IPSC

I just spent the afternoon replacing my power steering rack on an 87S. It's all back together and NO LEAKS YEAH! ! ! That is the good news. I poured power steering fluid in and it is working but I am now getting groaning when I turn the wheels. This was not happening with the old rack (it was just leaking) so I am wondering if there is just some air in there and if there is will it work itself out or do I need to bleed it?

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peanut

yes they need bleeding best of luckOh the proceedure should be in your manual but come back if you need help

josephsc

Just turn to wheel lock-to-lock a dozen times and top-off the fluid again -- that ought to do it. Then have a beer for a job well done.

Robert D

I'd put the front end up on jacks to do it....it makes things easier in the long run. You need 2 people to do it. One just turns the wheel back and forth, the other looks in the reservoir and adds fluid. When the bubbles go away, it is bled.

IPSC

Cool I am off to finish this. I will be SOOOO glad to not have to keep pouring power steering fluid on to the streets.

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Zero10

Hmm. The groaning is your pump quitting.
Happened to me about 3 months after I rebuilt my rack. After 3 months the pump was leaking so bad I decided to rebuild it as well. Was very quiet before the rack was rebuilt, but now that it holds pressure, the pump doesn't =)

I turned mine about 5 times lock to lock, by then most of the bubbles had stopped. So I took it out for a spin, and topped it off after 5 or 10 minutes ont he road. Took very little.

Travis - sflraver

The groaning is air entering the pump on the pickup side. It can be due to a low fluid level, a bad hose from the pump to the reservoir, or air entering through the pump halves requiringg a rebuild).
I have everything you need to fix that from a pump seal kit to a new reservoir. Just let me know when you track down the problem.

IPSC

It seems to have just been low fluid level. I did have to add more a couple of times but this morning it seemed fine with no extra sound effects. This was not as easy a job as I thought it was going to be. I wound up having to take off the front SWAY bar. All in all I am GLAD that is behind me for the moment.

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Zero10

Hehe, I got mine out with the sway bar on. Although, in hindsight, I would have unbolted it in the middle.
What a fun job, no?
How hard of a time did you have getting the spline back into the rack?
That was the hardest damn part for me.

IPSC

Getting the spline back on was a pain. In fact it was the worst part. I even made the mistake of not reattaching the two pressure lines to the rack till after I had the spline connected and that wasn't as bad as getting the spline on. I was way worried about getting the thing 1 tooth off but looking at it with the way the bolt is cross drilled I can't picture you being able to get it off and still get the bolt in place. If I ever have to do this again I now know what to expect.

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Jay W

Actually a person can adjust a couple of splines in each direction. The last one I put together (my third) ended up in the steering wheel cocked a little to one side while going straight down a flat road. So I disconnected the shaft from the rack and spun it two splines and put it back together. Now the wheel is straight. This could have been done by taking off the steering wheel and moving it or just getting the car aligned, but I had just had it aligned 1 month before the rack started to leak. It wasnt easy to disconnect the shaft from the rack to adjust it, but I guess I like a challenge.

IPSC

Thats hard core by the time I got that thing back on the splines I was not taking it off for anything. Hence I connected the lines after that with GREAT trouble.

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NICK G.

Iam glad your on this subject.I just had a new rack and new pump put in.They put the rack in first because of the leaks and then a couple weeks latter they put in a new pump.Now the problem is there is no power steering. they bleed the rack a couple of times and every thing seemed good but no power steering.Is there some secret bleeding tecknik that they don't know about.Iam having the work done at my wifes auto shop wich is not a porsche shop, but they really try very hard since she is the boss!! and it saves us alot of $$$$$ If anybody has any ideas let me know thanks NICK

IPSC

Sounds like your not getting boost out of the pump but that is just a guess on my part. when the engine is on does it look like the fluid in the res. is cycling?

IPSC

Travis - sflraver

No power steering at all could be a few things.

A: Bad internal pump seals
B: Broken Teflon ring in the rack
C: Broken pressure relief valve springs
D: No fluid in the reservoir or restriction to the pump (kink in line).
E: high pressure lines hooked up backwards (not sure what this would do)