Hi all,first post here, nice place you have. So here's the problem.
2002 A6 Avant 3.0L. The power steering pump is whinning when you turn the wheel left or right and slilent wheels or staight or in their final turning position. Obviously any steering correction the noise comes back. I have replaced the pump and flushed out as much of the system as I could and refilled the system with the Audi mineral oil. The nose occures when stopped or driving. Any ideas? Can post any additional info as needed. Thanks in advance for any help. Noise seem to be worse when il is at operating temp vs. cold.
Mike

 

Thought I would throw this back up there to see if any thoughts or ideas.
Thanks

 

Was your fluid low before you did the flush/change?

A short time ago someone around here was having a similar problem. The recommendation was to make sure all the air is purged from the system as the PS fluid lubricates the bearings in the pump. Any air in the system can be catastrophic. I don't remember the exact procedure, think it involved making sure the front end is a bit inclined and cycling the wheel back and forth from stop to stop for a bit. Try a search.

After all that, are you certain the noise is in the PS pump and not some other component (CV joint, axle, rack, etc.)?

Good luck and keep us updated

 

Appreciate you getting back to me but actually found the problem. Since the vehicle made the noise while it was in park or nuetral, I knew it wasnt bearings or CV joints. I took the cap off the power steering resavior and there was a lot of air bubbles as the fluid was returning from the rack. It was using almost no fluid but was using a little (about 3 oz in 3 month. Knew the problem had to be on the suction side of the pump somewhere. So I replaced the hoses from the resavior to the pump (they were rock hard BTW and need to be replaced). So no more air bubbles when I was done and no more noise. I am going to replace the rubber lines to and from the cooler next figure it is proably time too. I will also be inspecting around the steering rack as soon as I can figure out how to get in there. Any help here? I see the lines into the rack are on the drivers side according to the parts schematic.