Um, little help please? Steering trouble

[JUT]

Morning all,

I've been putting off changing my PAS pump since I bought the car (it squeals on full lock) but over the last week I think the problem has just got a lot worse... symptoms are:

1) a constant high-pitched sound like a bearing has gone in one of the pulleys as long as the engine is running;
2) a whining sound on full lock that suggests the pump is on its way out; and
3) a clanking sound that suggests a bracket is loose or broken when turning lock to lock

Not good

The car is going into a local garage tomorrow who are good at what they do but are not Audi specialists - any ideas what I should suggest they look for?

Thanks

[Dippy]

Squealing on full lock is normal (there is even a note about restricting use of full lock in the manual). When my steering was noisy (I can't remember if I had any clanking noise) the answer was simple - I topped up the oil!

[jimbogrey]

Ditto had exqctly the same symptoms ..turned out i was losing the hydaulic fluid and when it got too low all sorts of weird noises ensued. so try that first but be careful to use correct fluid

Jimbo

[JUT]

I didn't think it was low but worth checking before replacing anything - does it take special fluid then?

[dummi]

audi have the correct fluid

[philipwalker]

I have noticed some similar problems on many newish VW Audi.

The customer reports a more noticeable fan/V belt noise and a pulsing in the power steering.

On first inspection it looks like a V belt tensioner problem. When stripping down we often find the alternator free wheel pulley has failed. It is designed to drive the alternator in one direction, when the engine revs die off it continues to free spin under its own generated torque. It this free hub seizes it causes the V belt tension to be reduced causing slippage etc.

[tin69]

I didn't think it was low but worth checking before replacing anything - does it take special fluid then?

Check hydraulic fluid Part#G002000.

Also see discussion below:

http://www.audifans.com/pipermail/quatt ... 63325.html

[okkim]

It is replaced with G004000.

[ChipHazzard]

Mine squeals on full lock & i've just topped it up not turned it full lock to lock to see if it's improved yet

[JUT]

OK, the car went in for a new pump which does seem to have cured the problem, but, another one has cropped up as a result...

Picked the car up from the garage, and drove it a short journey (less than 10 miles) in traffic, so didn't get a chance to put my foot down. At the first opportunity to boot it, I got up to about 4 or 5k rpm, then suffered a major hesitation and spluttering to a halt... Quick poke about under the engine revealed that the o/s intercooler pipe had blown off under pressure, put it back on and the car ran again. I could see no jubilee clip, so I think the garage cocked up - they confirmed they had removed this pipe, but maintained that they had put a jubilee clip on it when refitting it, and it must have not been tightened up enough.

To my mind, that's neither here nor there, either way, they didn't refit it properly. And now, I have a problem, namely a maximum of 5 psi boost, and a car that feels totally gutless. Previously it was running 15 psi normally with peak of around 18 psi under hard acceleration. Any idea what could cause this, i.e. could the intercooler hose popping off have caused damage elsewhere, or could the car have gone into limp mode (not sure if Audis of this age have limp mode even, but I haven't had it long!!!)

Any help would be much appreciated, I've told the garage what's wrong and asked them to remedy a fault that wasn't there when I left the car with them and they have said that they will, but they aren't a performance car specialist so it would be good to have some ideas as to what might have gone wrong... thanks peeps!

[JUT]

p.s. should comment that aside from having no guts, the car seems to be performing as it should - no extra smoke to suggest a blown turbo, no rough running or stalling, just a tragic loss of boost and subsequently power... bit of a mystery really!!!

[dodgydave]

Check with VAG-COM. Looks like limp mode to me.

[Dippy]

Limp mode is about 0.4 bar which is about 6 psi. It indeed just holds back on the boost and in all other respects the engine runs fine.

It makes sense that such a serious air leak could cause limp mode, and this itself should have protected the turbos from overspin. If you have restored the integrity of the air system then the ECU should pick up on it and remove limp mode. I can't remember if it will do this automatically or if you need to reset.

[JUT]

I tried disconnecting the battery for 15 mins to see if it would reset itself but no joy. I wonder how much my local dealer will charge just to plug it into VAGCOM to a couple of minutes and clear the fault... and whether the garage will pay for it, since I'm fairly sure they don't have a VAGCOM...

[yorkie]

Almost certainly limp mode, will be a fault code something like "Charge pressure lower limit not reached".

I would be happy (as I'm sure others on here would) to clear it for you and check for any other codes for nothing.

I'm near Cambridge so just a case of what's cheaper - pay the dealer or buy the petrol!