Had a casualty during timing belt job and had a power steering hose get a little tear in it (small 5" one right on top of pump). Anyway, lost some fluid when I replaced it and figured I might as well flush the system - get rid of the 7yr, 61k mile old stuff. I've read people mention some "11s" fluid?!? Closest VW dealer is 30-35miles and Audi is almost 50, so I REALLY don't want to do that for stupid power steering fluid. Can I buy a quality synthetic from auto parts store??? I definitely don't want to cause myself any issues down the road....

 

absolutely not audi power steering fluid is mineral oil not hydraulic oil like used in the us. i believe you can use mineral oil from a hardware store but im not 100% sure of that, hydraulic oil will eat the seals in your pump.

 

The fluid has to be mineral.
You can order online, since you don't want to drive to the dealer - and I don't blame you.
You can buy it from ECS Tuning, or Blaufernungen, or Arizona Autohaus, or elswhere.

 

For flushing the power steering see: http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...r/psflush.html
I disconnected some of the sparkplug wires to slow the engine down, since the reservoir is rather small on the newer A6.

 

Ah, I just sucked it up and drove to VW. I don't want to order it, b/c I can't wait that long - need to get this car outta my garage so that I can put its rightful owner back in (my Z28 convertible). VAG is pretty damn ridiculous though w/ their $20 liter of fluid.

 

It is ridiculous indeed, but I haven't heard too many complaining of Power Steering Pump failure. They seem to last a great length of time.