...P

Hi guys,

I did a search on the forum for steering rack, and steering rack replacement, and got a whole listing of all the P-cars that have steering racks, so I'm sure I'll learn more about how to better use the database.

For now I am anticipating replacement of the steering rack. My mechanic cautioned me about that potentially being next, and of course I'm not going to replace it unless it has to be done, and I'm just keeping good fluid and the proper fluid in and things are okay but slow and stiff when in cold weather (winter weather).

During the search I saw where some of the rear engine cars got steering racks with a lifetime warranty from Autozone, of all places and that was unexpected.

What is the present wisdom for replacing the power steering rack and pinion system in the 928? I'm having to budget the car, as our recently adopted daughter is costing me a lot of money now, I want to have it painted, and the upholstery is shot too.

regards, thanks,

P

jej3

Hi ...P

Is your rack leaking or are things tired? If the latter, you should consider bushing replacements to stiffen things up.

If the former, you might want to hit google and scope it to the rennlist forums. That way, you can actually learn about things that others have written and factor all of your other plans you might have.

Please follow this link. It will help you from now on.

http://bit.ly/1i99hMF

Regards,

...T...R...E...Y

dr bob

Rebuilts come from 928 International. I think Roger also carries the same ones.

"Mass market" rebuilds seem to come with new hydraulic seals OK, but the racks are not polished on the sealing surfaces, and the end bushings are not replaced. They therefore seem to have more radial runout on the rack in the end bushings, and the hydraulic seals seem to not last as long.

The testimony is anecdotal, based on user feedback here.


There are other vendors that offer rebuilt racks, for which I have no data.

...P

Thanks Doc, for the tip.

I'll check with both sources you noted tomorrow and get a feel for what is available and what the cost + installation would be. I'll contemplate doing this myself, but don't want to get in too deep.

regards,

P

1983 928S 4-speed

928Myles

Changing out the rack is a relatively easy (but dirty) job. Rebuilding one yourself takes a lot more aptitude and to be done properly access to some relatively special tools. (there are 'hack' work arounds).
The 'Rolls Royce' solution is to remove the rack yourself & send it to Greg at Precision Motorsports for him to rebuild.

Replacement of the rack bushings is also relatively easy & messy. This CAN be done with the rack still attached to the car. The Delrin bushings seem to get good reviews.

Myles

James Bailey

In your research you will find seal oring replacement kits for $50-$90. Looking at "rebuilt" racks they range from $250 or so to $1,600 or so for a remanufactured by ZF. Dr Bob alludes to the fact that there are no set standards for rebuilt parts. At one end of the scale you get a worn out undersized shaft fitted with $50 worth of seals and often spray painted rattle canned grey. With a remanufactured ZF everything is renewed tested rebuilt. Some where in between you get good quality for a "reasonable" price.

dr bob

P--

There's some opportunity WYAIT. I caught the comment elsewhere about the sudden costs for the adopted daughter, but couldn't decide if that 'daughter' is the 30+yo one you are working on.


The power steering hoses are due for replacement if they haven't been renewed recently. With the rack ends of the hoses off and the PS fluid all over the garage floor anyway, here's a chance to stop current and/or prevent future leaks.

Get new washers for the banjo fittings. Use a torque wrench on the bolts.

There are Delrin mounting bushings for the rack. I recommend them.

The tie rods and tie rod ends deserve replacement if they have more than maybe 75k on them. You'll have them off for the rack replacement anyway.

Lower balljoints are due for replacement if they have more than 100k on them.

The donut joint in the steering wheel shaft is almost undoubtedly aged out. Easy to replace while the rack is out. Ditto the universal joint between the shaft and the pinion on the rack.

Use a couple cans of engine degreaser on the crossmember and fenderwalls before you even start unbolting stuff. Every fluid that's ever leaked in your engine bay ends up on the ceossmember and in the rack cavity inside it. Once the car is up and the rack is out of the crossmember, use another can for the stuff you missed the first time.

--IF-- there's evidence the oil sump gasket is leaking, --OR-- the motor mounts are sagging, now's the time to go after them. The motor mounts have safety hooks. If you can get a whole finger between the hooks, the mounts are due for new.

Realign the front suspension -after- it settles. 75-100 Miles will do it.


Last but not least, invest the few dollars in a Rennlist membership. It allows you to add a signature line that includes the year and configuration of your car, and your location. Otherwise, you'll need to remember to put the year information in manually for every post. I see it on the immediate previous post but not on all of them.

...P

James, Myles, thank you both.

best,

P

...P

Doctor Bob,

Thanks for the added detail. The daughter thing caught us by surprise.

She is actually 25 years old now, her dad died when she was 4 and her mother never remarried, so she never had a dad, never went on vacation with the family, lived in her room in the basement until college and nobody knew she could sing. Her mother lives out of state so she is here alone trying to do the right thing, with a brutal self-imposed work ethic. She is a good kid in a tough world trying hard to make it in music, and that business is brutal. She is poor, good work ethic, fantastic integrity, knows right from wrong, and we just love her, so we have taken her under our wing and have become her safety net and mentor. And I'm here to tell you that can be a financial drain, but I told her the other day, it's sort of like "he ain't heavy, he's my brother" sort of thing. We don't have any kids, so we have assumed the moral responsibility for this, I have agreed to walk her down the aisle when the time comes, and we just got back from FL where we took her along and we all had a blast. She doesn't quite know what to think about a 31 year old car like the 928, lol. I will also add, she is incredibly talented, recently performed doing 9 songs, she wrote 8 of them, as the writer/performer/producer and it is not country music, it is dark caberet pop, if you can imagine that.

Anyway, thx for the diversion, I needed that, now back to 928 stuff !!

:-)

best,

P

Mrmerlin

along with the other suggestions,
I would suggest to get the 928 INTL rebuilt rack,
I have installed 8 so far and no failures, some of them look brand new.
( I got one one from Azone and promptly returned it, the rack was off center in the housing, and it was spray painted black)
consider replacing the inner and outer tie rods , the rack boots the P Steering reservoir and its hoses, also make sure to get 4 new sealing rings for the banjo bolts they are one time use if you use the old rings they will usually leak ,
same goes for the fuel pump sealing rings

ROG100

We stock and sell our own rebuilt rack from a local rebuilder - $425 plus a core charge of $350 plus shipping. Also sold a lot of Mark's (928 Intl) over the last few years with zero issues.
My racks come with new Porsche bushes.

GregBBRD

I've used a truckload of 928 International's racks, too. I've probably only had a few not work properly (leak).....a small percentage.

I only wish, after all these years, their rebuilder would buy the proper disassembly/assembly tools.

The hammer and the punch marks on the nuts gets really tiresome.

To the OP:

I can't tell what year your car is. If it has an airbag or has the later, higher power assist rack in it, I'd have it rebuilt. Getting back a properly clocked air bag rack is very rare.....even ZF has forgotten that this is essential. And getting back a "later" higher power assist for your "later" higher power assist rack is just by chance...virtually no one knows the difference and the pieces are now mixed like a deck of cards. It became so difficult to get the correct "later model" racks back, that I finally resorted to rebuilding these particular racks, in house. (Note that if someone has already used a hammer and a chisel to disassemble and reassemble the rack, previously, I will not rebuild it.....don't bother sending it to me. There's no way I want anyone to look at something that was attacked with an axe under the shade tree and have someone say "Greg Brown rebuilt that".)

James Bailey

You are just biased because when you see the chisel marks on the pinion shaft bearing nut on a transaxle you KNOW it is screwed up You do not have the right tool just beat on it with a big hammer !!! Now how many hits to set the proper torque ??? Depends on how big the hammer is

Mrmerlin

if you cant fix it with a hammer .... It`s electrical

GregBBRD

Never heard that one.

I love it!