Hey guys, My pump whines not so much when its cold but when its hot. And it will get hard to turn when it gets warm too. I searched everywhere i could for an answer to my problem but most people were having the opposite problem with air captivating through loose lines when cold and making noise. And now for some history. I bought this car 6 Months ago with bad turbos and finally got around to doing the swap in the end of december from faulty RP K04's to rebuilt K03 hybrid BW's. Anyways refilled PS fluid and drove it for awhile fine but am now having these power steering noises. loud at idle especially if i touch the wheel but loudest at 1900 rpm. I think i migh not have gotten all the air out of my system when i did the change and now fried my pump. My refill only took half of the OE bottle and that worried me aswell. Also my rack was changed with a used one in the past and seams to work fine I believe. Let me know if i jumped the gun on buying a pump or if i made the right choice. Thanks!

 

Check for any leaks in you system. If there aren't any your pump may be going bad.

 

Its leaking somewhere and now its loud and whining all the time. Also i noticed it is sucking in air somewhere. Is there any chance ill wreck my steering rack by driving it? I'll get underneath and check it out this weekend just have no time till then.

 

To be honest, I am not sure about if it will damage your rack or not. My assumption though would say possibly. You want to repair that leak asap though, because it can cause serious damage to your pump if you do not.

 

Air leaking into the fluid. Best is change all the P/S hoses and clamps ... if hoses are good, then at least change ALL the hose clamps, there about 6-8 of them.

 

A used steering rack! Can't imagine going through that trouble of replacing a rack & installing someone else used rack from a 11 year old junked car.

Sorry i am opinionated.

With that being said , one place to check for leaks is right at the pump itself. Get rid of the factory crimp clamps & install worm gear clamps on it.

 

Or instead of the worm gear clamps use fuel injection clamps available at most parts stores. They seal better as they are made to hold at higher pressure and damage the hose less.

The pump will go long before you can damage the rack as even if the pump blows there will still be some fluid down there to lube the rack. The fluid pressure is used to assist your direction but lack of pressure doesn't do any harm to the rack as long as some fluid is present as a basic lubricant.

Your problem is kind of in reverse but it might be that the pump vanes inside are well worn and as the fluid warms up it naturally thins out and then starts to whine. But,,,,,, it could be it's sucking in some air.

After you have run it long enough to get it to whine and you turn it off have you checked the reservoir to see if there are any bubbles in the fluid ??

And I have to offer my unasked for opinion ...... used rack , what were you thinking ?? I love to save a buck when I can but there is some stuff where it's likely you are getting someone else's problem. Hopefully you're lucky and it won't start leaking or having "morning sickness" anytime soon

 

Not sure they make those clamps in that size? Yes i agree for the 8mm hose but i believe the suction hose is a bit larger. Not to mention it is a major pita getting that hose off the pump.

 

Well Thanks for the advice so far, I'll go through all the clamps this weekend. Im not driving it the mean time. And yes there is a major leak somewhere bc is practacally just draining all the fluid out in no time. I was looking under the car a little and noticed it looked like it was leaking by the firewall on the drivers side which worried me that the rack seal failed on that side. And I have a pump on the way so ill put that on right away. I would prefer to use the injection clamps if possible, I was reading around and some say the worm gear clamps cant get tight enough for the powere steering system of an audi.

 

A used rack , go figure. Glad i am not the one that has to do it a second time.

Just remember. knowledge comes with some sort of pain.