I noticed that my power steering was going out and on my front passenger side wheel is just covered in power steering fluid. Has anyone ever replaced this hose? Is it easy for a non-mechanical person to put on or should I invest money into someone putting it on for me. Plus does anyone know about how much it costs?

 

I don't know if you can call paying someone to fix your car an investment.

Did you find the hose yet? You should be able to fix it and a replacement hose shouldn't be too expensive if you need it. Pop the hood and take a look around to see if you can find the source of the leak. A hose should be easy. If its something else (pump) you can still fix it, but you can take it to a shop if you aren't comfortable doing it.

Once you find the problem, you can decide whether you want to attept the repair yourself.

 

It's hard to tell because it's right at the wheel. Cant tell by popping the hood and i can't really get under there good enough to find exactly where its at. It's all over my wheel and wheel well though.

 

Most likely it is the hose. If you can't see what you are going to be working on, then you probably aren't the type to take things apart and DIY. Take it to a mechanic.

Do not try to top up the system with "off the shelf" PS fluid. It will ruin the steering rack and cost a lot more. If you have pentosin you can top it up and drive it to your garage.

 

More likely you have a rack that is leaking. No ps hoses really go over there. Jack that corner of the vehicle up. Cut the clamp for the boot on the tire rod. Then push the boot back. If you get a bucnch of fluid shooting out you need a rack. You may also be able to see where its leaking out of the boot without removing the boot.

 

what?? I knew nothing about my audi when I did my first timing belt change. There is no way to discover anything by going to a mechanic. You just have to be calm and keep your wits about you and not do anything that you can't pay to have fixed if you blow it up.

As for the power steering leak...
The power steering pump and reservoir are on the drivers side of the engine compartment. The hose connecting to that compartment has a known issue for leaking. Also, the PS fluid cooler line site right in front of the A/C Condensor (which is in front of the radiator) - its the steel line with the little sensor clipped to it. That line has rubber hoses that connect to it behind the right (drivers) side bumper grill. The clamps keeping the rubber hoses tight tend to loosen and leak. I had to replace mine last week.

So if the fluid is on the passenger side, the rack could be leaking and dripping over and down. It could be the leaky hoses on the cooling line though - the fluid could be traveling along the line til it gets to the end and dripping down close the center of the front of the car.

 

S***, that sounds like bad news. I would say rack because the hose connecting to the rack is a little inside of the car; leakage from hose usually results in PS fluid underneath the passenger side (usually need to jack up the car to see it) and not at the wheel. the rack goes a little bit more to the side and that's probably where you have the leak. Although there are other hoses in front of radiator and if you have fluid in front of the wheel, that could be ur problem as well.

Don't mean to scare you or anything, but take it to a mechanic. It's unlikey that you'll be able to troubleshoot the leak yourself and a rack is not exactly an easy task, although of course it's ur car and you can do whatever you want

Best of luck!