Power Steering fluid nightmare - Please help

[cobram@juno.com]

You're being a bit paranoid.  It's not like other brands of fluid are
made of hydrochloric acid.  Drain the fluid out of the bottom of the
reservoir and refill with hydraulic fluid,   run for a little while,
repeat maybe a couple of times and you should be golden.  I've bought
Audi's that had the red stuff run in them for who knows how long and
everything was still working.  I even hear that some people have been
running their Audi's on $40 5 gallon pails of DTE 13M and other
comparable hydraulic fluids for years without any problems.

Be happy he didn't top it off with brake fluid...that could have been a
major problem.

BCNU,
http://www.geocities.com/cobramsri/
We'll be spontaneous when we have time.

"Tony Urban" <tony at crazyralph.com> writes:
> Hi all,
>  
> Today my brother-in-law, who likes to work on cars, offered to lend 
> me a
> hand.  My windshield washer fluid runs out as fast as it goes in so
> there's obviously a big crack/hole somewhere.  He offered to check 
> it out and see where it was leaking.  No problem, right?
>  
> Well I get home from work and he says he found the leak and "patched 
> it" which I figured would be fine until I took it to my mechanic later 
> this year for an oil change and then I'd have him look at it.  The my 
> bro says "I also noticed your power steering fluid was low so I topped 
> it off".  UGH!!!
>  
> Of course he used some cheap synth power steering fluid from 
> Wal-Mart and not G002000 and now I'm totally freaking out.  I know this
stuff 
> can ruin my power steering system(among other things)and I'm 
> desperately seeking help.  
>  
> I have a 1993 90S Quattro.  The car has not been driven since he 
> added the wrong fluid.  It hasn't even been started.  It's just been 
> sitting there.  Is the bad fluid all through my system?  Can I
disconnect 
> the lower hose from reservoir and drain it, then refill it with fresh 
> fluid?
> Even better, can I just siphon the fluid out of the reservoir or is 
> it "in deep"?
>  
> If someone could please lend me some advice as soon as possible, I 
> would be extremely grateful.  I don't want to drive the car until I
find 
> out what my options are and my mechanic won't be back in until Monday
> morning.  
>  
> Many thanks, in advance!
>  
> Tony
> tony at crazyralph.com