Hello all,
This problem just started yesterday. My 2000 S4 has had its power
steering stop working intermittantly a few times over the last few days.
All of a sudden the Steering wheel got very stiff and hard to turn. Then
a few minutes latter, it was fine.

I checked the fluid level, and it was fine. The belt looks fine too, no
funky sounds. This has only happened when the car was moving slowly.

Has anyone seen a problem like this before? Seems weird.

thanks,

Adam

 

"Adam Schwartz" <MooFassa@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:MooFassa-4BE68D.01225417122003@reader3.news.rcn.net...
> Hello all,
> This problem just started yesterday. My 2000 S4 has had its power
> steering stop working intermittantly a few times over the last few days.
> All of a sudden the Steering wheel got very stiff and hard to turn. Then
> a few minutes latter, it was fine.
>
> I checked the fluid level, and it was fine. The belt looks fine too, no
> funky sounds. This has only happened when the car was moving slowly.
>
> Has anyone seen a problem like this before? Seems weird.
>
> thanks,
>
> Adam

Don't know anything about Audi problems with steering system -besides it
leaks sometimes and must be overhauled.
But I do know about Dutch police cars -Mercedes- Benz- some years ago which
had exactly the same problem.
Just some unpredictable times the assistance refused to work making steering
very difficult. It came to some accidents but probably some cops just
claimed the steering assist for their own faults...

But you have to get to the bottom of this for your own and others safety!

Ronald

 

On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 01:22:54 -0500, in alt.autos.audi you wrote:

>Hello all,
>This problem just started yesterday. My 2000 S4 has had its power
>steering stop working intermittantly a few times over the last few days.
>All of a sudden the Steering wheel got very stiff and hard to turn. Then
>a few minutes latter, it was fine.
>
>I checked the fluid level, and it was fine. The belt looks fine too, no
>funky sounds. This has only happened when the car was moving slowly.
>
>Has anyone seen a problem like this before? Seems weird.

I had a problem like this on an old Rover I had (I have an S4 now!),
but it might not be relevant. Essentially there was a problem with the
speedo such that everynow and again it would think it was doing 0mph
regardless of the speed. This meant that the speed-sensitive power
steering increased the assistance because it thought I was stopped and
thus the steering went extremely light all of a sudden, and then
returned to normal. I doubt this is the same problem, but worth
mentioning anyway


andyt

 

Adam,
If your S4 has "Servotronic" steering then try removing the fuse for that
and taking the car for a drive. The servotronic might be failing, leading
to occasional decreased assistance at lower speeds (when it should be
increased).
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"Adam Schwartz" <MooFassa@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:MooFassa-4BE68D.01225417122003@reader3.news.rcn.net...
> Hello all,
> This problem just started yesterday. My 2000 S4 has had its power
> steering stop working intermittantly a few times over the last few days.
> All of a sudden the Steering wheel got very stiff and hard to turn. Then
> a few minutes latter, it was fine.
>
> I checked the fluid level, and it was fine. The belt looks fine too, no
> funky sounds. This has only happened when the car was moving slowly.
>
> Has anyone seen a problem like this before? Seems weird.
>
> thanks,
>
> Adam