S8gr

At 52.00km's I heard a noise coming from the engine, it sounded like the Power Steering pump was running dry.
Took it to the shop and yes, after taking out the LH air filter, they found the power steering fluid tank totally dry! NO fluid leaks anywhere either!
I argued that thy neglected inspecting the fluid during the previous maintenance intervals, (I had one at 30.000k's and a brake pad change at 37.00k's), but they insist no power steering fluid inspection is listed in their maintenance jobs!
How can this be so? With no low level warning for the power steering fluid, I cannot believe Audi has omitted this inspection from their regular maintenance schedules!
Has anyone had the same problem?
Anyway, I want to verify what the shop is claiming; can anyone direct me to a link with a list of maintenance jobs for my 2007 S8?
Thanks !

Pete@ECSTuning

Yikes! Seems pretty bizarre, if you ask me - here's a link to the Audi 2007 Service Circular: http://www.bentleypublishers.com/ima....2007.main.pdf

Believe it or not, it does not mention power steering fluid til the 55km service!

S8gr

Right! It is not mentioned till the 55.000k service! This is not only bizarre, it is a grave oversight from Audi!
I was looking for 10 minutes in the engine compartment but nowhere could I find the power steering fluid tank, because they have located it way under the LH side air filter; at the shop, it took them half an hour to dismantle and remove the air filter to get to it!
There is nothing the owner can do! What if I was on a long trip with no Audi shops near? More so, what if my wife or another non-tech owner was driving the car? They would surely run the system dry, destroying the pump and everything else along with it!
Shame on Audi! They should have a low fluid level sensor on that tank, even the simplest Fiats have it and their tank is in plain sight! Anyway the least they can do now is to issue a bulletin to include power steering fluid inspection at 15.000 or 20.000k’s max, in my opinion.

BiturboA6

How are we supposed to check it? I think we have to go under the car. I was having the same noises. It sounded like crap. They were going to replace my pwr steering pump,but they have to raise the engine and that could cause more issues. so they filld it and i think it has been good for 6 weeks so far.

b

S8gr

That's the whole issue! It can only be done by an Audi dealer who knows how to take apart and remove the left hand side air filter. In my case it needed fillipg up at 52.000k's, so I plan to have them check it every 30.000k's which is the Long Life maintenance interval. Unless you have a leak, I can only guess you could do the same; but should'nt Audi have a word on this?

MP4.2+6.0

for the W12. In both cases it should involve removing the left side air box. I have done that on the W12, which then allows access to the pump, where the reservoir is built in and has a lid with a check stick built in.

If you know what you are doing, the box is user removable, though there is a plastic clamp on the bottom that isn't obvious and can be broken if manhandled and you don't know it is there. Clamp imply undoes by hand after removing top of box conventionally and then a few more retaining screws as I recall, but it is the one step that isn't obvious or intuitive at all. Bentley manual didn't document it either as I recall.

nischal

Same thing happened to me, heard a droning sound at low speeds and the dealer found very low power steering fluid. I only have 24000 miles on the car.

I guess I need to have them check it every service interval and use this incident as leverage to do it at no charge.

ModestW12

I think the souund I heard Thursday evening is exactly what this thread is about. I'll have to check the level asap! I'm just under 45k right now. Glad the topic came up. I'll post my results when I get to it.

tashakes

I had an issue of the fluid completely draining, but it happened after I had the car fixed for an accident, seems like the return hose had a tear on it and with the pressure it ripped, drained 100% of the fluid while parked.

It seems so odd that the fluid in the OP's car is gone.... I have owned cars with 100K miles and have checked the PS oil and rarely needed to add more than a bit.

I am sure the OP can see if there is any oil dripping, but I would definetly check for leaks into other components, although I am not sure that any other accessories feed from the same oil reservoir.

My point is that it is very very strange that the reservoir was completely empty with normal use.

Mister Bally

I'm amazed that even on my poor man's (4.2L) version with the easy to see reservoir (opaque-you have to remove the cap and wipe the dipstick)that there is no low fluid float. Maybe there is a low pressure warning which indicates a brake problem. My old 1987 5000CS had a float built into the cap ($37.00 cap) as well as a pressure switch which with either one gave a red "brake" warning message.