Power steering questions…

[allroadadi]

First time RS6 owner here… I mean I had the car for a year and I’m getting it back to life.
Anyway, does the power steering on these cars not ‘help’ as much with steering on purpose or is the pump not working right? I own 2 other C5 Audis and both have way better power steering . On this car I have to put some effort into it to steer and I wonder if that’s normal? To explain it better, it’s like half working so to speak. I had a car with no power steering and this doesn’t feel like that bad, but it’s also not the usual steering I’m used to it…
Thanks!

[srichards]

No. It's normal weight power steering. Is it worse turning one way rather than another? Some of the front steering bits can go stiff with lack of use or wear. Mine was a bit heavy until I had something changed but can't remember what it was.

Check front tyre pressures are ok as if they're low then adds resistance.

Power steering fluid level check. Does the pump make a lot of noise? Is it definitely working?

[steve2003rs6]

I don’t get the impression of heavy steering while I am driving.
Put it this way. I can drive the car using 1 finger on the steering wheel for normal straight driving.
However I couldn’t do that making full turns on corners or 3 point turns where both hands are needed.
That goes for my old rack and my replacement rack.

Don’t get me wrong the steering doesn’t feel light , but at the same time it’s not particularly heavy.

[allroadadi]

No. It's normal weight power steering. Is it worse turning one way rather than another? Some of the front steering bits can go stiff with lack of use or wear. Mine was a bit heavy until I had something changed but can't remember what it was.

Check front tyre pressures are ok as if they're low then adds resistance.

Power steering fluid level check. Does the pump make a lot of noise? Is it definitely working?

Both ways I have to put in an effort to turn. It’s the same for either side.
The pump did make noise after I took the front end off completely (including the power steering cooler) due to air in the system, but I got rid of the air using the service manual procedure (front end on jacks with the engine off turn the steering wheel 10 times from end to end).
Tires are good on pressure, just double checked. It was the first thing I checked
When I had the ABS rebuild I did take the steering fluid reservoir off to clean the screen. It was clogged up (on the different S6 forum a guy was saying that if you have a geyser in the reservoir with the engine running the screen is clogged and he was spot on, after cleaning it no more geyser, it’s more like a waterfall).That helped a bit, but the steering response is the same. The pump is working for sure (hence the water fall effect in the reservoir) but I wonder if the pump is somewhat clogged up too since the screen was fairly dirty so it’s not working at full potential?

[srichards]

I don't know. It might be clogged. I have no idea if there's a good and safe way of cleaning it all out.

Did you take out all the old power steering fluid and replace it?

[allroadadi]

I don't know. It might be clogged. I have no idea if there's a good and safe way of cleaning it all out.

Did you take out all the old power steering fluid and replace it?

No, I only replaced what leaked out from the cooler pipe and some from the 2 hoses connected to it. Obviously I used new fluid, but now I’m thinking what if the rack was replaced because the old one blew the seals and thats the black pieces I found in the screen. I don’t know the route of the fluid, but the gunk in the screen was on the back side of it coming through the smaller hose going in the reservoir. Unless the pump is breaking down and that’s what I saw in the screen…
This rack doesn’t seem to leak, just by observing the spot under the car where it’s parked.

[B_O_N_K]

Cześć.

Może masz servotronic, który jest uszkodzony? Sprawny dopasowuje siłę wspomagania do prędkości pojazdu - im szybciej jedziesz tym wspomaganie jest słabsze a jak nie jedziesz jest silniejsze aby łatwiej było manewrować np. na parkingu.



Hi.

Maybe you have a servotronic that is broken? A working one adjusts the power steering to the vehicle's speed - the faster you go, the weaker the power steering, and when you're not going, it's stronger to make it easier to maneuver, e.g. in a parking lot.

[srichards]

I'd definitely change the fluid. You don't want bits in it.Then check the screen thing again in a few weeks. I assume there's seals where the pump sits, maybe that is the cause of the bits?

Do they all use the same pump? You could flush it out then use a pump off another car and put that one on it. Then see whether the hard to turn steering stays with the pump or the car. Bit of a faff though.

[allroadadi]

Cześć.

Może masz servotronic, który jest uszkodzony? Sprawny dopasowuje siłę wspomagania do prędkości pojazdu - im szybciej jedziesz tym wspomaganie jest słabsze a jak nie jedziesz jest silniejsze aby łatwiej było manewrować np. na parkingu.



Hi.

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Maybe you have a servotronic that is broken? A working one adjusts the power steering to the vehicle's speed - the faster you go, the weaker the power steering, and when you're not going, it's stronger to make it easier to maneuver, e.g. in a parking lot.

Is that a module? Location? How do I test it?

[allroadadi]

Well, to answer my own question, partly, I found good information on how to test the servotronic in the service manual. The problem I have is that slot 13 where the relay sits per service manual in the 13-fold relay panel is missing (no wires, nothing just a plastic surround that would hold a relay). So my question is: do these cars even have one or is it located in a different area than the other C5’s ?

[srichards]

Looking around it seems it was quite common to take out the relay to remove the variable assistance altogether. I'd think you'd have to get a relay and pop it in and see what happens.

[Shoppinit]

I thought the RS6 had boggo hydraulic power steering. i.e. not Servotronic. I think the steering is supposed to be reasonably heavily weighted. Sports car innit. I'm always taken slightly by surprise by how heavy the steering on the M3 is when I haven't driven it for a while. Especially after having been in an over-assisted car like the Volvo.

I don't remember the RS6 being particularly heavy or light. Just right. I'll try to get a feel for it next time I drive it.

The other day I had a Fiat 500 rental. Hilariously light steering. I felt like I could just spin the wheel from lock to lock with a single flick.

[srichards]

I didn't think it had variable assistance either but others seem to think it does. Is it a market area thing or a LHD specific thing to have or not have it?

[Shoppinit]

No, I don't think so. There aren't any variants in the parts catalogue, just lhd and rhd. The S6 had it, as did lots of other C5 platform cars. Maybe that's where the confusion is coming from.

[jonaswhite]

The power steering on the C5 Audi RS6 is designed to feel heavier than other C5 models due to its sport-tuned setup, but if it feels significantly more effortful or inconsistent, the power steering pump or fluid could be faulty and should be checked.