

It's green as well and cheaper...

[pastures16]

cheers for the input lads