ok... started the car everything was ok... drive to the other side of town still ok.. pulling into wal mart parking lot i hear a whine noise and im like ok.. guess ps fluid is low... so as im going to park it gets REALLY loud and im like wtf? so i park, pop the hood open the resevoir and there is like no fluid at all.. strange but ok easy fix right? then i poor some extra ps fluid i had into the container and as im pouring it in, i see it all on the cement...

so basicaly my questions to you are this... whats the easiest way to get to the hoses and such to try and find out why its being spiled all over the ground as soon as it gets poured in... and another thing, is this a common issue on our b5?

and for those that might ask.. no i didnt drive it home, i got it towed.. i figured 50 dollars for towing now would be cheaper then driving it home and destroying the pump itself and spending hundreds later

ooh one last question.. i was told honda/acura uses mineral based fluid too... can i use this for mine? or should i just go to the dealer and buy it from them directly?

 

buy from the dealer, get the proper ****.
check the 2 hose connections at the resovior, also check the hose connections at the cooler (where mine was leaking from), and check the connection in the rear of the engine bay (follow the hose).
I don't know if the 12v is the same as my 1.8t, but I have 2 hoses. will start from the resiovior, goes to the cooler on the front, then from the cooler on the front it goes to a connection in the rear of the engine bay.
if your going to replace the hoses, the hose is 5/8ths inner diameter., you will need aprx 3-4 ft for 1 hose, and 2ft for the next. first check the location of the leak.

 

well what is the easiest way to gain access (visually and physically) to the hoses?

 

Get under it. If it's laid out anything like my 30v, directly below the reservoir you can see the lines. From there you can follow where they go and trace the leak. My guess is that one just popped off while driving, causing you to lose all that was in there as well as cause it all to spill right out. The hoses are just typical rubber hoses and like all rubber hoses, dry and crack over time and likely broke from one of the ends.

 

I had a small leak from my two ps hoses where they're connected to two long plastic nipples right behind the front bumper. I had to replace the two factory hose clamps, put on some adjustable ones and make them super tight. It hasn't leaked since then. That mineral fluid is so damn thin that it's really easy for it to leak.

 

well mine isnt a leak... its a pour.. as in it pours out and hits the ground as soon as i put it in the container haha

 

I believe that mineral ps fluid is recommended on these cars as well. Think I read that in my manual, or it says something on the cap of the reservoir. Cant remember which. I would recommend just getting into it elbow deep Phil, if you cant get a good visual underneath. The intake hose to your throttle body, if you pull that off it opens up that side of the engine pretty well. Elbow deep Phil, elbow deep.

 

well i got underneath the car and got good and bad news

good news... i found the problem lol

bad news... its not a hose like i hoped... its the metal lines found here circled in red


now that being the case... im guessing this is going to be a dealer only option right? anyone ever have to replace that? know the price maybe?

 

Best bet is a scrapyard - if there's an A4 that part should only be a couple bucks. Or you could fab one - just get some metal line of the same inside diameter and bed yourself a loop. That's all there is to the piece, no internal diaphragms or valves. It's just a pipe in the slipstream that gets cooled by the air passing over it. That'd be the easy solution and would at least buy you time until you source a replacement OEM part.

 

well i just bought some jb weld hahaha... the only a4 in our junkyards (all 3 of them) was a 96 like mine but there was no engine or anything in the bay lol.. so hopefully the jb weld fixes it... if not then oh well.. no harm done haha