RS246.com Forum :: The World's #1 Audi R, S and RS Enthusiast Community

What a great start to the day; the sun was shining and the '6 was running superb as we blasted across the twisting roads of the Peak District (those Hotchkiss arb's really transform the beast through the bends). Days off work don't get much better.

All good things come to an end though; after a great pub lunch we were on to the roads again, the Bride enjoying the scenery, me playing with the hot hatches & biker boys when the steering started to feel a little notchy; after a few miles I really had to slow the pace as it was clear that I was losing assistance and it was becoming a real handful in the bends.I pulled into the next village and checked the PAS reservoir; as suspected it was empty.

Now, I know that the level was bang on before the trip and that the cap was screwed back on tightly but there was quite a lot of fluid around the top of the reservoir and across onto the ABS block, it was also wet on top of the intercooler where the fluid seems to have dripped down from the reservoir cap. Am I right in thinking that the PAS system vents through the cap if it overpressurizes? Does this point to a problem with the pump? Going to get it on a ramp today to see if anything is obvious like split pressure hoses or (God forbid) steering rack issues but I've got a feeling the pump may have failed as I've heard a faint whine when using some lock (not just full lock) for a while now and losing some assistance when maneuvering between lock to lock quickly; perhaps should have investigated earlier...

Anyway, the day ended with a lift home from a friendly RAC chap with a flat bed truck

Arse. That's bad news. I wonder if it boiled. Maybe it was old fluid and full of humidity.

Or maybe there's a hairline crack you haven't spotted.

Other than that I have no idea.

Have you checked the inside of wheel arches yet?...

If the reservoir is empty then whip it out and check it for cracks. Give the filter a good clen at the same time. It could be the return line is split or the clip isn't holding it tight. The fluid is pumped at quite a rate so would empty quite quickly.

amanda1 wrote:Have you checked the inside of wheel arches yet?...

???....

If they leak at the ends of the steering rack then it will be visible from the arches

Shoppinit wrote:Arse. That's bad news. I wonder if it boiled. Maybe it was old fluid and full of humidity.

Or maybe there's a hairline crack you haven't spotted.

Other than that I have no idea.

Yes, the boiling theory had crossed my mind as I don't know when the fluid was last changed.

However, I filled up the res this morning and drove no more than a mile; checked the level to find that the cap (?) had leaked out again, fluid all over the reservoir bottle and splashes over the local area so maybe a hairline split in the bottle... will investigate further when time allows.

Cheers all

Nobby wrote:If they leak at the ends of the steering rack then it will be visible from the arches

Right, makes sense now thanks, will have a mooch and hope for dry arch liners, really don't want to be even thinking of steering racks...

If it's any consolation, I had a similar experience in my RS2 and watched it roll away on the back of a very similar looking flatbed... a loose bolt found it's way onto the crank pulley at WOT just as it was hitting peak torque. Power just dropped off a cliff, boost dropped to near enough zero and it starting whining. Suspected timing slip and pulled over, belt and pulley a right mess but I am lucky - it only slipped 2 teeth so no piston/valve mashing.

On a positive note - I was finally motivated to fix the RS6. I spent monday night under the car with a strip light, oil service and ATF top-up and she's responding nicely to a bit of a thrash - including the gearbox! It's nice to feel real torque under 3500rpm again