Riccardo

Hello Guys,

I have two maintenance questions:

1. What are steering rack gaiters, why do they wear, what problems would worn ones cause and how easy are they to replce?

2. How easy is it to replace my soon to be completely worn bonnet lid struts? I know the parts will be about £15, does anyone have a procedure on replacing them though?

Well, OK, thatb turns out to be 6 actual questions, but they are neatly packaged in 2!

Thanks for any feedback.

Randall G.

Hi Riccardo,

1) The steering rack gaiters run from the tie rods to the steering rack. They cover the shaft (correct term?) of the rack, expanding and collapsing as the front wheels are turned left and right.

Since the gaiters are rubber, they can crack open and allow dirt and moisture onto the steering rack shaft, where it can subsequently be transferred to your power steering system/fluid.

My gaiters were replaced about two years ago. I had been experiencing binding in my steering whenever it rained, caused by moisture on the steering rack shaft binding on the rack seals. Haven't had any problems since replacing the (completely split open) gaiters.

Replacing the gaiters isn't a very difficult job, but you'll need an alignment after they are installed. So .... might as well let the alignment shop do the whole job.

The gaiters themselves are pretty inexpensive. Something like $10/each.

2) Never done it myself. But, there are "lifetime guarantee" struts available that seem to last much longer. About $29/each, instead of about $15/each. Based on my experience, the "lifetime guarantee" shocks seem to be worth the extra $$.

Randall G.

I knew I had seen this somewhere. How to replace the hood struts, compliments of Pelican Parts & Bob Tindel:

How to Replace Hood Struts

Rob McConnell

Hi Riccardo

I had my steering rack gaiters replaced a few days ago as i was not allowed to register on Jersey plates without this done (mine were split). I asked around and on other cars you would use a splitting tool to separate the ball from the cup at the end of the rod. Was not sure if this applied to a porsche, in the middle of the arm there is a clamp with 2 nuts, this is used to adjust your tracking i beleive. I tried the job myself but could not shift the nuts. Took it to a mechanic who did the job and tracking for £65. He told me that he had to heat the nuts to free them as i had suspected, but there was no way i was going near the underneath of my car with a naked flame. My thoughts, just pay to get it done. But ensure that you have the tracking done after, i was reliably in formed by another poster that he had his done and the garage to him that he did not need the tracking done. He did a set of new set of tyres in 5000 miles.

Good luck

Rob
91 C2 CAB LHD
Jersey UK

Jay H

Riccardo:

The 964 hood shock removal and installation is a little different than what is outlined in the Pelican article that Randall provided (sorry Randall!).

The front hood shocks are held in by pins at the top and can be removed just like the Pelican article states. The bottom of the shock is held in by a ball and socket type system and is not held in by pins.

I propped my hood up with a suitable brace, removed the top pin and clip on one of the shocks and then pried gently with a screwdriver to pop the bottom of the shock off of it's mount. You can look down at the base of the hood shock to see which way you have to pry. It's very simple and you can do it yourself.

There is absolutely no room to work at the bottom of the hood shocks where they are mounted to the body, so Porsche made it easy to just pry these things off and remove.

The engine deck lid shock removal is just like the previous generation 911. Both ends have the pins and clips that fly off and drop to somewhere that you can't reach... This is relatively simple to do yourself too.

There was a post on the 993 board some time ago that outlines this proceedure if you want to search the archieves.

Good Luck,
Jay
90 964