Hydraolic line failure at a bad time...

[Kneale Brownson]

Edelbrock PowerBond, available from some FLAPS,  might do the trick for a
temporary leak fixer, especially if you can let it set overnight once
wrapped around the hose.

Fop the final fix, try Spokane House of Hose   http://www.spokanehose.com/
    You're in their neighborhood aren't you?



At 10:30 AM 8/13/2006 -0700, Tigran Varosyan wrote:
>Hi Guys,
>
>Emailing you all from a small coffee shop on Orcas Island WA. Friends and I
>decided to take my 95 A6Q on a little road trip. Heading up some twisty
>mountain roads, we spotted a deer, so we stopped to take some pictures. As
>the car came to a halt, to my surprise there was blue-gray smoke pouring
>from under the hood. 
>
>After a bit of investigation and digging around I found that the power
>steering pressure line developed a serious leak and that my reservoir was
>pretty low.
>
>The leak is located here:
>
>Remove the plastic engine cover.
>On the passenger side of the block, going over the head, there is a metal
>hard pipe that goes to the power steering pump located between the heads.
>Towards the back of the passenger head this hard pipe, it joins a rubber
>high pressure hose via a threaded pressure coupling. 
>
>It is this rubber hose that is leaking right behind the joint.
>
>Due to how overpacked the car is, I left my tool kit at home. With the help
>of the Park Ranger and some other motorists, I tried tightening the joint,
>which did not help. We were able to slow the leak down by about 90% with a
>hose clamp that is holding a tire patch over the hole. This however is a
>very cheesy solution as the pressure in the line is causing blisters to form
>in other parts of the hose. One of the guys happened to have half a quart of
>power steering fluid, so I was able to make it down the mountain, while
>feathering the steering, without running the reservoir dry.
>
>Frankly, I could care less for the power steering - I can drive without it.
>However, it looks like all accessories, including the alternator are driven
>by the same belt, so there is no way to disconnect the power steering pump. 
>
>My main concern now is to not set the whole car on fire - the location of
>the leak is close to the exhaust pipe, which is where the smoke and stuff
>came from in the first place. I am going to go buy a fire extinguisher just
>in case.
>
>Unfortunately, I am in total Podunk right now. Closest Audi dealer is more
>than 300 miles away and we got about 350mi left for our trip. If any of you
>guys have any bright ideas, I am all ears.
>
>Far as permanent repair, I got a few questions too. If any of you guys know
>the part number to this hose, I would appreciate it. I don't suppose that
>this is something that I can replace with a generic part? Somehow I strongly
>doubt that this hose will be in stock at my local stealership... Also, I
>cannot see where the other side of the hose or where it goes to - Murphy's
>Law would dictate that it goes to an impossible-to-reach location somewhere
>behind the steering rack. Words of wisdom on the repair of this hose are
>appreciated.