My 2012 TDI Exec made a honking sound occasionally. I removes as much fluid as I could and installed a synthetic oil that met the VW specs. After a few times of doing this the honking stopped.
What started my problems was that someone thought the brake needed to be topped up and added brake fluid to the closest reservoir that looked like it was the barke.
Of course the brake reservoir is under the cowling vent grate and the power steering is right there in plane sight, beckoning someone to put brake fluid in.

 

You won’t be left stranded anywhere, it merely provides assist. You’ll still be able to maneuver your Touareg just fine, it will take a bit more arm effort to do so.

 

I'm having a similar issue on a 2014 TDI. CNRB engine I believe. The power steering pump is a bit noisy but I notice that right turns I can feel the pump struggling and or the rack being more difficult to move in that direction. It happens everytime turning right and its getting worse. Its like the strut tops are binding but only in 1 direction, which points towards rack. Which I pray its not. Any ideas?

 

I have the exact same issue with my 2013 tdi. I am also trying to locate a slow coolent leak, so good times!!

 

Struts don’t rotate on a Touareg, they use a double wishbone style front suspension. Have you checked your fluid level and quality?

 

I realize that there are no strut tops. I was using it in a descriptive sense. I have sucked out the reservoir 2 times now and replaced with OEM fluid.

 

Not sure if these are ZF racks (although I'd be surprised if they weren't) but I've seen situations where the vent pipe that bridges the 2 sides of the rack to equalize pressure when you turn, get kinked. as odd as it seems to have happen, repair shops have caused more bizarre issues

 

Resolution:
The power steering hydraulic pump has been replaced. No one I talked to had seen one fail on a 7P Touareg before.
All seems good now 👍
Quiet as it should be 😊

 

Resolution:
The power steering hydraulic pump has been replaced. No one I talked to had seen one fail on a 7P Touareg before.
All seems good now 👍
Quiet as it should be 😊

Apparently they fail pretty frequently. Bosch remans the factory pump.

 

Hi mate, very old post to drag up sorry! When this was going on could you feel a buzzing through the steering wheel/drivers seat/pedals etc? My pump is also whining loudly, despite losing no fluid, and I get a light buzzing that seems to correspond with the sound around 2000 rpm.