Hey all, I was just trying to diagnose the classic power steering fluid leak today on my 00 A4 1.8T. I just took off the black plastic shroud covering the reservoir & noticed these electronic devices hidden under there. I've got no idea what they are, but the purple & white one on the far left wasn't even locked in the little clip so I stuck it in there. Then I traced the wires coming out of the bottom of it & noticed it wasn't even plugged into anything... I don't have any CELs or any problems other than the power steering fluid leak, so what do these things do?

& are there supposed to be 5 of these devices? The clip mount has space for another one even further to the left of the purple & white one. Sorry for all the vague terms, but I just have no idea what these things are hahah. The last pic shows a sticker that was attached to the device in question, don't know if that helps. Any insight is greatly appreciated for this n00b! Thanks

 

they are just connections, i think one is for the fan, another might be for the headlights or blinkers, i forget exactly. thats certainly not where power steering fluid is coming from. probably from the two connections on the bottom of the PS fluid reservoir, its a common point to leak.

 

I'm having the same leak, haha must be a common thing, and those plugs are in mine, not 100% sure what they are but i think ghost has the right idea, prolly just electronic parts for cooling and lighting. Check your hose connections on the PS fluid reservoir, may need either new hoses or new clamps, just a thought.

 

its pretty common for the seal on one of the sides to go out on B5's and cause a leak. in this case, you will need to replace the rack & pinion cuz its only going to get worse.

 

yea I had a feeling that was the case.... I'm pretty sure there is no leak from either of the hoses coming out of the actual PS fluid reservoir. I think its going to be tough to locate & the dealer wants like $400 to fix it or something hahah... forget that!

 

well you can get underneath the car and find the inner tie rods and the ends of the steering rack and see if they are leaking. if they are leaking, and the dealer only wants 400 to fix it i would jump on that. the rack is 200+ bucks alone and you can see where it is and how not easy it is to get to. if you are doing that i would pickup some new outter tie rod ends as well while you have everything apart.