I have a 2003 A4 with 31000 miles. I am hearing a noise (groan) from the power steering at slow speed or when the car is cold. I took it to the dealership and they just topped off the fluid off. The noise went away for a few days but now it is back. Have anyone faced this problem before?

Sajjad

 

I would check the fluid again. the pump will whine or groan when it is low on fluid or when it is about to take a ****. If it is or waslow on fliud there is a leak somewhere. Look for leaks at the resevoir, pump, p.s. cooler and the rack boots. If lines are leaking usually they do it at the fittings, the pump can leak out of the seal around the shaft holding the pulley on, the p.s. cooler will leak bcause it has been damaged from hitting something, and the rack would leak out of the inner rack seals filling up the rubber boots on each end with fluid. Sounds like you may have noticed the problem early so if the rack boots appear to be dry looking you may want to undo one of the clamps on each side to determine if there is fluid in there (explore all other areas of the p.s. system first, the rubber boots protect the inner tie rod and you do not want to damage the boots by accident if you do not have to).

 

sounds like the pump might be goin, id look are your hoses see if any visible hoses are leaking