Hi guys, the power steering on my mother’s 2004 B6 A4 Cabrio seems to be dying. Over the past year I’ve been adding fluid when it frequently got low, which seemed to fix the groaning temporarily when turning the steering wheel to from lock to lock. But I just did the timing belt and replaced some of the leaky power steering hoses and since then the steering has been “lumpy”. Like it has points where you turn the wheel that are assisted and others that are not. But the other day, it completely lost all assist. I mean, it’s like trying to steer a tank. I let it sit for a couple days and then tried it out again- it had gone back to just being notchy (or “lumpy”), but with some assist. It was drivable.

Then yesterday I took it out and drove it a little bit spirited (just accelerating briskly). All of a sudden the power steering is totally gone again. Not notchy, but just completely non-existent (again, like steering a tank)- pretty much undrivable. I’ve checked the power steering fluid tank- it’s completely full (no more leaks since the timing belt fix).

So, I’ve STFA and it sounds like I might have to replace the entire steering rack, not the power steering pump. Like I said, the pump still has all of its fluid and seemed to be working fine when we were in there, doing the timing belt.

Can anyone confirm that this is what I need to do and/or give me some pointers?

Thanks!

 

Mine was like that, in that it would seem to die in parking lots on hard steering into parking spots..
I replaced the pump and clamped the suction hose and it seemed to get better....however..

It turned out to be a leaking rack.
My rack boots had been slit to let oil drain..very little steering fluid was being lost..

 

The jerky feeling can be due to air in the system, and that usually comes from a loose clamp somewhere. If that B6 is a V6, then the pump is similar in level to the fluid in the reservoir, so there can be an air leak without much evidence of fluid draining out. My B5 V6 had a lot of trouble with air getting in, until I removed the supply line between the reservoir and pump, and found the issue: where the rubber hose was crimped to a section of steel tubing, the rubber had shrunk and would twist on the tube, and also let air in. I cut the old crimp off, then after careful cleaning, Silicone sealed all of the rubber connections down to the reservoir. That solved things for a long while (and absolutely no leaks!), until the pump itself began to draw air through the pulley seal or back plate, and I then replaced it. No trouble with the rack ever.

 

Thank you shurur2- I have been checking for leaks under the car and there haven't been any, so I ruled that out (for now).

And a huge THANK YOU to turbo510 for the idea that it might be air in the system! I showed your post to my cousin (who is a mechanic on the side) looked at it this weekend and all he had to do to get the power steering back was to find a big parking lot nearby and drive in a circle, slowly turning the steering wheel to lock. Once it gets to lock, you jiggle the steering wheel a little bit (maybe 10-20 degrees) and back to lock a couple times- I guess this is forcing the air bubbles out? It makes a little bit of a noise and then you can feel the full power steering come right back (no lumpiness)! Then we turned around and did the same thing in the other direction. It's crazy that it was that simple to fix! Well, it's not fixed, but it is a nice "trick" until I can get under the hood and figure out how the air is getting in.

We took it out and accelerated hard on a long straightaway and the power steering started to go again. So we pulled over into a lot, drove in a couple circles and it was back! So, no hard accelerating from now on until I fix it :-)

Thanks again!!

 

Just to follow up a bit..a leaky rack may not show oil under the car as it will be trapped in the boots and can be burned off.