Checking power steering fluid

[stevekkk1]

went to another dealer and was told it was the green vag fluid, had to flush out the atf i had topped it up with after a dealer in farnham told me it was atf. wont be goin there again!

 

[Kait]

This is going to sound completely thick but how exactly do you get the cap off? I've tried turning it normally both ways and with a screwdriver in the gap.. its not budging. Any ideas?

 

[J@mes]

mine was extremely tight and hard to get off after one dealer had done it up far to tight.

there are two marks and an arrow and the arrow should be between them, but the dealer had tightened it passed it!

anyway, to undo I had to very carefully used a screwdriver, I did NOT use the head of it, I used the long body of it so to speak (the bar!) and put it in the grove and with the extra leverage I managed to undo it!

remember RIGHTY tighty, LEFTY loosey! (so turn it left/anti clockwise!) lol

 

[Kait]

Whoops made myself sound proper stupid didn't i. Know its normally left to loosen but had to be sure rofl. Used to do work on my old Corsa but this is all new

The cap on mine is the same.. its way past the second mark so that explains the problem i had to undo it. It may well be being returned to the seller tomorrow as its just too heavy for me to drive unfortunately, can't cope with fighting the steering and pushing a wheelchair. Gutted though as its the only car i've found that the wheelchair fits perfectly in the boot

Cheers for the reply and i'll have a go at that before i take it back up, need to put my mind at rest with the fluid before i make any rash decisions.

 

[J@mes]

definitely check the fluid level, it could be very low and you may not have full power to your power steering!

also I know LCR's have speed sensitive steering, so I wonder if you could adjust the power steering on your car? (what you got?) worth asking the dealer though if your going there!

 

[Kait]

Its a 2002 Leon 1.6s. Wasn't a dealer i got it from, was the guy who did the MOT's and service on my Corsa and hes always been brill but he's already said he wont touch the steering as hes adamant theres nothing wrong with it. He upped the PSI in the tyres but its not made that much difference.

 

[J@mes]

hmm... well I assume your car is not lowered or has bigger/wider wheels on it?! (if so that will not help!)

check the fluid, otherwise looks like you may have to get used to it, or change car if it really is a problem!

either way, good luck!

 

[kriso]

I finally managed to undo the cap on my power steering reservoir - it was tightened up beyond the 2 marks a well. I've had a few strange noises recently and found the level is about half way between the Min and bottom of dip stick!

It looks slightly green when I wipe it with a rag so does this sound like the usual VAG stuff?

Also, I don't think you can adjust the steering on the Leons because they are mechanical-hydraulic. I was able to do it via Vag-Com on my mk4 Ibiza because they are electro-hydraulic, probably the same as the Mk2 Leons.

 

[J@mes]

yea the vag hydraulic power steering fluid is green!

 

[kriso]

Cheers, I phoned the dealer today and said I think its called 'CHF 11S'. They just said all the VAG stuff is the same and would be ok to use. I think they said it was called GK2. It didn't give me much confidence but I'll pick some up tomorrow and hope it is green

 

[J@mes]

I bought some last year, but cant quite remember the name. I think the main part of the name is basically hydraulic fluid and it was green colour! lol



EDIT: just did a quick search for you and found this...

"The correct fluid is 'oil for hydraulic system and power steering' part number G 004 000 M2 Any VAG garage sells it."

 

[kriso]

Well I picked up some of that today. It says 'WGK2', has the above part number, is called 'Oil for Hydraulic System and power assisted steering' and includes a Seat logo so must be the right stuff!

 

[J@mes]

good good!

 

[R666ECE]

can someone explain how to get this cap off without chewing up the plastic cap ??? cheers