Lost power steering and have leak What's likely scenario?

[Nylon]

I've bee getting used to the 04 tt gradually. It has been driving great and no leaks. Ran to pick up wife and ended up inside for a couple of hours talking. Its -10 degrees out. Started fine..no noises, no noticable drag on engine. Could hardly turn wheels when I pulled out. Had to get it home and in garage. Very hard steering all the way home. Producing frizbee sized puddle of oil on floor as we speak. Threw some floor dry on it. Reservoir for power steering empty. Car shipped from California last week. Water in power steering? Had been driving it in cold..not this cold and had never left it to get cold outside till this time. Any ideas on what I just destroyed? Serpentine looks good. Trying to figure out which one is PS pump. I am 200 miles from any dealer so I am on my own on this repair. Any good diagnostic would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[Nylon]

Found a post here that said that penofin eats hoses. Problem is I am leavin town in am for two weeks and I'm not sure what this fluid is on under there. Is PS pump low? Got my usual luck going on here.

[Nylon]

One last update. Fired engine, pump spins free no noise at all. No power steering and fluid all out. Had to drive home 10 miles. Won't have a chance to pull bottom shroud and try to figure out where leaking.

[wvicary]

You shouldn't be operating the vehicle with the pump empty. Remove the lower panels,top up the system and with the engine running have someone turn the wheel while you search for the leak. There could be several places it could be leaking and pentosin is very hard on all plastics,rubbers and painted surfaces so be sure to properly clean the area after.

CHF 11S or 202 Pentosin are the fluid part numbers.

[Nylon]

Thanks for the reply.

Searching the web on how to remove lower panels. Found bumper cover removal. Nothing on power steering lines or pump other than an actual pump rebuild. Will jack up car tomorrow and see what I can find. Lower covers shouldn't have all the hidden fastners like the bumper and fender liners?

[gbratk]

Lower covers are weary easy to remove, just look under the car and you'll sell all screws.

[JFP in PA]

Thanks for the reply.

Searching the web on how to remove lower panels. Found bumper cover removal. Nothing on power steering lines or pump other than an actual pump rebuild. Will jack up car tomorrow and see what I can find. Lower covers shouldn't have all the hidden fastners like the bumper and fender liners?

OK, here is the basic layout for the entire power steering system, including pump, lines, and cooler:

I would also strongly recommend not driving the vehicle without fixing the fluid problem and refilling it.

[Nylon]

Thank you for diagram. Pulled lower cover. Looked up in there to see hose 17 seperated from oil cooler at banjo 18. Banjo attached to rubber line. No apparent stress.

Here is what happened:

Drove car and everytning fine. Parked it for 2 hours in -15 degree weather. Started it and drove off. Discovered quickly that very hard to steer but could muscle it. (barely) Wife and four year old in car had to get it home. Drove it home 8 miles and got it in garage. Where it leaked a 24inch puddle. I floor dried the puddle. I restarted it next morning to listen for any pump noise heard none and watched it spin...quickly shut it off. Got call from owner of driveway that car was parked and was reported to have big oil dump. Had to leave town for almost 3 weeks. Now I am back trying to figure this out.

Any reason that line 17 would seperate at clamp 18? I initially thought maybe water somewhere split a line. This looks more like the hose was pulled off the line. And the aluminum line to the cooler is lower and would have bulged or split just below the connection if water froze low in line. Now wondering if a pump or rack issue could possibly have caused anough pressure to pop the line appart. Looks like this is a return line from the oil cooler back to the fluid reservoir up by the battery jumper posts.

Pic 850 shows the rubber line just as I found it off the silver hard line with the green mark. That hard line is the lower line off the oil cooler. Pic 847 shows the connector and line just as I found them. I used pliers on the clamp and slid rubber back on line to the mark and clamp reseated on the correct side of the flair. I have had armstrong power steering in my '76 dodge van with three on the tree. Once you get moving in vehicles without power steering they get much easier to steer which is why I know to always move some if doing any steering as its hard on everything including tires. This Cayenne was not easy to steer at any speed without power steering. Very difficult. Maybe that has a bearing on this line or not.

Could I be lucky enough to get fluid tomorrow (if local NAPA or anyone actually has the stuff) and fill up and have everything work fine for 100,000 miles? I am 200 miles from Porsche so must do repairs like this on own. Need to find a manual. Or online manual. Advice on best way to get a manual?

Thanks,

John

[Nylon]

Crud.....The line number is 22 with clamp # 23 NOT 17 and 18

[JFP in PA]

NAPA stores have been carrying the Pentosin line, so I would start there. I would also replace the spring clamps with stainless worm drive clamps which hold much better. You may have just had a bad clamp. When you get the correct fluid, fill the reservoir to the full mark with the engine off, then start it and turn the steering wheel to lock one way, then the other, and then re-center the wheels. Turn the engine off and adjust the fluid level. If everything sounds and feels fine, take it for a short run and then recheck the fluid level again. You should be fine.

[Nylon]

Wanted to update this. Was as simple as a hose clamp. Apparently lots of vehicles up here have cold weather problems with viscosity of power steering fluid. Was instantly reccommended to use ps fluid that was more friendly in cold weather...explained that I couldn't due to porsche weirdness. Motherinlaws cadillac suv popped its ps line couple of days later. I have had to arm strong plenty of vehicles and am old enough to have had several vehicles with no power steering. Never were this difficult to steer without PS. That rack and pinion is very tough to move even with vehicle moving. Yes I know it is strongly frowned upon to drive without fluid in pump. But with 4 year old and -15 degrees and very rural...sometimes you need to just get home. That is what I need in a truck...one that gets you home.

[JFP in PA]

Wanted to update this. Was as simple as a hose clamp. Apparently lots of vehicles up here have cold weather problems with viscosity of power steering fluid. Was instantly reccommended to use ps fluid that was more friendly in cold weather...explained that I couldn't due to porsche weirdness. Motherinlaws cadillac suv popped its ps line couple of days later. I have had to arm strong plenty of vehicles and am old enough to have had several vehicles with no power steering. Never were this difficult to steer without PS. That rack and pinion is very tough to move even with vehicle moving. Yes I know it is strongly frowned upon to drive without fluid in pump. But with 4 year old and -15 degrees and very rural...sometimes you need to just get home. That is what I need in a truck...one that gets you home.

Welcome to RennTech! :welcome:

Most people do not realize that power steering fluid ages and gets pretty dirty over time. While a full flush every couple years is always a good maintenance practice, disconnecting the lines to do a full flush is both a bit messy and beyond what many want to get involved in. A company called Cardone, who makes replacement power steering hardware, came out with an inline filter that goes on the low pressure return line and can be popped apart by removing a simple clip to drain the system quickly and cleanly, This unit also has a magnet and stainless steel cleanable filter element to trap the crap that collects in the system.:

Another, and more simpler option is to suck as much old fluid out of the system reservoir once a year using a syringe device and refill it with fresh fluid. While not perfect, it is both quick and effective in keeping the system in good shape in the cold. Be sure to use only the spec fluid as contrary to popular misconception, they are not all the same.

[wvicary]

There is also a filter located in the fluid tank but is only replaceable by renewing the tank.