My 1999 Audi A6 2.8 Quattro is a little sick! My power steering is making a loud whining sound when I turn the wheel left and right. There is some fluid is the power steering resivour but when I check the cap level the cap doesn't touch the fluid indicating is is low on fluid. But since there is fluid in there but it's not full will it still whine like that or does it need to be full in order for it to sound correctly? Please help me its my first Audi!!!!!

 

I have three C5 A6's and I've had to replace the power steering pumps on all of them. In my experience, when they start to whine, it means the pump is starting to fail. I haven't found a good way to rebuild them, but you can typically find used ones on eBay for $50-$60, and since it's on the top, once you take the serpentine belt and the coil packs off, it's not too hard to change. Sometimes the low pressure hose crumbles when you remove it, so you just have to be ready in case that happens.