anybody sealed their power steering rack?
03-20-2005, 05:25 PM
#1
Race Car
Thread Starter
anybody sealed their power steering rack?
i'm sick and tired of dealing with freakin power steering leaks. the car is really pretty easy to drive (even autocrossing) without power steering except for parking lot turns.
i am thinking about just sealing the rack and removing the pump, lines, and reservoir. any thoughts?
i am thinking about just sealing the rack and removing the pump, lines, and reservoir. any thoughts?
03-20-2005, 06:05 PM
#2
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Im planning on doing the same during the week. Less weight, less clutter, been driving "manual" steering for most of the time ive had the car, and I broke a hose last night so that kind chinched the deal... LOL
I *think* Paragon has suitable banjo bolt things (the round hose connectors).
I *think* Paragon has suitable banjo bolt things (the round hose connectors).
03-20-2005, 10:38 PM
#3
Race Car
Thread Starter
bump
03-21-2005, 12:48 AM
#4
Drifting
i did it for 3 years, and just recently have been driveing my car with the resealed rack. ive been so used to driving the car with harder steering that the "loose" steering makes it feel like its lesser quality now.
03-21-2005, 01:15 AM
#5
Three Wheelin'
Hey Joe. I was a power steering PD engineer for a year, so I'll give you some tips from the limited amount of experience I gained.
#1: Power steering gears are designed with the assumption that PS fluid is present during operation. You'll see maximum life if you can keep the gear filled with fluid, as the seals and bearings/friction surfaces will thank you for it.
#2: As soon as you remove the "power" from the power steering, your leaks should slow down at a minimum, or else completely disappear. PS pressures can be as high as 1500-1800 psi! Its a heck of a lot easier to keep fluid in a gear when you aren't pressurizing it.
#3: You can go "manual" steering as easily as removing the belt. However, you'll have to work extra hard to force the fluid through the gear/valve/pump/resevoir. You can make things easier and feel nicer if you just isolate the two portions of the gear that need fluid and then pull all the lines and the pump (and send me the lines, I think I might have crushed one when I was dropping the engine!).
#4: To keep the fluid in the gear with minmal maintenance/complexity, simply get a pair of banjo fittings, a small length of rubber tubing, and some plugs for the valve ports. You'll want the cylinder portion of the gear to be as close to full as possible. A good way to do this would be to attach tubing to both banjo fittings, then dip them into a container of PS fluid. Now cycle the rack back and forth and you should force out the air in the cylinder and pull in PS fluid. Finish it by just connecting a tube from one banjo to the other. Now when you stroke the gear, fluid should flow from one side to the other with minimal restriction. On the valve tower, just plug the bottom ports and leave the top one open, then just try to fill that cavity with as much fluid as possible. Its not critical to get all the air out here, as you're just using this fluid to lube the bearings and seals in there so they don't grind themselves to bits.
#5: If you wanted to go all out, pull the valve/pinion assembly out of the gear. Disassemble the valve until you have two pieces, the input shaft that your steering shaft connects to, and the pinon gear. There will be a long thing bar between these that allows them to twist - a torsion bar. This will wind back and forth as you turn until you reach the stops, usually about 15 degrees from center in each direction. This will feel like a dead zone without power assist. The fix is to just take up the slack here, either buy shimming the space between the stops, welding, whatever. I haven't disassembled a 944 gear, this is all from big blue oval style gears, although I'm about 98% sure the Porsche (ZF-Lemforder) gear works the same way.
Hopefully thats what you were looking for.
Dan
#1: Power steering gears are designed with the assumption that PS fluid is present during operation. You'll see maximum life if you can keep the gear filled with fluid, as the seals and bearings/friction surfaces will thank you for it.
#2: As soon as you remove the "power" from the power steering, your leaks should slow down at a minimum, or else completely disappear. PS pressures can be as high as 1500-1800 psi! Its a heck of a lot easier to keep fluid in a gear when you aren't pressurizing it.
#3: You can go "manual" steering as easily as removing the belt. However, you'll have to work extra hard to force the fluid through the gear/valve/pump/resevoir. You can make things easier and feel nicer if you just isolate the two portions of the gear that need fluid and then pull all the lines and the pump (and send me the lines, I think I might have crushed one when I was dropping the engine!).
#4: To keep the fluid in the gear with minmal maintenance/complexity, simply get a pair of banjo fittings, a small length of rubber tubing, and some plugs for the valve ports. You'll want the cylinder portion of the gear to be as close to full as possible. A good way to do this would be to attach tubing to both banjo fittings, then dip them into a container of PS fluid. Now cycle the rack back and forth and you should force out the air in the cylinder and pull in PS fluid. Finish it by just connecting a tube from one banjo to the other. Now when you stroke the gear, fluid should flow from one side to the other with minimal restriction. On the valve tower, just plug the bottom ports and leave the top one open, then just try to fill that cavity with as much fluid as possible. Its not critical to get all the air out here, as you're just using this fluid to lube the bearings and seals in there so they don't grind themselves to bits.
#5: If you wanted to go all out, pull the valve/pinion assembly out of the gear. Disassemble the valve until you have two pieces, the input shaft that your steering shaft connects to, and the pinon gear. There will be a long thing bar between these that allows them to twist - a torsion bar. This will wind back and forth as you turn until you reach the stops, usually about 15 degrees from center in each direction. This will feel like a dead zone without power assist. The fix is to just take up the slack here, either buy shimming the space between the stops, welding, whatever. I haven't disassembled a 944 gear, this is all from big blue oval style gears, although I'm about 98% sure the Porsche (ZF-Lemforder) gear works the same way.
Hopefully thats what you were looking for.
Dan
03-21-2005, 11:07 AM
#6
Race Car
Thread Starter
hey dan, good info - thanks.
my problem is i ruptured a weakened power steering line at the track two weeks ago, and i think i will just pull all the lines, pump, and reservoir and seal it like you mentioned above while trying to install as much fluid as possible.
my problem is i ruptured a weakened power steering line at the track two weeks ago, and i think i will just pull all the lines, pump, and reservoir and seal it like you mentioned above while trying to install as much fluid as possible.
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03-23-2005, 03:31 PM
#9
Three Wheelin'
Explain off center? You mean when you're at full left or full right, its not "centered" like it should be strait ahead? Or do you mean that full left is not the mirror image of full right?
If its the first question, the answer is that the rack probably isn't a whole multiple of turns from center to lock. Its probably 1.38 turns from center to lock (or something, I don't know the stats off the top of my head).
If its the second question, the answer is alignment either in the steering shaft to rack (ours is splined with out a "fits only one way" orientation feature, like a missing tooth or a flat, right?), toe/alignment settings (more threads captured by the left outer tie rod than the right), or clearance of some kind. You might be hitting a stop/rubbing earlier in one direction than the other, or even just have a misaligned frame/crossmember that's kicking things out of wack.
If its the first question, the answer is that the rack probably isn't a whole multiple of turns from center to lock. Its probably 1.38 turns from center to lock (or something, I don't know the stats off the top of my head).
If its the second question, the answer is alignment either in the steering shaft to rack (ours is splined with out a "fits only one way" orientation feature, like a missing tooth or a flat, right?), toe/alignment settings (more threads captured by the left outer tie rod than the right), or clearance of some kind. You might be hitting a stop/rubbing earlier in one direction than the other, or even just have a misaligned frame/crossmember that's kicking things out of wack.
