I live in Chicago and I've got a '02 A6 w/ a 3.0. The other night, it was pretty cold...around 10 F. The car worked well, but my power steering was very noisy...like it was low on fluid. I knew it was full..anyway, it stopped making noise when the car warmed up. Anyone ever had this happen? The steering worked great, it was just noisy! Looking for input!

Thanks!

 

Its ok un-less its leaking. You can try and aerate the fluid by taking off the resivior cap and turning the wheel back and forth (lock to lock) several times to get all the air bubbles out.

 

Whenever I turn the wheel to the limit I hear a ringing sound, I think the problem is related to the power steering fluid

 

It almost always is a problem with the fluid, but its either a matter of it leaking or you just not topping it off regularly because mineral oil evaporates.

 

Should I change fluid? Just suction it out? Suggestions?

 

Mine started like yours and ended with a pump replacement. May be the pump since it stopped after the car warmed up. May be nothing to worry about now. If it continues or gets worse, I would start with a flush. Use Pentosin or Febi. It's about $20 a quart on line. Your dealer may be easist if the price is about the same. You can suction it out adding fresh fluid until until it's clean. There's better ways to flush but I didn't want to take a chance of running the engine without fluid. Best to areate with the front wheels off the ground. Check for leaks. The first flush bought me about 2 months before it started again. Maybe you'll get lucky.
Our engine was only made for a couple of years and I couldn't find a rebuild any where and needed one fast, dealer $411.

 

I just saw this for power steering flush. It is for an A8 but there is a revision/clarification for A6 at the bottom.
http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...r/psflush.html