Shortly after I bought my 740 TDI the rack and pinion developed a hitch in it where it would lock up if I tried to turn right from a stop. Never did do it while driving or turning left but scared daylights out of me so I bought a parts car with a good rack and pinion and when I got to adding steering fluid, I looked in my Haynes manual and it said to use ATF instead of regular power steering fluid. It works but when the temp drops outside the steering gets pretty stiff. Does anyone else with a 740 use ATF or is Haynes blowing air. It's a lot stiffer even in warm weather than my Honda or my old Dodge Stratus was so I'm wondering if it is the ATF. Any thoughts or pro/experienced knowledge out there about this quirk?

I use ATF in all mine, no issues. Modern Dexron equivalent, not type F. If they get stiff in cold weather it apparently means that I need to replace the fluid (I do syringe method,) because that pretty much fixes it. I imagine synthetic would be even better, but haven't tried it.

Thanks Chris, I have never had another car that used ATF in power steering so was wondering if Haynes knew what they were talking about. Maybe it is time to change it. It's been 6-7 years.