Power steering . . .

[urq]

... this is a tough one to debug remotely ... what is hard steering to some
is normal to others ... and Audis tend not to have overboosted steering.
Every so often my wife asks me to check the steering on our car because she
thinks it has gotten stiffer ... sometimes the tires can use a bit of air,
but that's it ...

... and that is my first suggestion ... if your front tires are
underinflated ... or the treads are worn ... it will tend to make the
steering stiffer ...

As far as mechanisms which involve other failures, in general I would say
that there isn't much likelihood of coupling some other problem into the
steering ... except perhaps one.  You mention that the ISV may not be
working correctly ... if this means that the engine is idling at too slow a
speed that could well affect the pressures in the hydraulic system ... and
thus make the car more difficult to steer.  I assume the cars are automatics
... so a test for this theory would be to try turning the steering wheel
with the car stopped and in neutral with a slight bit of throttle ... say
run the engine at 1500-2000 RPM and see if the wheel turns easier than it
does normally ...

HTH!
Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> Power steering is much stiffer than it should be.
> The power steering container holds fluid.   First it happened on the
> '88 5000.  That was my husband's car for about a year.   We put that
> away for a while in the garage.    So we took out the '87 5000 for
> the winter which has great heated seats.   My husband drove that car
> last year for about a month and now I am driving it.
>
> The stiffness didn't seem to bother my husband on his car, but we
> both need to drive this one and I have a perpetual torn tendon in my
> right shoulder and it is really aggravating the situation.
>
> The idle stabilizer valve needs to be replaced . . . would have have
> anything to do with it?
> We are shopping to find the cheapest idle stabilizer right now.
>
> Does sitting allow dirt to form and clog something in the power
> steering/power brake system?  Or is there some other sensor which we
> need to look at?
>
> Could it be from a vacuum leak, by chance?