[s-cars] power steering trouble

Thu Aug 23 10:30:57 EDT 2007

Just out of curiosity, Dave- would you flush the open-loop system on  
your S4 and fill w/ ATF fluid if the known metrics of ATF and your  
extensive knowledge of fluid dynamics (as it pertains to diesels and  
our Scars) are so high?

I ask in a very serious manner as I respect your insights and  
opinions as much as anyone. It is curious to me too why VAG chose to  
run this fluid, over what I can only assume, was a great solution  
prior, in ATF.

Sincerely,

matt ludwig.

1995.5 S6 Avant
South Portland, Maine

On Aug 23, 2007, at 10:19 AM, djdawson2 at aol.com wrote:

>
> I'll bite on #1... but no way on #2.  ATF is one of the most highly  
> developed fluids in industry... designed specifically to handle  
> heat and pressure, while providing lubrication and minimal breakdown.
>
>
>
> It seems to me that the downside of ATF is what it does to our Audi  
> seals.
>
>
>
> Dave
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike Sylvester <mike at urq20v.com>
> To: brian hoeft <qweblog at gmail.com>
> Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com; djdawson2 at aol.com <djdawson2 at aol.com>
> Sent: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 7:09 am
> Subject: RE: [s-cars] power steering trouble
>
>
>
>
> ATF has 2 problems in this system.
>
> 1) It will swell the seals.  That is why your leak has reduced.   
> Eventually it will destroy them.
>
> 2) The ATF isn't meant for the heat and pressure.  The fluid will  
> break down and not provide adequate lubrication.
>
>
>
> $15 a quart is cheap compared to using ATF.
>
> Mike
>
> www.urq20v.com
>
>
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] power steering trouble
> From: "brian hoeft" <qweblog at gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, August 22, 2007 7:30 pm
> To: "djdawson2 at aol.com" <djdawson2 at aol.com>
> Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
>
> it must be the season for hydraulic component issues.
>
> youre the third or fourth lister ive seen mentioning troubles in a  
> couple
> weeks.
>
> i myself just got back from a cross country trip and sprung a  
> hydraulik leak
> and not only couldnt find pentosin in Missouri and Kansas but was  
> leaking
> too much to pay $15 a quart.
>
> sooo, i bought a $9 gallon of ATF that proved just fine and has  
> lasted a few
> thousand miles with a quart or so left.
>
> but,, shame on me for dripping a gallon of ATF across middle America..
>
>
> On 8/22/07, djdawson2 at aol.com <djdawson2 at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> 1) Impact driver works best.?
>> http://www.matcotools.com/Catalog/toolcatalog.jsp? 
>> cattype=T&cat=2208&page=3&#28982
>>
>> 2) Blau sells the plug and o-ring kit
>>
>> 3) Don't run it low on fluid
>>
>> 4) 3 and 4 are closely related.? If you ignore #3 now, you'll be  
>> asking
>> yourself another question similar to #4 very soon.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mike Fitton <rfitton at vt.edu>
>> To: s-car <s-car-list at audifans.com>
>> Sent: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 3:40 pm
>> Subject: [s-cars] power steering trouble
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ...otherwise known as: Help me not pay $360 for a seven-cent o-ring.
>>
>> So my power steering system has been slowing leaking fluid for  
>> several
>> months now. It wasn't fast enough to worry about it until last
>> weekend. I was kind of afraid it was the rack, so I kind of did the
>> head in the sand bit for a while. Finally it started coming out fast
>> enough to take a look. Rack's fine. It's coming out of that goofy  
>> plug
>> on top of the pump. You know, the one that looks like a giant
>> phillips-head. So I used my biggest flat-head and got it off  
>> relatively
>> easily (the first time). Found an o-ring underneath that has clearly
>> failed. But I didn't have a new o-ring for it and I'm fresh out of
>> CHF-11S, so I stick it back on. Then I remembered that there's a
>> 24-hour Advance not far from here, so I decided to take the o-ring  
>> with
>> me over there to get a new one.
>>
>> But now I can't get the plug out. I didn't think I put it in that
>> tight, but it isn't budging. After about an hour of messing with it,
>> the plug itself isn't looking too healthy. I've used that screwdriver
>> and a couple of other things. Even ground down a chisel to a flat  
>> tip,
>> but everything just skips out of the head. I needed the car the next
>> day, so I put some RTV around the edge hoping it would hold fluid.  
>> The
>> RTV held at first, but now it's leaking again and not slowly. So  
>> I'm in
>> desperate need of a new o-ring and preferably a new plug to stick in
>> there.
>>
>> So my first question: anyone have any clever ideas how to get that
>> little guy out?
>>
>> Second question: can I get just a new plug from somewhere? There's a
>> check valve under the plug that sits against it just so, so I  
>> can't just
>> stick a random bolt in it. ETKA doesn't appear to list a separate p/n
>> for it, so officially the only way to get a new plug is with a new  
>> pump.
>>
>> Third question: if I run out of p/s fluid for a few days before new
>> fluid arrives in the mail, will it damage anything? The pump isn't  
>> such
>> a big deal, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let a bad o-ring on  
>> the
>> front of the engine destroy the rack on the firewall.
>>
>> Fourth question: why didn't I just look at it three months ago,  
>> like an
>> intelligent and well-adjusted guy would have done?
>>
>> -Cheers!
>> Mike
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>
>
>
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