Rack assembly posted:

STEP 7 RE-ASSEMBLY http://www.webbnet.com/911/images/99...rack_STEP7.jpg

installation coming soon.

 

Brian, fantastic write up.

I hope I never have to do this.

 

Hey Brian,

Greetings from Malaysia! Great great post, and at an opportune time too! My rack developed a leak and your write up gave me a reason and the roadmap to do it myself. One little tip, that great big C -clip that's in the rack retaining the collar? I just used an allen key (2.0mm) , levered the clip with a screwdriver away from it's notch then used the allen key to hook it out. I got the clip out in one go and by myself with out another pair of hands

I've run into a small problem though and have pm'd you. Would appreciate your insight if possible!

cheers,
Kris

 

Great writing !!!!!

For LHD it needs some adptation as you mentionned, for example for input shaft (this one gave me some hard time !! ).

Now I'm in step 7 and so hope everything will be fine when I'll crank the engine.

One thing I'm still wondering, and this makes me quite confused as I'm mechanical engineer, is how this whole stupid unit is working ????
I can't see on the input shaft some radius hole postions that could affect the fluid flow...
I'm used to understand things once I get them appart, but I've found this exception

Any suggestions ?

 

I didn't even try to figure out how the thing worked But thanks to Brian with his detailed write up and walk through the rebuild via mail I fixed my leaking and am happy to report she's not only leak free now but the steering is a just a tad lighter and with a bit more feel . I did run into some probs as follows :-

1. At step 3 I used a small allen key to 'hook' that big circlip out whilst maneuvering it out of it's slot with a thin blade screw driver.

2. At steps 4 and 5 where we are to try and drift the oil seals out from the steel retainer and rack respectively, my seals were stuck solid no matter how hard I tried. I ended up using a drift with a C-Clamp and by tightening the Clamp down, pushed the seals out. It was dead easy that way.

Thanks again for the write up and walk through Brian!

cheers,
Kris
'97 993 TT
'05 645 Ci
'02 X5 - Dog mobile

 

Hi Elonash,
Sorry cant help with the fluid dynamics, It was challenging enough to keep everything in order, replace the exact same seals and reassemble. I didn't even think about how it worked. I'll leave that up to the german engineers, after all im just a simple DIY'r.

Cheers
Brian

P.s. sorry I have lagged on the final assembly. Anyone need help with that I'll get the photos up, or PM me.
My only installation quick tip is to hang the rack (loosely) and hook up the lines, then start the engine very briefly several times while topping up the reservoir and DONT steer initially, check for leaks too. Once the fluid level remains the same in the res, then steer a little (BE careful not to hit the stops as the rack is not hooked up). If no leaks install completely. Road test and top up fluid as required.

 

One important note for anyone with RHD cars who wish to tackle this. The RHD drive cars have a different set of seals for the worm gear assembly area. Apparently that part on the RHD cars are a 928 part (I can't confirm this only repeating what I was told). The important bit is the LHD seals don't fit here. I had my rack stripped down in my garage with the wrong seals in my hands. It took another 10 days for the right seals to arrive. If you don't want to go through what I went through make it VERY VERY clear to the guys at KLA industries that you have a RHD car and that you know that RHD cars have a different set of seals. They know of this, and they make a great quality kit BUT as they deal with predominantly North American LHD drive cars they ship these out on autopilot....

cheers,
Kris
'97 993 TT
'05 645 Ci
'02 X5 - Dog mobile

 

Thanks Brian for your tip !!

Actually my point now before re assembly of the input shaft casing is: is there any relation between the linear position of the main shaft and the radius position of the input shaft ?
I would answer no to that question but thus how this thing works....?
I feel that I should just install the input shaft without considering the linear position of the main shaft (indeed this is what I've done yesterday).

 

OK, so...
As I finished the rebuild of my rack, I realize it was hardly movable by hand (I remember when I got the rack out of the car it was easy to turn it by hand) but I figured it was the quantity of news seals that make the movement no more possible without the help of the pump...
I was wrong
The pump is not more able to move it than me...
The rack only move because I apply a real torque on the steering wheel... to draw you the picture the steering weel doesn't come back to neutral after a corner!!!!!
So the car is not driveable...I need to take it appart again but I have no clue what I did wrong...

Any ideas ?

 

Awesome write up and pix Brian!!!!!!!!!

A huge Thanks To You!!!!!!!!!!

 

Elon, if you look at the step 2 page in Brians posted pics there is a threaded cap which has to be removed and a piston pulled out with needle nosed pliers. After which out comes a 'white plastic part'. That's a slipper that preloads the rack to reduce backlash on the rack/worm gear. The preload has to be set just right such that you have 'slop' but not too tight that the rack is now pushed hard into the worm gear. Brian had advocated marking the 'exact' depth and location of the threaded cap prior to removal to ensure that at the very least you will have a preload identical prior to dismantling. It is possible you've cranked this cap on too tight and need to back it off. Get the car up safely, back it off, test the steering wheel. You should get it to the point where with the wheels of the ground the steering wheel turns light and easy and just before the point you notice some slack. Drive her, then tighten or back as the case maybe. Sorry I cant be specific with values but the factory manual has no numbers here as they never intended for the rack to be rebuilt. If someone can jump in with some numbers it would be a big help!

cheers,
Kris
'97 993 TT
'05 645 Ci
'02 X5 - Dog mobile

 

Krish,

Thanks for this suggestion. I remember that I (tried to) respected carefully to screw it back at the same position (I have punch holes all around plus color marks and I also check the depth with the thread surface.
Even if I replaced it well what I noticed is it was a hell to screw it enough. Actually so hard that I damaged the hex shape of the threaded cap when screwing and I needed to put the cap in the freezer to make it possible.
Did I add one turn more ????? arghh...I can't believe this, but it would be a nice explanation...
Will keep you updated !!!

 

Could be you just turned it just that one turn extra . At least lets hope so or you're looking at taking the rack apart to check. It was a b*tch for me to open as well, that threaded cap. That edge 'punch' that locks it in place being the culprit if I recall.

If backing it off doesn't work, you might want to take that cap off first before dismantling the rack to check and confirm that pre load spring is properly seated in it's recesses.

Did you grease the rack and pinion gears before re assembly?

cheers,
Kris
'97 993 TT
'05 645 Ci
'02 X5 - Dog mobile

 

I didn't had a hard time to take the threaded cap off, but damn it was a hell to put it back!!

And yes, I did put a lot of grease on the pinion/gear and oil everywhere else...

Thiking more about it, I remember now that the rack has started to be hard to move by hand when I reassemble the pinion shaft (so before adding the pre load)... Need to check that...
But today I'm not sure I feel brave enough to go back under the car to take off the rack, quite a small place actually !!!!

 

thank-you