tartar

My A6 has been sitting in the garage for more than a year and I finally just got it running.

Brief history:
1. Bent 3 exhaust valves - sent off to be fixed
2. Put driver's side engine back together, manifold, etc...
3. replaced oil, oil filter, spark plugs, & refilled coolant
4. reconnected all vacuum lines

Car started easier than I thought it would. Only problem is that the power steering fluid reservoir was empty when I started the car. I just have emptied it durng the engine dismantling. It's been so long since I dismantled the car that it's even a miracle that I've been able to put the car back together to this point. On top of that, parts and bolts/screws have been rearranged all over the garage since then. LOL...

Got a quart of the Pentosin CHF-11s? power steering fluid and refilled the reservoir. Now the power steering pump is making some noise and bubbles are coming back into the power steering fluid reservoir when the engine is running.

Is my power steering pump toasted or do I just need to work the power steering from left to right until the bubbles work their way out iof the system?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Hard to tell. Just work it left to right and pray the pump hasn't rusted/corroded.

georgeb944

Look for a loose hose clamp or a cracked hose on the input side of the pump.

tartar

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! Here's what I did:

I propped the front of the car up on jacks, worked the steering wheel from left to right repetitively, topping off the power steering fluid reservoir as needed until the bubbles and groaning noise disappeared. Took the car for a drive around the neighborhood to make sure the steering was working. It worked like a charm!

Whew! I got lucky on that one!

Everything seems to be in their right place, except for what looks like a long vacuum line originating from the rear of the window washer fluid reservoir. I'm not too worried about it at the moment since the car seems to be running fine. I may post a pic of this mystery vacuum line if I'm not able to locate where it's suppose to hook up to.

Thanks again, guys!

SloopJohnB@mac.com

That's probably a line for the headlight or real windshield washer nozzles.

tartar

Here are pics of the line in question. It has a "Y" section near the end of it and seems to be coming from behind the power steering fluid reservoir towards the windshield wiper fluid reservoir.

<img src="https://forums.audiworld.com/picture.php?albumid=166551&pictureid=243898">
<img src="https://forums.audiworld.com/picture.php?albumid=166551&pictureid=243897">
<img src="https://forums.audiworld.com/picture.php?albumid=166551&pictureid=243896">

I may take a syringe and see what type of fluid I'm able to aspirate from this loose line (if any). It will at least tell me which system it belongs to and get me closer to solving this puzzling mystery.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

behind the p/s reservoir (toward the windshield) you should be able to see one of the washer pumps…there are two, the obvious one is the windshield washer pump, there's another one further down for the headlights. Why not just hit the windshield washer stalk with ignition on and see what comes out? Got fluid in the reservoir?

tartar

I'll try this first thing in the morning when I get off work, Sloop. Thanks!