Roka

Greetings,

Last weekend I purchased my dream project car - a 1987 944S in guards red. This site has been instrumental in bringing me up to speed on the 944 before I went ahead and took the plunge.
The car is in semi-decent shape for 30 year car that has been neglected for the last 10 years by the PO but there are a lot of items that need to be tended to before it will be drive-worthy;It starts and runs well but the clutch will need replacing for sure and the power steering is non existent.

I started off by towing the car to my house and doing the maintenance that should have been done by the PO - replacing the fluids, timing and balance belts and rollers, front seals, drive belts, plugs etc.
Looking at the PS system, it looks like the PS pump and rack are leaking some fluid. After taking off the belt I tried spinning the PS pulley and it spins without any resistance whatsoever. I know that on my BMW that indicates that the shaft has sheered and the pump needs to be replaced but I have not seen any mention of this ever happening on the 944 pumps.

Do the 944 pumps ever break structurally (shaft/vanes) or will rebuilding the pump with new seals bring it up to standard?

FRporscheman

As in, it spins like a used bearing and keeps spinniiiiiiiiiiiing
or the resistance is just light? It should be light.

I did have a bad pump once, it had no power assist at all and resealing it did not fix it. It was actually in a 928 but it uses the same ZF part as a 944, and was replaced by a spare 944 pump.

Roka

It doesn't spin like a bearing or an idle belt roller but it does offer no resistance whatsoever. I would expect some resistance from the fluid in the system to create some resistance.

If I need a new pump so be it, just trying to understand if rebuilding the pump is even worth the time and effort.

thomasmryan

The ZF rebuild kit on the mercedes are only twenty bucks...probably the same pump. It's about a twenty minute job the second time. Use a rubber band around the vanes then lay the drive on a flat surface so they don't slide out. Travis at rennbay has a video

divil

I have one in a box here and I just checked it, and it's about the same as a brand new belt roller bearing (which I also have to hand - I compared them back to back just now). So there's no way there should be *no* resistance. You can tell it's attached to something.

Now that's disconnected from the car with no fluid, but I actually don't think the fluid would make that much difference tbh.

porscharu

The hardest part of the rebuild is removing the circlip. I didn't think mine was leaking that bad and thought it was more suction hose......until I pulled the shaft and the seal was SHOT. The pulley slings the fluid and you have to remember it recirculates instantly without pressure drop on the output. Buy the rebuild kit (Rockauto), mark the housing, four bolts, circlip, don't drop the veins, replace seals, emory cloth the sealing surface on the back housing, reassemble. No way way the shaft sheered.

Roka

Thanks for the guidance gentlemen.
I'll go the rebuild route and update the thread with the results.

FRporscheman

If you end up needing a new pump, I have one from a very low mileage car (which was converted to manual steering).