Hey all,

Some of you may remember when i was thinking of buying a 6 there were a few niggles with the car i was looking at and posted up my concerns.

One of them was that the PAS pump fluid was a milky yogurty consistency. I was satisfied that the reason for this at the time was that some twit had decided that the PAS fluid reservoir was infact the screen wash bottle and dumped some screenwash in the with PAS fluid.

The car was at 60k when i decided i would buy it. Car is now on 101k.

When i first had it serviced at 60k i asked said mechanic to replace the fluid. He said he had to bleed it through about 3 times to get it to run clear.

To be honest i hadnt really looked at the fluid since it was changed at 60k bar one or two times. I noticed that it quickly returned to this milky white/pink yoghurty consistency.

Two weeks ago i was getting a horrible whirring noise when i put my foot on the throttle, getting louder with the more power i was demanding.

Stuwee diagnosed it as the PAS pump so on Saturday just gone, he fitted a replacement for me and bled through the old fluid which was yoghurty!

Thing is he had to bleed through about 15 Litres of the stuff to get it to run clear. And this was after the fluid appeared to KILL the first replacement pump. We noticed the fluid was clear but very watery in viscocity. Anyway, the first pump he fitted really was whining/screeching and i had no power steering.

Luckily he had another used pump in his supply and fitted that one. I went off for some lunch at this point and he said when i returned that when he fitted the second pump that again it was screeching/whining and the clear fresh PAS fluid went all milky/frothy at first and he again bled it thorough yet another litre of fresh fluid. It was now clear and the pump appeared to be working/i had power steering.

So took it for a quick spin, whirring sound now replaced with induction noise again

So took it home after i think my car was p*ssing Stu off by this point (sorry Stu )

Got home 35 miles and it has gone a pinky kind of yazoo consistency (again going yoghurty)
Been out 140miles today and it has remained pinky.

Anyone know if there is anything that can be actively contaminating my PAS fluid?
As if someone had originally put water in it surely it would be mostly gone by now? What is going on?

I bought some new fluid again today and im going to do another change tomorrow i think as it looks to be reverting back to milk again slowly.

Sorry for the essay but the history needed to be explained.

Anyone know whats happening here?

Thanks

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

It sounds very much like either water or some of the contaminated fluid still in there somewhere. The froth could suggest you either have air in the system or are drawing it in somewhere aswell.

If it were me I'd disconnect every pipe and flush it all out that way ensuring every last bit of the old stuff is out and make sure all the pipes are clean, be sure to do the ram too. You can also check all fittings and pipes when doing this to eliminate any other damage being the cause.

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Ryan

Thanks so far. I think thats the most plausible explanations so far.

Could anything from the rack liquid wise be getting into the PAS pipes?

Where are the PAS pipes all routed around the car?

I can try do this on Thurs or Fri as im off work.

I really dont know what im looking at when it comes to the rack itself. So wouldnt know where to start tightening bolts etc.

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

They are quite easy to follow off the pump and reservoir around the car.

Off the top of my head the one comes off the bottle and goes to the pump (rubber one), the one off the pump goes down under the sump to the rack, and the other ones come back up under the engine mount on the drivers inner wing.

There are only a few connections to check really though and these can be done from the top and the ones on the rack can be reached through the drivers side arch with wheel off or you can just get under the car and do them.

Check the blue sensor in the pipe that goes down the front of the block too, if this has been changed it may not be sealed 100% and could be drawing air.

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Ryan

Thanks guys, freaking car is costing me a fortune recently. Bloody b*tch.

When you are talking PAS rack do you just mean the steering rack itself?

Thats above the subframe isnt it? It all seems pretty straight forward but i am useless at even the most simple jobs.

I think it must be drawing air tbh, as its taken too much replacement fluid to be something still lingering. Would air also change the viscocity of the fluid to make it more water like?

The new pump is letting out little groans in tight manouvres today also, something isnt right i dont think

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

Thanks. I really need to get this sorted with minimal cost!

Travelling upto Cambridge on Fri/Sat so will try to get it sorted before then.

Will keep yee updated

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

If you get stuck Chris i don't mind taking a look. Had a long hard think after leaving yours on Saturday and i to agree that there could well be a vacuum being created somewhere.

TBH i wouldn't mind burning your bas**rd car it's just one thing after the other

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Team Nile 6
Team: 40.2 MPG
5 x a 306 owner!
currently abusing type r's in a town near you ™
I truely live for the 306 ®
Build date: 29th October 1997 Wednesday's car
midweek madness

I do find it strange that the fluid changed to be like water. It is as if something is getting into the fluid.

But from where? Assuming the rack doesnt have any fluid filled working parts?

Maybe its plumbed itself into the screenwash bottle somehow

I will aim to change the fluid tomorrow after work. But its finding the time when its still light to do so

Then all i can do at the moment is keep an eye on it

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

It doesn't appear to be losing fluid yipee, it was only bled thru that many times when the replacement pumps were fitted to get the fluid to run clear.

I'm only guna continue to change it because it appears to be becoming milky again.

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

Not as bad no but it looked to be gettin that way. As of today it looks a deep pink like strawberry yazoo milkshake....i just can't see how something could still be in the system for this long, will change it tomorrow and see what happens

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

Would also be egg like too would it not? Maybe bread crumby too.

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Black X Reg PIII.VGTi 6 A4212 pt 1 A4212 pt 2 Searching the streets of Bristol for 1.36p/day.

Joint Kent Leader

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

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Team Nile 6
Team: 40.2 MPG
5 x a 306 owner!
currently abusing type r's in a town near you ™
I truely live for the 306 ®
Build date: 29th October 1997 Wednesday's car
midweek madness

You need to do what I said then by the seems and totally flush the system step by step.

I'd guess you are leaving some contaminated fluid in the circuit somewhere, how are you flushing it?

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Ryan