Ok, yes, I actually do have two new copper crush washers...I forgot I had already purchased those! No anti-seze, cool, thanks!!

 

When I am disconnecting the steering gear linkage, do I need to mark its position? I was watching the one video that exists on the web and the fellow marked it...but I thought that might have been because he was having the rack rebuilt. If I'm just dropping it to change out the pressure hose, will that be necessary?

 

As long as the rack is locked with the centering bolt then you don’t have to mark the steering intermediate shaft. Just make sure the steering wheel is aligned straight when you refit the rack.

 

NM

 

Finally finished the work. In the end, I replaced my heater control valve and the high pressure steering line. I updated the banjo bolts on the rack with newer hex-head, which are not quite as substantial but will work. 22ft-lbs on the rack worked just fine, but was not enough for the side going into the power steering pump...that needed about 30ft-lbs before it wouldn't leak. I replaced the bushings on my front sway bar, since they had been getting hammered on one side by the power steering leak. I replaced the steering rack boots and the steering gear dust cap, which was annoying because the only way to get that piece was to buy the rack re-seal kit. I did not re-seal the rack, because it didn't need it...and I was tired of messing around with the car.

Things I learned:

1. Order extra crush washers and banjo bolts. Belmetric is the place to get the bolts for 1/4 the price Porsche is charging. The size is 12x1.5. Thanks DSMblue!

2. Definitely need a ball joint separator tool...don't trust the guys at the auto parts store to know whether or not they have it...unless you have them look it up by the part number. The one I picked up at AutoZone worked well ("OEMTOOLS 7/8in Fork Opening Ball Joint Separator")

3. Removing the bushings from the front stabilizer bar is a pain in the ***....a rubber mallet works after all of your hand strength is zapped. Re-installing that stabilizer is kind of annoying. Make sure to mark the position of your bushings with something...tape will work...I imagine a paint pen would work as well. Make sure everything is lining up before you start tightening anything. Also, the small bushings on the stabilizer linkage will be fatter than the ones that came off. This means that you wont be able to get the bolt back on unless your adding pressure underneath. I used my floor back and a small piece of wood to push from below. You need some baby powder or some other type of quasi-talc to make those bushings slick enough to slide on the stabilizer.

4. The ground wire on the steering rack is going to be a pain in the *** if you let it. I listened to the German guy that makes 944 repair videos on YouTube and disconnected the line the the hose clamp instead of at the crossmember. Reinstalling at the hose clamp was a real pain when laying under the car. I haven't ever removed that line at the crossmember, but I don't see why that would be a problem. I mean, it's a corroded screw, but that seems way easier to deal with than an extremely tight hose clamp that bolts into the pinion house at a very bad angle for access while under the car. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if I do that again, I will spray that crossmember screw with some penetrating oil, let it sit for a while then give it a twist. If it's locked, I'll break out my manual impact driver. That's another thing, getting that hose clamp back on while under the car was very difficult. I had to push the outer rubber of the hose to the side a bit to be able to even clamp it.

5. Removal and reinstallation of the clamps for the suction line on top of the crossmember is a pain. Have your tiny 10mm box-end ready to hold on the top while you ratchet from beneath with a long 10mm socket. The one on the driver side is very hard to get to...make sure your box-end is coming from the passenger side....there is an angled piece of steel on the top of that crossmember on the driver side that makes it impossible to get the box-end flat if you're coming from that direction...hopefully that makes sense.

6. Reattaching the steering linkage to the steering gear can be tricky. The split in the U-clamp centers on the flat part of the steering gear. For good measure, I marked it before removal with some bright nail polish that I borrowed from my wife. You my need a long flathead and your hammer to get it off the steering gear...light taps, my friends. For re-installation, I put some grease inside teeth on the linkage. That helped a great deal...and perhaps it will prevent any additional specs of surface abrasions/rust from occurring.

7. Torque specs galore: steering gear connection is 23Nm(17ft-lb), all banjo bolts 30(22) - though, like I said, 22 ft-lbs didn't cut it for the one going into the steering pump...just a little tighter, steering rack brace bolts (attaching to the crossmember) are 23(17), ball joint nut torque will depend on the type of bolt with castle bolt being 30(22) and lock nut at 50(36), lug nuts are 130(96). Clamp for stabilizer to linkage 23(17), stabilizer linkage to aluminum control arm 25(18).

8. Removing and reinstalling the suction line can be tricky. First, make sure the line is on top of your tie rod...it's kind of a pain to move it after you're already under there. You're going to have to use the rubber part of the hose (attached to the rack) to get the slack needed to slide that line in above the crossmember. Get the rack close to the crossmember while balanced on your floor jack and push the hose toward the driver's side to get it above the pointed connection points for the rack clamps at the top of the crossmember. One side is easy enough to get up there, but the other side may require a little more force, though one should use care. Also, wait to clamp the line in place over on the suction side until you've got that side in place and ready to clamp onto the radiator coil...you'll need some play to get that thing into place. Of course, that clamp is using just pressure, so no big deal.

9. If you don't already have all of the workshop shop manuals, you should get them. I already had the 968 manual, but I also needed the 944 S2 manual for several sections of the 968 (the 968 shop manual directs you to those other volumes in several places). The best place I found for grabbing all of them was a Danish site: http://www.uriarte.dk/porsche944/garage/workshop.html

I think that's about it. Most of the time, it was an enjoyable series of projects. Definitely took me longer than it should have, but I'm sort of a slow and steady guy...don't want to screw anything up.