SQLGuy

Well, the clamp didn't work... worse, I thought it worked, and when I went to tighten down the cap, it cracked the cap.

I welded the cap and machined its faces back down in the lathe, but it looks like a second seal kit will be required so I can get that one Teflon ring.

RET

Using a hammer and punch on a part that you would like to reuse is not alway a good idea, and FWIW, I have sent back two racks from rebuilders that has been abused this way. There were other reasons to refuse both racks, but the damaged and peened over parts were a more-than-adequate reason for refusal.

I could not find the correct tool when I rebuilt the rack on my GT, but a slightly modified Sir Tool BMW 3031 “Engine Pin Wrench” worked well without damaging the parts. I used a drum sander to open the throat a bit to fit easily over the center tube of the rack assembly, but the modification was minor.

Link (tool is part of the way down the page):http://www.sirtools.com/bmw_tools.htm

SQLGuy

Thanks, but the tool I made worked quite well for the collars. The tool you used does look like the correct type of thing, though - probably can deliver a lot more torque than a hook wrench.

I will also say that peening of housing to lock the collars is either stock, or I already had a rebuilt rack in my car that happened to have original date casting codes on it. Are you saying that yours did not have the collars peened in place?

SQLGuy

One other question: can someone tell me whether the pinioin and rack need to be aligned with particular teeth meshing? What I mean is: when the rack is all the way at one end or the other, should the flat on the pinion hub be facing a certain way?

dr bob

Yes, particularly since you have the airbag wheel. Put the centering bolt in the rack as you assemble the pinion into the housing. At the car, turn the steering wheel to dead center. Note the angle of the slot in the lower half of the connector, use that to guide where the pinion should end up.

For future readers of this thread: After you remove the rack from the car and before you take the pinion and spool valve assemble out, install the centering bolt and take a picture that clearly shows the pinion coupling splines. It's OK to put indexing marks on the pinion and the housing to make sure they go back in the same realtionship.

SQLGuy

Well, after holidays, vacation, some minor surgery and associated recovery, and various other items that kept me from working on the car, I finally have it back together and on the road.

So far, the rack seems to be working fine. Toe feels a bit off (I replaced both tie rods during the rebuild), and steering wheel centering is off straight driving by about 30 degrees, but the power steering works and is not leaking. Alignment is scheduled for tomorrow.

While doing this work, I also did an oil change and replaced the old/broken fender splash guards.

On the down side, there are a couple of other things that decided to go wrong while the car was sitting: the year-and-a-half old resistor pack is apparently bad - the blower is back to 4 or off only, and it seems that A/C isn't kicking in either. Also, I think the radiator probably needs new side tanks. Seems it's always something...

Bill Ball

So, at the very least you will need to remove the steering wheel to "center" it. It would be far better to do this before the alignment. Do it with the centering bolt installed in the rack. Technically there can be some additional difficulty because the number of splines on the steering wheel end of the column is 1/2 of the spline count at the lower u-joint. So, if you are off one spline at the u-joint, the rack and steering wheel can not be truly centered and the the rack or the steering wheel will end up slightly off-center. I have gone so far as to pull the rack down and redo the u-joint to the correct spline. Removing that joint from the rack and repositioning it with the rack installed might be possible but the geometry is tight. PITA. It's hard to mark the u-joint connection so you get it back on the right spline. Why they didn't just put the same spline count on both ends of the steering column and the rack is a mystery to me.

SQLGuy

Not at all. The steering wheel was centered when the rack was installed with the rack centering bolt locking the rack to its centered position.

The reason for the wheel not being centered is that the tie rod ends aren't adjusted correctly, and they will be when the alignment is done.

SQLGuy

OK. Alignment is done, and toe is good and the wheel is straight. All good.

BTW, for those of you in the Colorado Springs area, Brakes Plus - both the Woodmen and Briargate locations - knows how to properly align a 928. They already knew, for instance, when I mentioned that the car could not be jacked up before alignment. Very reasonable pricing, too.

Crisis

Well, I think I've suffered the same fate as the OP in this thread, but looking for some confirming opinions.

Today, after backing into my parking spot at work, I saw a trail of oil on the pavement and pooling beneath my engine. A little checking confirmed that it actually wasn't engine oil but was ATF and my PS reservoir was empty. Put the car up on jackstands, fired it up and saw that what was left of the PS fluid was running off the reinforcement plate beneath the steering rack.

Doesn't appear that the leak is coming from any place other than the rack. I tried removing the reinforcement plate to find the source of the leak but was stymied by the fluid covered nuts on the top side of the rack, which appear to be virtually impossible to hold in place without a specialized tool.

So, my question is "Do you think that my problem is anything other than a blown steering rack?"

Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Mrmerlin

I would put a small screwdriver into the edge of the rack boots see if either side is filled with fluid.

NOTE if they are both dry then the possibility exists that the flex line on the hose has sprung as leak,
or the banjo washers might be leaking .

NOTE always use new sealing washers when refitting the banjo bolts.

NOTE never hold the steering wheel at full lock while making turns,
bounce off the stop and hold the wheel about an inch from the stop.

dr bob

For those nuts, I use a standard thin-wall 3/8-drive socket, with a standard 3/8" "breaker bar" on it, pushed against the crossmember. Others suggest using a screwdriver wedged against the bolt heads in that formed trough.