Power steering rad oil leak
 

Hi chaps I'm doing some preventive maintenance on the s8 ,I have 2 small oil leaks ,one at were the 2 metal pipes connect to the ps radiator( in assuming it's the o rings inside) and the other at the crankshaft pulley seal,i'm going to remove both rads for pulley acess ,but am concerned that I'll have trouble bleeding both systems after rebuilding,they will be off for a month or so (as I'm back to work on Monday) ,should i also change ps pipes now as well ,one them has a dampness on it further away from the rad ?

The power steering pipe that runs alongside the engine behind a heatshield is known to fail at some point. It's a pain to do as access is terrible, I think officially it's an engine out job. There is an excellent thread by Delboy on how to do it.

That last pic is of the AC lines, not power steering. The PS pipes are the two with hose clamps which go up to the top of that radiator assembly - top few rows are the PS cooler, the rest is the AC condenser. Its most likely the PS lines with the hose clamps are dripping on the AC connections.

I've found with D2s that hose clamps don't really work for the PS pipes for some reason and just constantly dribble. They need the OE crimp-type clamps to seal up instead. You might have the same issue here.

Thanks ,i'll check delboy post 're pipe as I think I will change it now as acess is much improved at the minute as I have wheel arch liners,under tray and all stripped as I'm going to clean the ends of the arb and repaint and redo brakes and a couple of other bits as I have car sorned for winter in ready ness for the summer driving ( rather than summer mechanicing)

MJ thank you for the info 're the rad split ,i wasn't aware of this ,I had wondered why the ps rad had 4 pipes and was so big ,i don't want to disconnect ac rad for obvious reasons unless I have no choice ( which will mean a degas and regas after),I had a look and I could disconnect the coolant hose & loom plug on top drivers side and temporarily attach a couple of timber supports to the rad frame to allow me to very, gently and carefully move the rads frame away from the car ( drivers side only ) enough to allow access to replace crankshaft seal and also the belt when in there ,I looked at the a.c. Pipes and both have a flexible section after the metal sections that leave the rad and I think they should move enough( as long as I don't break them where they connect to the rad in the process ) also I'm assuming i should replace the belt tensioner when in there or is it better left alone if it's in good condition
ps I think your witw threads are excellent,initially when I joined( early last year ) i thought that you worked full time in your w,shop on the d2,but from a recent post am i correct in saying you have a full time job as well as working in your workshop?

Thank you :) Yes, my 'proper job' is as an IT consultant which is pretty dull (cloud all the things) but it pays the mortgage and allows the workshop to be a hobby that pays for itself.

Wow that’s Unique! IT during day a grease 🐒 in eve. So what got you into car repair MJ? I wished I did a car mechanic course in my youths. Would’ve saved a lot of money.+++

I'm sure my crank seal will need doing at some point. If you can take some pics and a small write up, that would be epic.

Here's the link to Delboy's thread

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11345

Will do it,i'll be a couple of weeks as back to work tomorrow, do you know has anybody else tried this before ? ( I'm not 100% sure it'll work but I'll give it a try and see) do they normally degas and strip rads fully to access it ?