stogie25

I was driving my 944 to work today when the power steering went out. It was hard to tell that anything was wrong until I turned from a stop. I looked under the car expecting a broken belt or a ruptured hose. I found the bracket that holds the power steering pump broken. It looks like it is part of the motor, and not easily changeable. I am not sure how much of a pain in the butt this is.

I found a friend who has a spare manual rack. He recommends using the manual rack. I feel a little extra power with the pump unhooked, but really hate the steering on hard corners, and in parking lots. A real manual rack, or bypassing the fluid through the pump would probably help a lot.

The question is whether to repair the bracket, or convert to manual steering either with the correct rack, or bypassing the pump. I use my 944 as a street car for shared daily driving duty, a fair amount of twisty mountain driving, and some auto-x.

Any opinions are welcome.

por944s2

Get a used bracket on ebay. I had manual steering and unless your pumped up, it's a pain at the track. Unlike a 911, 50% of your car's weight is over the front wheels. I converted my car to power steering and am never going back. Good Luck.

Darwantae951

That bracket is also the front seal carrier for the balance shaft. It isn't THAT hard to replace.

stogie25

I have been putting off doing my timing belt anyway. It seems like the perfect time to do the whole mess.

Cole

Hmmm......Jeska just came home with the same problem!!

bonus12

mine broke, too. I'm thinking i'll get it welded together soon.

Cole

On closer inspection its not broken. Bolts just fell out. Looked broken from the slot in the bracket.

FRporscheman

I wouldn't get that bracket welded. They are so common they should be cheap to buy a replacement used one, plus there's no guarantee the welded part will be straight and hold the PS pump straight.

I have driven a 944 with manual steering, power steering, and PS with the belt removed. I can't see myself ever giving up PS, even though I am sick of the mess, extra parts, etc.

stogie25

I am staying with power steering. I will be replacing the balance shaft cover. It will be two weekends before I have help for this job. The last of my parts finally came in today.

stogie25

That is good.

Dimitri_944

i think this has to to do with the bolt being lose, i lost power steering a while back and just cut the belt. i knew that the bolt was lose and i think the pump vibrating around caused a crack that ended up braking off. thats just my theory .

stogie25

A am off today, and the rest of this week, so I started the repair today. I tore apart the front of the motor per the instructions on Clark's Garage. I got to where the water pump and balance shaft cover are off. It took me from 8:00am until 2:30pm. I am a little tired and beat up, but celebrating a victory. Tomorrow it will hopefully go back together with all the new parts.

FRporscheman

Nice!

stogie25

Today it went back together. This was my first timing belt job. It was a very very long day in the garage. I still have a small power steering fluid (ATF) leak at the banjo bolt at the pump. I will play with it tomorrow. I will also reburp the cooling system. Now it is time to have a victory beer and cigar.

There was evidence of a pretty good impact on my steering pump. The moral of this story is to avoid car washes with rails in a lowered Porsche.

I have to say that it is nice to have a small leak in the steering as opposed to the last month of broken steering.

Thanks Cole for the drop in, and help tensioning the new belts correctly.

Cole

Anytime!