PaperToast

while i was poking my head under the car earlier this morning, i discovered some fluid oozage.
on closer inspection, the drips seem to coming from the tie rod end boot.
to the best of my limited knowledge, there is no fluid in the boots.
i did search the forum (didnt find any relevant info) and even called a local audi shop and talked with them.
he thinks it might be either seals leaking or the ps lines leaking.
but with the fluid leaking from boot that doesn't make any sense.

so my question for all you gearheads is what else could it be?

one curious thing, i cleaned the boot off, turned the car on, turned the wheel back and forth a few times, drove in the driveway for a min, parked it, turned it off, and it started dripping, a drip every min or two.

paulroad

did you look up?

allroad(s) lead 2Gavin

It is mineral based...

If you (or a previous owner) use(d) the regular stuff from your local auto parts store, it is very likely it ate up the seals.

Good Luck!
Gavin

PaperToast

i did learn that much so far. i went and got some pentosin 11s fluid so im good there.

made an interesting discovery and the cause of my leakage.
theres a pin-sized hole in the boot. just big enough for fluid to leak out of.
so i guess ill be getting a new boot put on here in the near future.

samm

Pin size hole in the tie rod end boot and it's leaking power steering fluid, hmm? Checking the PS fluid level to see if you are loosing any seems like an obvious place to start. There is grease in the tie rod end boot & when hot will thin out and may look like some type of fluid. Also check your CV boot as it can fling grease all over the place and also thins a great deal when hot.

PaperToast

way ahead of ya.
i checked the ps fluid before i posted.
and the reservoir was almost dry.
cv boots are looking almost brand new so theres no grease from those.
the funny thing is that i squeezed the boot and forced fluid out and it looked a lot like the ps fluid.

my solution (we'll see if it works) is i slathered some adhesive over where the tiny hole is.
just have to wait and see if it dries the hole shut.
its often the simple things that work the best, right?

allroad(s) lead 2Gavin

If I am not mistaken, the boot is to keep dirt and other debris out, not keep PS fluid in.

If at some point in the vehicle's life, the wrong PS fluid was used, the seals are probably shot (eaten/degraded). Simply draining the suspect fluid and replacing with the right stuff will not solve the problem. Rebuilding/replacing the PS rack/system is your only choice to fix this.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your findings!

Gavin