newvista

I just performed a power steering rack replacement and spent more time than I want to admit trying to get a torque wrench on the pressure hose banjo bolt in order to torque it down with the appropriate torque. Eventually, I decided to deviate a bit from the instructions in the Bentley manual and other walkthroughs. I highly suggest you do the same and that the walkthroughs be updated with this gem of a shortcut. It will save you a lot of time and frustration in trying to both get the hoses with banjo bolts on and torqued down properly in record time.

As a revised procedure to installing the rack and lines on the rack, get the rack into position and only install the top passenger side bolt. Get it mostly screwed in (so the weight doesn't bend it too much), but don't tighten it. This will allow you to pivot the rack front to back on the driver side of the vehicle. Now, attach the return line hose (remember the sealing washers) and bolt and torque it down from either underneath the car or from the access hole on the driver side. The return line is not a problem. Next, get the pressure line in there and get the bolt started by hand (remember the annoying sealing washers!). Once it is in, use about 24" in extensions and the socket from underneath of the car. Use a helper to make sure the pressure line curly-q doesn't rotate too far to the back which may prevent you from pivoting the rack back to the proper installation position. The extension will prevent the rack from rotating while torquing it down, so you shouldn't have to worry about that. Once both bolts are torqued down, install the driver side top bolt for the rack and then the bottom bolt. Torque down the bottom bolt first and then the top bolts as according to the Bentley manual. Continue the rest of the routine from here.

By following this procedure, you should be able to save your hand a significant amount of pain and cramping as well as finish this step in about 5-10 minutes of easy work.

newvista

This procedure was for a 2000 A4 1.8TQM ATW.

Peter Badore

Thanks for the writeup and suggestion for accessing the banjo bolts for the rack pressure and return lines.
I would add one additional step based on my experience with a 180,000 mile 2000 A4 Avant replacement that I did last week. After installing the rack and tightening the banjo bolts on the hoses at the steering rack you should replace the clamps on the power steering cooling tube. If the clamps are original they will be one time use "keystone" clamps. In my case the clamps could no longer hold the tube/hose joint tight and a hose popped off after about 60 miles of driving. I think that in relocating the pressure and return hose at the rack during the replacement and taking the hydraulic reservoir off for cleaning put some pressure on the clamped joint which then blew off. I also would recommend that the hydraulic reservoir be removed from the car and emplied and cleaned out as best as possible. There is a filter screen inside the hydraulic reservoir that cannot be removed but you can see if there are any metallic particles by probing with a magnetic wand. Also, the Audi A4 factory shop manual recomends bleeding the rack by turning the steering side to side before starting the engine as there will be a lot of air in the system that will take some time to work its way out.