Should I consider draining/refilling power steering fluid?

[nitroman]

Just a few weeks ago I noticed that my power steering fluid was low. Actually I think it's been like that for a while as I kept hearing a weird sploshing sound when I turn my wheels to the far right, but I thought it was some water leakage (I live in Vancouver, Canada where it rains almost everday). Anyways, I panicked and picked up some generic power steering fluid and topped it off.

Prestone Power Steering Fluid | Canadian Tire

Now I'm wondering is that going to be bad? I put maybe about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle in. Should I drain it and refill with the proper Pentosin fluid? And if so is there any drain valve? Or is it just suck it all up and then refill it, rinse & repeat? Thanks.

[nitroman]

OK I found the response myself and seems like I'm in trouble, Janitz did the same thing and said it was bad.

Clicking Upon Acceleration & Power Steering Fluid

In there is a link for a DIY on an A4. Since I have a Mityvac, I'll try to follow the suggestion of the last poster in just suck out old fluid from the return line and keep adding new fluid into the reservoir.

However, does anyone here know if the PS reservoir is situated the same as in the A4? That is, is the return line on the back of the reservoir, with the smaller diameter hose?

[nitroman]

OK I need some help as the PS reservoir is a bit different than the A4 guide. There's two hoses connecting it and both are in the front. One is in the bottom and it's a larger size, and another hose is going into the top. Would the top one be the return line? Is there anyway I can check?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

What else do you need!

M.
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[nitroman]

Thanks a lot MORAV. OK I'm gonna need to get the Bentley manual or DVD, lemme work out some funds and hopefully I'll contact you soon (wife already complaining I spent too much this XMas season already....)

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by nitroman

Thanks a lot Morav. OK I'm gonna need to get the Bentley manual or DVD, lemme work out some funds and hopefully I'll contact you soon.

You want the Repair Manual on DVD, promise, paper sucks in comparison. Let me know if there is anything you need in the meantime via p/m. I don't see every post to every thread.

M.

Here's the Power Steering Section Topics. btw, if you had to add fluid, you have a leak, impossible to be low otherwise.
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[nitroman]

Thanks for the offer, hopefully I won't need to bother ya again on this issue but it's nice knowing you're willing to help. I'm just making sure I have all info necessary since if I screw this up some more I'm not gonna hear the end of it from the wife, hahaha.

Funny there's no how to guide or DIY guide for this. Is it because it's so simple that it's not worth describing? Or is it because people don't really do it, since the PS is rated to last the lifetime of vehicle (though there's lots of "lifetime" fluids which are in need of flushing).

Maybe if I'm successful I'll take some pictures and write up a guide myself, then I can start contributing to this forum.

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

btw, if you had to add fluid, you have a leak, impossible to be low otherwise.
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I was afraid of that. Well I guess I'll just do a quick flush first to get rid of that Prestone part. Then when I get the DVD I'll read up more and try to find the leak.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by nitroman

Thanks for the offer, hopefully I won't need to bother ya again on this issue but it's nice knowing you're willing to help. I'm just making sure I have all info necessary since if I screw this up some more I'm not gonna hear the end of it from the wife, hahaha.

Funny there's no how to guide or DIY guide for this. Is it because it's so simple that it's not worth describing? Or is it because people don't really do it, since the PS is rated to last the lifetime of vehicle (though there's lots of "lifetime" fluids which are in need of flushing).

Maybe if I'm successful I'll take some pictures and write up a guide myself, then I can start contributing to this forum.

I don't read a lot on here about PS issues, although I had read the post about the wrong fluid, that you read. I think I read somewhere, there, the OM, somewhere, the danger in using the wrong fluid was damage to the seals, but I truthfully don't remember. I think there is not a lot around here about working on the PS, because, like the a/c refrigerant, ppl think that simply filling it (charging it in the case of the a/c system, solves the problem. The PS system needs fluid, it's leaking, period. I think I need to put a big WARNING in my Newbie Welcome Kit thread about topping any fluid with anything until the Owner checks the specs. I do think your fairly safe filling the windshield washer fluid reservoir with shelf stuff, but maybe I better check on that too! (lol).

Btw, I edited that last post and put up the PS Index from the Bentley. See anything you perticularly want to see, let me know. There are overviews of all components, leak testing guides, and bleeding procedures.

I'm traveling/out of town next week and mayu not be around a lot, but if you need me, my real world forums email is in my biograghy and when an email is sent you'll get an out of office type message with my text number, it's on 24/7. I should see my email and my p/m's nightly. Posts get buried quickly.

M.

[janitz]

Not sure if I linked it before, but this DYI guide on TDIClub should work the same for the gas engine, I don't think the steering is any different on the car.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread...ighlight=power

It's pretty simple, you don't need any special tools to flush the power steering fluid.

Basically, you just pull off the return line on the top and with a funnel or some other way put the end into a bottle or something to hold the fluid. Then you just turn to the left fully, turn to the right fully. Top off the fluid with the proper VW spec fluid. Repeat. Keep repeating until you've run about 1.5 liter of fluid through. Then put the return line on.

Then you fill it up to the minimum level, go for a drive to a parking lot and go for some donuts at low speed. This will heat up the fluid pretty quickly. Drive back home and check the fluid level. With the fluid WARM it should be filled to the max line.

That's what I think people get mixed up on and put in fluid when they don't. The fluid is considered full when at minimum when cold, the fluid is considered full when at the maximum when warm.