Hi guys,

This seems to be a fairly common question from what I've seen around the forum, and I'm gonna take the car to a mechanic to have it checked, but here is my problem anyway:
The car is leaking P/S fluid massively from both sides (driver/passenger) under the engine (I don't have access to a lift so I couldn't take the cover off to check where it comes from exactly). At this point it's not "top it off" anymore, its more like "fill it up" [&:]

I suspect this might mean the rack itself is leaking. From your experience, could it be any other reason (P/S hose ?), considering it seems to leak from both sides ?
I know I can find the part over the internet, so does anyone have any idea how much labor is for that kind of job ?
I don't place much faith in leak-stop additives, and I think, considering the extent of the problem, it would not work anyway.

Help much appreciated...

 

sounds like the rack to me, if its leaking that bad it should be replaced, i dont think you can just plug it... good luck

 

Well, got my answer.

It's the rack. And everything else apparently (rack, hoses, damper, tie rods, the whole 9 yards).
The guy told me it would be 2600$ for the job, parts and labor.

I guess that's what can happen when you buy a used car without enough experience...
But damn, 2600$ !

 

Man, that does sound pricey, but I guess a rack would be fairly expensive and not all that easy to remove/install.

 

Well the rack itself is 772$ from the list he gave me. Then you got the Damper, tie rods, hoses. Pretty mush 1300$ of parts. Looking at a website, the prices seem OK.
And then he tells me that, since this is a V6 Quattro, the rack is not easy to change at all, and that all in all changing pretty much everything in the steeering (which is what he tells me has to be done) will be a 12 hours job -> another 1100$ in labor.
Does that sound right to you guys ?

I'll try to have another guy (this is a VW shop/dealership BTW) to have a look at it.
If someone knows about a good, HONEST guy in the orlando area that would help...

I'm not very knowledgeable in car mechanics, and I'm not from the US (recently arrived), so I have basically now idea how much that can cost around here.
Damn, I was so happy to finally get an Audi [X(]