Hi all.

I am working on my 1988 924S.

It has had an intermittent starting issue that could be resolved by jiggling the key, but it finally stopped starting, so I've decided it's finally time to dive into the ignition/steering lock mechanism to inspect and presumably replace the white ignition switch at the back of the key barrel.

I got all the way to removing the steering wheel spacer and unscrewing the allen head pinch bolt, so at this point the mechanism should just slide off of the steering shaft housing.

I know these mechanisms can get "stuck" on the steering shaft housing: I have a spare complete steering shaft housings (two actually) from a couple of 944s I've parted out. Even with that shaft housing on the bench, i took a couple of taps to the back of the steering lock.ignition mechanism to get it to slide off.

Is the a trick here, maybe using a slide hammer or a pulley puller, to break it loose from the front? Have I missed something else securing the mechanism to the shaft -- I read somewhere about a snap ring but there was no such thing on the two complete 994 steering shafts I have on the bench.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

do you have the key in the lock and turned to "on" to disengage the steering lock?
beyond that the last thing holding the aluminum ign lock housing would be friction between the internal shaft bushing and the copper colored bearing but it should come off with some persuasion.
don't pry/hit on the tabs that hold the wiper/turn signal switches on as they will break off.

 

Thanks. Yep, the key is set to "Run" position, so the steering lock is disengaged (the steering wheel turns).

On one of the several threads I read about on this process, someone talked about removing lambda (O2) sensor boxes, snap rings, wire harness clips among other things, but from the two complete bench shafts I have I saw nothing that would indicate anything might be holding it from behind or otherwise intefering with its removal.

I tried wrapping some strong climbing cord (kevlar core stuff) around the body of the lock-ignition mechanism and giving it a tug (avoiding any direct stress on the three tabs/ears) but no luck.

What do you think of some baling wire around the same place where the cord is now and giving it a tug with a slide hammer?

BTW, I also have a 944 (recovered from the Houston flood) that I plan to convert into a 948 with an LS (I have all the adapter parts and the LS, now just need the time) and noticed that you have done a V6 conversion. Why a 6 rather than an 8?

 

New wiper switches are NLA so don't break that guy..at least for my 83.944.... so be gentle with that assembly...

 

Thanks, for the advice.

I think I was pretty gentle with them.

Some threads on this subject suggested leaving them plugged in, but I didn't seem to have enough slack in the wiring to get them over the end of the steering shaft, so I unplugged them. I think I was careful but going to inspect them now as you've gotten me a little paranoid

 

Here's a close-up pic of the bearing and shaft tube. It looks like there might be a some wax (Porsche loves using wax for corrosion protection) or even glue between the bearing inner race/sleeve and the steering shaft housing that might be what's holding it in.

Thoughts? Is that something I need to chip or acetone off?

FYI, I am going to post this in a separate thread to see if I can get more eyeballs on it.

 

Got the housing out!

Turns out what I thought might be "glue or wax" in the picture was actually a thin plastic flanged sleeve that fits between the inner race of the bearing and the steering shaft to make it fit snug (which it does). It sticks out a bit in the front giving the illusion (at least to me) that there was glue or wax holding it in.

I was actually was able to finally loosen the ignition-steering lock housing from the shaft by fabricating an 11" long 1/8" diameter rod and weaved it under the dash at an angle around the DME (without having to remove it) it to be able to tap on each side of the housing a bit from the rear in order to force it forward. 11" seemed to be perfect compromise length to allow me to use the same rod on the right and left side of the ignition-steering lock housing. While I had the cordless grinder out (my favorite tool), I also ground a bit of a wedge onto one end of the rod to make it seat better against the housing body as you have to hit the rod at an angle rather than straight on (in order to get around the DME).

A few taps from the rear on one side of the ignition-steering lock housing then a few more on the other to keep the bearing from binding on the shaft, then repeat, and after 4-5 cycles of that back and forth the housing finally came off the shaft.

While I am waiting for a new ignition switch, I was going to repack the steering bearing. Any suggestions as to a grease to use?

Thanks to everyone for the advice and moral support.

 

That flanged sleeve that you describe sometimes deteriorates until it crumbles into small pieces and causes looseness between the bearing and shaft. Mine crumbled and fell out in pieces such that and you could move the steering wheel up and down quite a bit. 944 Online makes a replacement sleeve for about 15 bucks and this might be a good time to replace it while you have it all apart.

 

Good idea. The sleeve is still intact but it is discolored and otherwise showing its age.

Great site for parts.

Thanks for turning me on to it and for the advice.