On 2014 - 2017 Polos, is the power-steering hydraulic any longer?

[veteran]

Has the power-steering fundamentally changed, on Polos produced since 2014 (or perhaps during 2017)? There's no sign in the engine compartment of the usual steering-oil reservoir. You'd normally need to check the oil level in this reservoir every now and then.

I heard that, on the previous Polos to these, VW relegated the reservoir to the underside of the battery tray, a daft move as it then meant you had to disconnect and remove both the battery and its tray whenever you wanted to check this oil.

But according to wording on p.135 of my Driver's Manual (printed in Nov. 2016), the power steering is now electro-mechanical in nature and no longer uses hydraulics. Oddly though, and counter to this, VW have published on the Web a description (including diagrams) of this new electro-mechanical steering which clearly shows oil and a reservoir being used.

I've been wondering whether to temporarily remove the battery and tray on my Polo, to see precisely what's underneath them. But, of course, if I do that the onboard Battery Management System will go bananas and generate fault alerts, which will subsequently need to be cleared down. Hence some reluctance. I think the operation of the electric windows gets affected also (but can be rectified by the owner).

So, what's the truth about this? Anyone here been as curious as me, and removed their battery and tray to see what's what? If steering oil is still being used, then the level of it in the reservoir (usually checked on the reservoir's screwdown stopper) will need checking right from the get-go.

[iichel]

The Polo 6R is electrohydraulic, with the pump/reservoir in the left front of the engine bay.
The Polo 6C had an electromechanic system with the motor on the steering column, just behind the dash.

[veteran]

iichel,

So, the power-steering is still partly hydraulic then, and therefore there is an oil reservoir!? Doubtless, it's tucked away under the now bigger battery. I'll take a look at it some time, as it'd be nice to know whether the oil level is correct or not. It probably is, but just for peace-of-mind ...... .

Is there an exploded diagram of this on the etka site or elsewhere?

On my Polo, which people now tell me is a 6C rather than a 6R, there's definitely no visible reservoir at either left or right of front.

[iichel]

No I'm sorry, I miswrote. 6C is electromechanic, no oil involved

[veteran]

By "just behind the dash", did you mean "in the engine compartment, where the steering column emerges"? If I can spot the motor, I'll be able to confirm that mine's of the electromechanical kind, with no fluid involved. If I find that to be the case I won't then need to remove the battery and tray to search for a filler-cap.

Are all Polos produced after 2014 by definition 6C's? There's confusion with mine because, although it was manufactured in 2017, the logbook (V5C) says it's a 6R. I don't think I can necessarily trust anything that the Driver's Manual says about the steering mechanism, because that Manual's been printed to cover quite a number of different Polos produced in the last few years.

[iichel]

No it's just above the pedals, a big lump on the steering column, just 15cm(6 inches?) downstream of the ignition barrel

[RUM4MO]

You can take it your car has no hydraulics in its power steering - another energy saving idea! (ie only uses power when it is needed). While on energy saving ideas, the charging system on these cars is "smart" in as much as the battery is an EFB type which as well as being more able to tolerate Stop/Start, it can also tolerate intermittent over charging, or what an ordinary Lead Acid battery would consider as being "over charging" - this means that the charging system can be backed off during certain conditions to save energy and when braking the battery is heavily charged using the engine on the overrun to utilise otherwise wasted energy.

Edit:- oh, and another energy saving device is the AC compressor, it is driven at all times but as it has a swash plate that acts to vary its effective displacement, so when not required it runs at very low duty cycle, just enough to pass some gas and oil mist round the system so that the seals should never dry out if the AC is never used to chill the cabin, this swash plate is controlled by a solenoid and there is the ability to, when WOT is demanded, (same for the alternator charging) to close down any demand for energy sapping cabin chilling. I think that compressors with electo-magnetic clutches are a thing of the past.

[6R_09]

By "just behind the dash", did you mean "in the engine compartment, where the steering column emerges"? If I can spot the motor, I'll be able to confirm that mine's of the electromechanical kind, with no fluid involved. If I find that to be the case I won't then need to remove the battery and tray to search for a filler-cap.

Are all Polos produced after 2014 by definition 6C's? There's confusion with mine because, although it was manufactured in 2017, the logbook (V5C) says it's a 6R. I don't think I can necessarily trust anything that the Driver's Manual says about the steering mechanism, because that Manual's been printed to cover quite a number of different Polos produced in the last few years.

An easy way to tell between 6R and 6C is the rear numberplate recess. If you have a short one, like this then it's a 6R. If it's the longer one, like this then it is a 6C. However, being a 2017, you can be sure it is indeed a 6C.

[veteran]

Just been out to the garage to check.

Mine's the second one, ie. one with a long recess. So, that settles it, then. Mine's definitely a 6C - and despite it having been registered as a 6R.

[RUM4MO]

That was always going to be the answer as for UK deliveries, the first phase of 6R cars stopped being built in late 2013/early 2014.

[peter_dk25]

Just been out to the garage to check.

Mine's the second one, ie. one with a long recess. So, that settles it, then. Mine's definitely a 6C - and despite it having been registered as a 6R.

6R and 6C are/was built on the same platform.
Therefore they are both registrered as 6R.

[veteran]

Returning to the original question, I thought I spotted some sort of reservoir behind the LHS of the front bumper when I removed the engine/gearbox undertray the other week. But maybe that would have been too forward of the LHS to be anything to do with the steering? By all accounts, the reservoir on Polos had traditionally been sited just forward of the battery, until in the pre-2014 Polos it was shoved right under the battery. Perhaps what I saw in my Polo, in the forward LH wing cavity, was a reservoir for something else? Next time I have that undertray off I'll take a closer look.

[iichel]

The windscreen washer reservoir is on the right hand side and easy to spot.
Then there is the brake fluid reservoir, probably on top of the master brake cylinder on the driver side of the car.
Hydraulic power steering is not present on the 6C.
The only thing I can think about is maybe the water reservoir of the water-to-air intercooler.

[RUM4MO]

All I can see down there is a big hole below the LHS headlight cluster end where the hydraulic/electro power steering reservoir used to appear from its location below that area. I was going to question iichel's posting on where the screen wash fluid tank is - but he was right, sorry about that! I think that the intercooler, while having its own controls for coolant delivery, still shares the common engine coolant, I think that the head area also has its own controls for delivery, ie just meaning that the coolant is not just circulated round the complete cooling system with only controls on what ends up passing through the radiator for dumping heat.

[iichel]

The new intercooler is a cool system actually. Sharing coolant with the engine... Yes and no, the new water-air intercooler does share its coolant with the normal system. Then you'd be heating up the compressed air from the turbo rather than cooling to down. But it does share the expansion tank. It doesn't have its own reservoir.

You can read about it on the German SSP on page 36.
https://www.motor-talk.de/forum/aktion/ ... tId=736094