New to Audi, Power steering question.

[Audidrew99]

Hi everyone, I just traded my truck for a 2004 audi s4. It is fairly clean and has 115k miles on the clock.

The guy I got it from claimed he had put in a new power steering pump, a new rack, and a new power steering pump gear sleeve. Now I went to drive it and when I test drove it the other night, it seemed to steer fine. Now when I got it home it feels like literally there is no power steering whatsoever. It is also making a chattering noise, I'm not sure if its related to that or another issue all together but it is fairly loud.

What could the issues be and how do I go about fixing them?

[VinnysS4]

I recently had the power steering gear bushing sleeve thing strip out and caused a loud chattering noise with 0 power steering until the motor was revved pretty high. Eventually the power steering completely went away and when I pulled the power steering pump and looked at that sleeve, it was completely stripped out. It is possible that the owner had changed the sleeve but not the splined shaft that runs it and that spline shaft could have been wore out, causing it to strip out again.

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[Audidrew99]

I see, that makes sense. the noise seems to be getting louder and more consistent. I took the reservoir cap off and watch the fluid and the fluid would dip a bit when the noise started and return to normal after it would stop. but now it seems the noise is non stop. is there any writeups on how to replace this? I also had the car on jacks and climbed under to see if I could locate the noise, It seemed to be coming from the steering rack area underneath the engine.

[VinnysS4]

It's possible to be other stuff, that's just the first thing that comes to mind. A hole in a p.s. Line causes a weird noise due to cavitation. This is the bushing and little shaft

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[VinnysS4]

It's pretty easy to check/change.
1. Jack up the car and place on stands.
2. Remove drivers side wheel.
3. Remove the bellypan.
4. Support the motors weight(Jack, cherry picker, whatever)
5.unbolt the motor mount and it's bracket from the engine
6. Unhook the 2 hoses that go right into the pump. One will come off at the rubber/metal connection and I believe the other one is a banjo bolt on the pump. Either way, unhook both lines.
7. Unbolt the pump. One bolt is on the backside on the timing cover. Don't forget this one
8. Remove the power steering pump.
Next out comes the bushing and it's shaft

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[Audidrew99]

Is there a way to post a video? Maybe a YouTube link? I can record it and let you guys hear the noise.

[VinnysS4]

Yeah just upload it to YouTube and post the link

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[Audidrew99]

Yeah just upload it to YouTube and post the link

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https://youtu.be/FCM-lZ_6KDs

Here it is, It is consistent now with no power steering working.

[Audidrew99]

Any ideas? Also, Do these s4's have a filter in the power steering system somewhere? Over read about the hoses taking a dump as well

[DarrenOman]

The filter is built into the reservoir

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[VinnysS4]

What does the fluid look like while it's running?

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[Audidrew99]

Vinny the fluid is black.

[VinnysS4]

I missed the black fluid comment.
Did you ever get this resolved?
I asked about the fluid because if it had a leak in the system somewhere you would be experiencing foam in the reservoir. Black fluid is not good. The fluid should be a green color. Overtime it will discolor some, but black is no good. I tried to watch the video again but it said it was unavailable

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[no_roads]

I’m battling a power steering pump replacement on a 2004 S4 with 117k miles, funny enough the guy I bought it from, trades his truck for it, NO JOKE! LOL!
Let me run down what I know so far:
When the sleeve/coupler strips, the problem with that is it happens FOR A REASON GUYS! DONT JUST REPLACE THE COUPLER! If the coupler gets destroyed, it’s because there is a lot of resistance in the pump itself, which made it strip in the first place. My fluid was black with lots of metal shavings in it, and before this issue, the power steering didn’t work at idle but would if you have the car even 300rpm over idle. Replace the pump, the coupler, and the seals. New crush washer for the banjo bolt. I also found that in the S4 unlike the allroad, I can only find 2 mounting bolts that are through the back of the engine cover, 2 6mm hex keys.
Long story short, replace the pump and the coupler.