Tim W.

Hello All,
I've had a slow leak of ATF from my power steering on my 86.5(coming from the boot cover on the passengers side) for awhile now but it's getting much faster/worse. I've mentioned this to a few folks who think the who rack may need to be replaced (I believe this has been done before by PO) and that it will be expensive -
is this the only option? Is'nt there some
faulty seal somewhere that can be replaced?
advance thanks for any advice and estimates
on cost, etc.
tim timothy_weidman@hotmail.com
PO)

Greg86andahalf

Tim,

Here is a link to John Pirtle's website.
http://members.rennlist.com/pirtle/svc.html
Click on "steering rack and bushings" on left menu. You will see some info on steering rack failure and replacement. The estimated price for a rebuilt rack sent to your door with exchange can vary greatly from a few hundred dollars to close to 800.00 depending on the supplier, and most important, the quality of the rebuild.

John's info has a link to info on rebuilding the rack yourself. I chose to but the best rebuild I could find (3 yr. warranty) and did the R/R myself. The DIY rebuild seems to be hit-or miss and time consuming. Plus, if you don't do the rebuild correctly, you get the fun on R/R'ing the rack again. No thanks.

I should ask, would you plan on doing the repair yourself or getting a mechanic to do it for you?

I don't think this particular repair requires the use of a Porsche dealer repair shop. A qualified mechanic with a copy of the Pirtle procedure and some other write-ups which are available can do this one. There are some torque values which we can furnish as needed. A properly done wheel alignment would be a good idea when finished.

Greg

Normy

Greg-

Eric from Denmark details the construction of some sort of tool to take off the end of the rack. Do you think that a typical repair shop would need to fabricate this tool or are they likely to have one already?

How hard was it to pull the rack to begin with? I think I am in the same predicament- rack that is leaking more and more all the time, and now it is making a gawd-awful squeal whenever I either turn the wheel or even get in and out of the car- <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Normy-
'85 S2 5 Speed

Greg86andahalf

Hi Normy,

I'm not sure about the tool Eric talked about.
There's no special tool for a complete rack R/R, but if it's a tool for a DIY rebuild, my guess is that most shops would not have it but could make it.

When I did my rack in early spring 2002, there was not as much talk about home-rebuilding of the racks. That discussion has evolved over the summer and I'm sure some folks have had success doing home rebuilds. The info I read lead me to believe that it is a precise operation with little room for error. This is a safety issue for me. The rack steers your car!! I preferred to have a quality rebuild delivered to my door for installation.

As far as the rack R/R, It really was no big deal. You can do it by following the procedures outlined in the write-ups. A new pump reservoir and new boots should be used, you really should inspect your motor mounts and maybe include them in the work along with pan gasket, etc.

I just did the rack before as to get the car through state inspection and tagged. I'm now going to do the motor mounts, pan gasket, rod bearings, etc. Yes, the rack will have to be removed again, but it made sense for me to just do the rack and not the motor mounts before so I could drive the car for a while and note what else I wanted to do at a later date (long list).

I say go for a quality rebuild and do the R/R yourself. I wish I didn't live in the "sticks", I'd be happy to lend a hand.

Greg

Bruce Sinclair

I put a Griffith's rack in my car one year ago. It has been perfect since. At the time Charles at Griffith's was running a special for what was termed as long rack that includes complete tie rods, boots, bushings and reservoir for 450 bucks plus core charge of 350 that is refunded upon return of a suitable core. We spent a weekend doing the job in which we did the pan gasket, motor mounts, upper control arm bushings, upper ball joint boots, steel ball joints etc. If you do the job yourself the lower universal joint on the steering shaft where it attaches to the rack can be a bear to remove. Hammering on it to remove it can destroy your steering shaft bearing. I found that out the hard way. It is a good time to replace the power steering hoses if they are hard and brittle. You should be able to get them made locally for around 30 bucks each. Find a shop that makes hydraulic hoses for trucks. I have also had them make AC hoses for my car for 35 bucks each which is much cheaper than OEM and any problems can be handled locally reducing down time. If you are going to do the pan gasket get the gaskets for the dip stick tube, oil level sender, and oil filler tube so they can be replaced while the pan is off. It would also be a good idea to replace the oil filler to pan hose WYAIT

Erik - Denmark

Tim,
No doubt, when leaking from the boot you need a rebuild steering rack - Or if you are a good DIY-man you can do it yourselves
I only dared to it because I have an extra rack from donor car, and therefore all to win and not much to loose, so I trained my self on this. Actually that is straight forwards and not difficult - A nice clean and enjoyable job!
If you want to DIY, search in the archive and open the following two discussions: 'Steering Rack' and 'Steering rack & WYIT' - Here you will find my info regarding needed spare parts, a sketch of a needed special tool, and an exploded drawing from ZF
The normal Porsche garages do not have this tool, because the steering rack 'is a non repair' unit seen from Porsche's side - Also you will not find any info regarding this repair in the original Porsche Shop Manual
It is possible to buy spare parts from the local ZF dealer
If you are not a trained DIY, then better to buy a rebuild rack from one of the Big 3 - Remember this is an important safety unit!
Good luck <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />