Cliff Ruckstuhl

Driving today I noticed the steering wheel was acting sluggish, turning harder and kinda skipping some. Check the fluid added some, no leaks anywhere. Since I don't have any leaks I am thinking it is the pump. No noises or anything like that just turns funny. Am I right and is there a write up on changing the pump? Also I need to drive it toomorrow and will this hurt anything?

Cliff 87 $4 Murf # 44

WICruiser

It could be the filter that is built into the reservoir - starving the pump for fluid (although there is generally noise assocaited with that).

There is PS pump rebuilt kit that is pretty stright forward to install.

linderpat

There is a great write up here at Sharkskin's pages: http://members.rennlist.com/sharkski...26-PS-Pump.htm

michael j wright

Cliff, the big problem with driving it in this condition is that you "could" lock up the pump due to lack of lubrication, also the belt would not survive very well, or flip off and knock off the alt belt(like it did on mine) leaving you in bad shape. You could on the other hand go ahead and remove the belt, leaving you with a car that was harder to stear. I drove mine 20miles home when mine froze up, it really wasn't that bad. This way you don't put any unnesasary strain on the pump and don't risk belt failure.

SharkSkin

Locking up the pump is one risk, if you drive without the pump keep in mind that you are putting a lot more stress than usual on the control valve inside the rack and on the u-joints that link it to the column, especially when parking. The system is engineered to be safe in this scenario for a reasonable period of time but not indefinitely.

Marine Blue

WYAIT check your accessory belts for wear and replace as needed.

shmark

Also could be the rack seals even without showing a leak. Check the rack boots, they might be full of fluid. FWIW I drove my previous 928 without power steering for six months. I wouldn't recommend it, but it worked and my arms got a hell of a workout.

kevinod

Stoopid question, but you checked the belt isn't loose?

polecat702

Cliff, the steering in a 928 is power assisted, thats why you have so much more feel of the road in a shark as opposed to any other car. When I got my S4 it snapped off the 3 bolts that secure the pully to the pump. I drove the car from Portland,Or. to Vegas. Tuff on the arms, but got her home. Drilled out the broken bolts, used an easy-out to remove the threaded studs, replaced with new and used blue Loc-Tite. that was 6 mos. ago. Now my power steering is leaking when I turn lock to lock, but not when I'am driving any where around town. I think I screwed up something that will prove to be very expensive. Don't be like me, fix your car ASAP.

soontobered84

I think it took me less than an hour to change my PS pump AFTER I got the alternator off and out of the way.

Mike Frye

Hey Cliff,

How's it going?

Yeah, I'd make sure the belt is nice and tight first, then you may need to order a pump and do the swap. Rebuilding yours is an option, but it might not be worth your time if you just want to swap it out.

If it's really jerking and hard to steer I wouldn't drive it, but if it's just every once in a while it should be OK. You may have air in the system. Did you do any work on it or flush and drain the fluid lately? Anyone else been in there to top up the fluids (and maybe used PS fluid instead of ATF)? Hopefully not, just checking.

Lizard928

The universal joints will have no problem taking the load that you will be able to put on it without the pump. The valve body as well.

I have had no power steering in my 81 for a couple years now without any problems. And I am not planning on putting it back in. I would love to find a quicker ratio manual rack to be honest. But that will make the steering even harder which I also wouldnt mind. The problem is that all the short ratio racks out there now which could be adapted are power assist.

SharkSkin

Colin, I agree that u-joints in good shape should be able to take the load just fine. As for how well the rack stands up long-term, thanks for the interesting data point. Of course the system should be safe without pressure for quite some time; certainly Porsche/ZF planned for this contingency. If/when that rack ever comes out it would be interesting to see what the parts look like.

Lizard928

I can tell you that the PA (power assist racks) have an added level of force needed to turn them without the pump over a manual rack. This is due to drag from the seals etc.

After roughly 2-3 months of use without the PA the rack loosened up alot from the seals which were already not fully sealing wearing further. My rack bar still doesnt have an unacceptable amount of up/down wear that I have seen on one. I did however remove cut the lines and pinch them closed, and then drilled tapped and installed grease fittings into the banjo bolts to pump grease from the inside out for lubrication. I also peeled back the boots and put a healthy dose of grease in there for lubriation near the outside too.

Lizard928

As well Dave, I have yet to have seen a failed U-joint on a 928. I have seen one on a 924 though. But that car had sat unused for years and then was driven hard and it still lasted for awhile before failing.