Weird PS problem...Help!!

[Matdman]

Was getting onto the highway, about 75% throttle as there was no traffic in front of me, and went through 3rd, 4th, and 5th. 5 seconds after getting into 5th gear, I hear a loud bang and felt it through the throttle pedal, but everything still felt fine, same power, no noises or shaking from the car. Traffic slowed down a couple of kms down the road and I heard a whirring sound while in 1st and 2nd gear. I limped it home and found I had next to no power in my low gears now, and I had to fight to turn the wheel while making a left turn at a light. I looked under the hood and found that PS fluid was coming out of the reservoir. Opened the cap and the fluid is still just below the max line, but there were a few bubbles sitting at the top. Can't see anything else that might be leaking. Help!!

 

[Lensdude_com]

...you heard a loud bang and felt it through the go pedal but didn't seem important enough to pull off the road to investigate?
The whirring sound was probably the power steering pump running dry...
Is there any ps fluid leaking from the steering rack seals?

 

[Matdman]

Like I said, reservoir was full. Since it drove fine I kept going. Just got underneath it. The bolt that connects the dogbone to the engine has broken off, so I'm going to go get a new set of bolts from VW this afternoon. Why would this cause my heavy steering issue though? Heavy steering only happens when I am starting to move in first gear.

 

[Lensdude_com]

1st gear would be delivering the most torque to the axles so it could be the engine is moving around enough in worn-out engine mounts to affect the steering components...
so if the dogbone (pendulum mount) was stressed enough to shear the engine bolt then the other two engine mounts are probably due for replacement/refurbishment as well