Power Steering Problems

[FormulaElement]

Hey guys, I was parking my car and when I straightened out the wheels my car started making this grinding sound and then there was no power steering. Car was fine and had no previous noise or problems while turning either direction. Fluid is fine, there are no leaks or air in the system. Reving the engine doesn't help. Feels like the steering wheel is harder to turn with car on than off.

I have never heard of the power steering just going out completely at once on these cars, that wasn't caused by a blown or leaking line. I am headed on a road trip early next week and would like to have this fixed. I am in a dilemma whether the power steering pump has somehow seized (doesn't make sense on a chain driven system), or if there is a blockage somewhere in the system such as in the Rack. Im half tempted to buy both, but the rack is around $1900 dollars and the pump is about $700.

Just looking for some thoughts on what you guys think is going on. I figured i would take the pump off tomorrow and try blowing some air into the lines to see if there is some blockage. I will probably order a new pump tomorrow as i need it by Monday to have it fixed Tuesday.

Here is a video of the sound

[SinCityA6]

The power steering pump runs off the accessory belt, not the chains on the rear of the motor. I does sound as if the pump is having issues. Since you are not getting any other dashboard errors, I will assume the accessory belt is intact and is spinning the power steering pump. As you have noted, start with the most likely issue (and least expensive) which is the pump.


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[FormulaElement]

The 4.2 non-FSI has all chain driven accessories besides the alternator. I took the power steering pump off and it moves freely and i see nothing wrong with it. To order a new power steering pump it has to be manufactured and sent to the US and the Audi dealership gave me a 2-6 week estimate along with a $900 price tag, all auto part stores get it from the Audi dealership so this doesn't help. I found a salvage yard who is going to overnight me one on Monday and i will try it, but i am having throughs that it won't help.

I tried blowing air in the lines and couldn't get anything through, i don't know if this is normal or not. I am going to try reassembling it just to see if there was a big air bubble in there or something.

Just a little history of the prior week that i forgot to add: I unplugged the secondary air injection pump three days prior to this problem. I don't think this could affect it but will try plugging it back in.

Does anyone know anything about the servtronic system and if it could cause completely loss of power steering and this sound? I have no errors in VCDS besides the SAI insufficient flow.

[kingofnyc]

Does anyone know anything about the servtronic system and if it could cause completely loss of power steering and this sound? I have no errors in VCDS besides the SAI insufficient flow.

The designed of our power assist (servotronic) is a two stage system. At rest and a low speed there is maximum assist. When the car accelerates and move faster this max assist is switched off to a lower level of assist.

Some people disable the system with out nay bad issues.

Did you try to figure out where the noise is coming from?

If you take some fluid out of the reservoir you will be able to see is circulating.
Do you see any bubbles in the reservoir ?
Does the noise change when you try to turn or rev the engine?
Withe the pump out do you see the shaft coming out of the engine spinning?

[FormulaElement]

The designed of our power assist (servotronic) is a two stage system. At rest and a low speed there is maximum assist. When the car accelerates and move faster this max assist is switched off to a lower level of assist.

Some people disable the system with out nay bad issues.

Did you try to figure out where the noise is coming from?
The noise is for sure coming from the power steering pump, I verified this with the engine running and the pump taken off

If you take some fluid out of the reservoir you will be able to see is circulating.
I cant see the fluid circulating in the reservoir, I'm not sure if its just because its dark or the fluid isn't actually flowing

Do you see any bubbles in the reservoir ?
There are no bubbles in the reservoir

Does the noise change when you try to turn or rev the engine?
As shown in my video, the noise gets louder when I rev the engine

Withe the pump out do you see the shaft coming out of the engine spinning?
Yes the shaft is spinning with the engine on

I did some more testing, there was a o-ring between the coupling shaft and the power steering pump that looked pretty bad. I replaced it and reinstalled the pump, it got rid of the grinding sound but not the groaning from the power steering pump.

The power steering pump looked fine, and was able to be spun by hand. I attached a drill to it and it seemed to push fluid quite well, although it's hard to gauge if it's enough to run the system though.

I took my air compressor that's set at 110 PSI and blew air through the lines. I was able to get air to go through the lines one way but not the other. I don't know if this because of a backflow valve or what. I do believe I was able to blow air through the return line from the pump to the rack but not from the outgoing line from the pump to the rack. Not sure if that makes sense, but I will double check what way the pump spins tonight and verify that that's correct.

Thanks for the help/advice guys, would appreciate any more. I am ordering a new pump tomorrow for sure and would like some opinions if I should go through with a rack as well.