ok...

i have an 98 1.8t quattro 5spd

played around in the dirt today, and had some fairly hard bumps

as im driving back down i start to hear somewhat of a whine in the front left part of my engine compartment.

about a minute later the power steering starts to gradually get worse and worse, and eventually gives out by the time i get back to the bottom of the canyon.

i checked the fluid and it was way below the minimum line, i put some more fluid in but that did not seem to help, when i popped the hood to put more fluid in, i checked and there seemed to be some sort of fluid sprayed all over the front left of the engine compartment.

this whine that im talking about increases in pitch and volume as the rev's go higher, i was thinking its the steering box.

anybody have any ideas?
im still without power steering

 

Can you pinpoint the location of the leak?

 

na, it seems like it got sprayed, but i cannot see any visible holes/ leakpoints

 

when they filled my car up with new ps fluid they accidently turned the wheel with the cap on b4 the fluid could settle, this caused it to spray all over the engie bay. the cap has a small hole on the side (at least mind does). this might be your problem, try filling it up and letting it settle before driving it or placing the cap back on. hope this works

 

na, cuz my powersteering is totally gone

 

Have it towed before you burn out the power steering pump. Find the leak and repair.