Steering Stabilizer

[Mike Miller]

I recently took a trip from Montana to Vancouver, WA. In Troutdale, OR, I 
backed out of a parking spot and the steering wheel would not turn back to 
straight. I pulled back in and discovered PS fluid dripping from the front 
of the engine, so I assumed it was the PS Pump leaking. But that did not 
explain why the steering would not move. After applying a *lot* of brute 
force, there was a loud pop/snap and the wheel behaved normally, but, was 
still leaking PS fluid - the more I turned the wheel, the faster it leaked. 
Luckily, I had a quart of Pentosin with me so I topped it off and drove it 
the 30 miles to my destination - loosing hardly any fluid along the way.

I put out a call for a local area shop on the Northwest Audi list and got 3 
replies  - all for the same shop. Called that shop and they had a couple 
week backlog, but they refered me to another shop who was able to get me in 
and out that same day. The guy even ordered up a pump before I brought it 
in. What sucks was I had a relatively new pump sitting in a parts car at 
home. Just shy of $600 for the repair with the pump costing a tad less than 
$350.

The speculation was that the steering stabilizer was going bad (before it 
finally froze entirely)and caused excessive pressure on the PS Pump, blowing 
a seal. The loud pop I heard was the stabilizer bending 90 degrees and 
bending a mounting bracket. I guess people might want to check their 
stabilizer. I have the stabilizer removed and can feel no difference in the 
way the car drives - I doubt I pull one from a parts car and install it.

--mike