micklongley

Hey guys, i finally bought a 944 N/A. i thought it was manual steering when i was driving it but then noticed it had a PS reservoir and pump and all. the only thing that was missing was the tensioner. i made a temporary one out of steel just to see if i could get the PS to work, but that didnt work. i inspected all the hoses and there arent any leaks. the pump seems to be working okay, no leaks and the pulley spins nicely. does anyone know what the problem could be? the PO wasnt sure why it wasnt working and he had been running it without the tensioner for at least 3-4 months. could that have damaged anything? thanks

Mick

M758

Tensioner's break. Mine did at the track and I just ran without it for about a year and a half.

Now I just have a proper manual rack cause I like it better.

My street car still has PS.

Chris_924s

Mick, what confuses me is the PO statement. Fill it up with fluid and check for leaks. very odd. Worst case scenario is the rack is now bad. Post some pics.. Year of car?

Ethan

Mick,
I agree with Chris. I have had to replace racks and dealt with leaky pumps, If you can't find any leaks I would guess the rack is bad. How many miles are on your car?

micklongley

Well, its an 84 and 130,000. so the rack could be the bad component eh? the fluid is at the correct amount and everything. so is there a way to rebuild the rack? or do i have to get another one? is there a way to test the rack somehow? i dont mind the way it is right now too much but its my wifes car so shes having some trouble. thanks for the replys.

Mick
84 944

Travis - sflraver

racks dont go bad... just the seals do.

<a href="http://www.rennbay.com/tutorials.html" target="_blank">http://www.rennbay.com/tutorials.html</a>

thats a link to my seal replacement tutorial for our power steering racks. If you check out the products section I offer the rack seals.

Mark Parker

Here's an odd thought. You said that the only thing missing was the tensioner. I assume that means the belt was in place ? I can see a situation where the belt could maintain enough tension by virtue of the pivot bolt being tight to allow the system to work. In this case, you wouldn't notice any improvement from fabricating a tensioner because it was working anyway. The power steering on these cars is very unobtrusive. Maybe if you were to remove the belt altogether, just as a baseline check. Just a thought.

micklongley

wow, if this is power steering i dont want to know what its like when it goes out! yikes, im pretty sure its not powered as is. would the rack rebuild cause the power assist to re-appear? thanks

Mick

Legoland951

My rack went bad....stripped gear. Probably defective. Pick up a used rack on ebay in good working condition, but before that look for pinched lines. Is the fluid circulating when u look in the resevoir? Suck out some fluid from the resevoir and see if it is circulating. If not, maybe your pump.

micklongley

Okay, cause under the rack there arent any PS fluid leaks or anything. When your gear stripped did it even turn the wheels? i'll check about the circulation, it may be clogged or something.

Mick

micklongley

Okay, cause under the rack there arent any PS fluid leaks or anything. When your gear stripped did it even turn the wheels? i'll check about the circulation, it may be clogged or something.

Mick

jabbadeznuts

I'm running without the PS belt on now and it's not that bad really. Almost no change at speed, but when parking or at low speed, holy crap! Its really hard!

Travis - sflraver

If there are no visable leaks, the pump is good and all the lines are free there is one more thing that can cause no power. Inside the gear unit of the rack there are 2 high pressure relief valves. Inside of these are 2 springs. I have only run into this twice... but it happens. If the springs are broken (comes from air bubbles moving through the valves at high speed by running the rack out of fluid) It would relieve the pressure to soon and give you no assist.

This can be checked without to much trouble and without removing the whole rack. What you do is remove the U-joints from the spline of the rack. Remove the 3 bolts on the top of the gear unit. Pull the whole gear unit straight out of the caseing. On the side of the gear unit are 2 bolts. Under these bolts are 2 caps and under them are the two high pressure relief springs.

Check this last because it is not likely you would have both of them broken. Usualy only one breaks and it gives you no assist in only one direction. If they are broken head down to your local hardware/autoparts store and try to match them up. Lighter springs will give you less assist. Stronger springs will give you normal assist but hold it up untill higher RPM's before the variable assist starts to drop it off.

led

Where can I find the tensioner? Mine's holding on for the time being but it really needs to be replaced and I swear I saw it at paragon or somewhere but can't find it.

Travis - sflraver

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2403686682" target="_blank">On Ebay</a>

Here is one on ebay. I dont know if thats a good price or not but its a start.