Accessing and changing the Power Steering Fluid

[killerbanana]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum - thanks for all the information here, but I still only have a vague idea of what I'm doing.

My Ibiza MKIV 1.4 TDI became difficult to steer a while ago. My local garage said it was a power steering fluid leak and topped it up again. They recommended I see what happens. It was fine for a while, but suddenly the steering took a turn for the worse and over the course of about 30 minutes of driving last Monday it became practically undriveable.

I need a temporary fix so I can drive the car to a garage, which probably means topping up the power steering fluid for the journey.

I tried this today, but noticed I need to remove the battery housing to even get to the power steering fluid reservoir. I can't find any instructions on how to remove the battery housing - does anyone have some advice or know a good guide? Can I damage anything by just unscrewing random bolts in the area until it comes out?

Finally, this is the fluid I intend to use: 'Comma CHF1L Central Hydraulic Fluid CHF 11S', with MVCHF written on the bottle. It is 11S, I get the impression from the forum that it should be fine.

Would something more generic be fine? I have semi-synthetic 'Comma MVATF5L 5L Auto Trans and Power Steering Fluid' fluid lying around in my shed.

Most importantly, can I mix the power-steering fluid with a stop-leak fluid, like 'Granville 1440A 10K 375ml Boost Stop-Leak Power Steering Fluid' . The fluid is designed to stop valve leaks, but I read on a different brand that it is unsuitable for electronic steering pumps, and I think the Ibiza MKIV has an electronic steering pump. If the stop-leak fluid works it could save me a fortune, but obviously I need to know if it wrecks the car's internals.

Sorry I can't post a link to the specific products yet, but they are all on Amazon with those exact names.

If worst comes to worst, do you know of any guides to replacing the steering rack or steering fluid pump? Could a novice do those jobs with the right guide? I can't really afford to pay a £600+ bill for replacing those bits at a garage.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Badger]

Do you know where the leak is actually coming from.

You are right, it is an electric motor power steering pump.

To access reservoir is easy. 10mm for the terminals on battery and 13mm with long extension bar to unbolt the retaining plate down on the front. Lift out battery and you'll see a further 4x 13mm bolts. Unbolt these and the plate lifts out. I think there maybe two 10mm bolts that connect it to the airbox that need removing too.

Second hand parts are available on eBay and if push comes to shove, I have a powersteering pump and rack I'm breaking from an Ibiza you can have pretty cheap if you get really stuck.

A novice can replace pump quite easily but rack is a little more involved as it requires you to drop the subframe for clearance.

 

[Edward9th]

The fact that our steering is electrically driven won't make any difference - it's still hydraulic assistance, and the pump doesn't know or care what's driving it.

 

[GlanzaV]

Hello,

I had to replace the power steering pump / control module on my Mk4 Ibiza. I'm not sure in hindsight whether this was 100% necessary (I had to do it ASAP as I was busy getting married and going on honeymoon the next week!) but the pump/control module itself is one contained unit (RRP = £620) and even David @ SERE Motors could only provide it for £435... so it's an expensive repair any way you do it! I ended up having it done at a VAG specialist and it cost me £750(!)

Here's my old thread from when it happen, there's a couple of other suggestions in there of smaller things you could maybe try first!


[edit]

Here's some additional help (hopefully)

1. How old is the battery ? - the PAS on the ibiza takes quite a bit of juice to run it.
Mine started coming on intermittently and all was cured with a new battery.

2. Does the steering go heavy mainly when going DOWN hill ? - deffo the fluid too low.

3. Have a look at the load signal wire - if it's broken the battery wont be charging till the engine is over 2000rpm.

4. When you turn on the ignition - do you get the battery light on ?

5. Another possibility is the steering angle sensor - bit of a bitch to change but about £70 to buy.

and... Fixing the didgy Load signal wire

 

[killerbanana]

Thank you for all the help!

I'll let you know in a day or two how things have gone with the car. Nice to have a heads up about the 13mm bolts, I didn't have an appropriate wrench for that. I'm waiting on some CHF compatible stop-leak to arrive in the mail, and if that doesn't work Ill start looking into GlanzaV's thread.

 

[killerbanana]

Do you know where the leak is actually coming from.

You are right, it is an electric motor power steering pump.

To access reservoir is easy. 10mm for the terminals on battery and 13mm with long extension bar to unbolt the retaining plate down on the front. Lift out battery and you'll see a further 4x 13mm bolts. Unbolt these and the plate lifts out. I think there maybe two 10mm bolts that connect it to the airbox that need removing too.

Second hand parts are available on eBay and if push comes to shove, I have a powersteering pump and rack I'm breaking from an Ibiza you can have pretty cheap if you get really stuck.

A novice can replace pump quite easily but rack is a little more involved as it requires you to drop the subframe for clearance.

Thanks for you help, it really is appreciated!

However, I didn't have much success today. I tried to get to the power steering, but after removing the battery (that bit definitely is easy) I couldn't get the battery tray out.

You're right that there are two bolts shared with the air filter that need to be undone, but I couldn't reach them. I noticed the battery tray is actually two bits of plastic. The upper bit just clips on (no bolts). Those clips were easy to undo, except the two that were blocked by the air filter - if I could remove the upper bit of plastic of the tray, then I think I could access the bolts that connect the air filter to the battery, but it's chicken and egg.

Do I need to take the air filter out as well? Are there any tools I need other than a wrench/ ratchet? I was thinking there might be a specialist tool to get under the plastic clips through the small gap from above, like a thin fishing hook?

Again, it would be so useful if a picture or video tutorial covered this somewhere. If there a complete disassembly guide somewhere perhaps?

BTW, the garage I took the car to a while ago said they could not find the leak and they'd probably just replace the steering rack. I plan to put a special UV paint into the CHF that should show where the leak(s) is/ are.

 

[Badger]

Forgot about the clips, use a long flat head screw driver and you should be fine. It's fiddly though and with the 10mm bolts, best using a long extension bar and 10mm Socket.

There is no need to take air filter out.

 

[killerbanana]

Once again, thanks for all the help.

Thought I'd update you on how it went.

I didn't have a screwdriver long enough to undo the clips around the battery, so I used a barbeque skewer. I'd recommend people undoing the bolts around this part of the car to have WD40 or similar handy - they seem to rust. The steering fluid reservoir was empty, so I added about 400ml of CHF 11S. After driving around a little to distribute the fluid, it needed about another 100ml.

I also added some Wick's stop-leak fluid designed for CHF fluid power steering. This did nothing, but is worth trying for anyone in a similar situation. The leak was quite bad by now - I could see the occasional drop below the car when it was parked.

Because I don't have the tools and am not comfortable doing big jobs on the car (I knew the leak was coming from the power steering rack), I decided to take it to a garage. I was quoted around £1000 by one garage (which I was unimpressed by from a previous job) and £640 by another. The job took a day and a half, and the car seems fine now.