Timm Posted 8February, 2017 Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 Today my steering rack decided to shit itself for the third time in 2 years, so I'm looking at replacement options.The problem is that RHD racks seem to be pretty rare, and the US forums aren't of much help as the vast majority have LHD cars.Anyone know if there are any quicker racks out there that fit our cars?Or where to source a brand new rack? Or does anyone have a known good condition rack they'd like to sell?I'm also considering getting a manual rack...but I'm not sure how annoying it will be to park and maneuver at low speeds with my 9.5" wide front wheels with sticky tires, and small diameter steering wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 8February, 2017 Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 I'm also considering getting a manual rack...but I'm not sure how annoying it will be to park and maneuver at low speeds with my 9.5" wide front wheels with sticky tires, and small diameter steering wheel.You have overwhelmed your factory rack?http://www.design911.com/Porsche/944-1982-91/Steering-Racks/pt392_393_-cma81-cmo123/Spinach helps. I have a 60s Benz and a 70s Landrover without PS. I can still park them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted 8February, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 You have overwhelmed your factory rack?http://www.design911.com/Porsche/944-1982-91/Steering-Racks/pt392_393_-cma81-cmo123/Spinach helps. I have a 60s Benz and a 70s Landrover without PS. I can still park them. I don't know whats wrong with it...when I bought the car it was rebuilt by a local company for the road worthy. It then failed 6 months later, and I replaced the offending seal myself. Now, another 14 months later it's failed again and I suspect it's the same seal...so something must be wrong with the rack itself causing the seal to keep busting. I'll see when I take it apart again. Thanks for the link, but $1440 is a bit too much for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 8February, 2017 Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 Thanks for the link, but $1440 is a bit too much for me! $800 part , are they charging $600+ for postage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted 8February, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 $800 part , are they charging $600+ for postage?$1440 if I include the £90 postage and £295 deposit I have to pay if I don't send them my rack.Even if I send my rack back and get the deposit, it will still be over a grand AUD... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazzieman Posted 8February, 2017 Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 http://www.ebay.ie/itm/PORSCHE-944-S2-TURBO-RHD-POWER-STEERING-RACK-/391680683403?hash=item5b31fced8b:g:hZoAAOSwImRYf2-bYou need a proxy to organise better postage rate though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944s2cab Posted 8February, 2017 Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 Try Ebay.co.uk, TIPEC etc, RHD and exchange rate makes buying parts from the UK viable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted 8February, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 Yeah I've been scouring the UK ebay...but now I'm leaning towards depowering my rack.Tomorrow I'll take her for a drive with the p/s belt off and see what it's like. If it's not too aggravating at low speeds, then I'll take the rack out and see if I can depower it and put in some shims to take out the slop, as per this thread:http://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/741724-de-powering-the-steering-rack.htmlI'm just hoping that the shimming will be possible with our RHD racks...only one way to find out I guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buchanan Automotive Posted 8February, 2017 Report Share Posted 8February, 2017 Hi TimI would not even contemplate depowering your rack, the NA non power steering rack has a slower turn circle and its painful to use at low speeds. When you remove the hydraulics from a Turbo (or let model PS rack) its completely uncivilised. A lot of Kids do this to there 944's in the states because they dont want to fix their cars, they even go as far as to say its fine to drive but in reality they are just trying to justify not spending the money to fix it. I just looked up Factory exchange via Pelican Parts Part# 945 347 011BX and it comes up as $1681US. Thats pretty good for a factory exchange unit. Not many companies in Australia rebuild PS racks for these cars, i remember about 14 years ago Active Power Steering said they would no longer rebuild them as the failure rate was so high. We started doing all of our racks in house since then. When you had your rack resealed did they disassemble the entire rack or just do one seal?RegardsSean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plugger2 Posted 9February, 2017 Report Share Posted 9February, 2017 Tomorrow I'll take her for a drive with the p/s belt off and see what it's like. If it's not too aggravating at low speeds, then I'll take the rack out and see if I can depower it and put in some shims to take out the slop, as per this thread:Maybe you can try driving an '83 944 to determine how an unpowered rack feels, if you can find one. If acceptable, there are plenty of 83 944 being wrecked -- should be able to pick up an '83 rack for reasonable bucks.There are also DIY complete reseal kits available from various sources. Looks like quite a tedious job, but if you prefer to spend time rather than money, might be worth considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted 9February, 2017 Report Share Posted 9February, 2017 As Sean said, the manual 944 racks are slower and much heavier than a powered rack. Had one on my '84 944 and hated it - felt like I was trying to lift the front of the car every time I turned a corner around town. Don't do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944s2cab Posted 9February, 2017 Report Share Posted 9February, 2017 If you're handy then you could always rebuild it yourself, Remove, disassemble, source seals from http://hallite.com/au/, rebuild and refit,Can't be that hard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted 9February, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 9February, 2017 Well, this morning I took off the p/s belt and took it for a long drive, all around town and up a little mountain nearby. To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Above 10km/h it's hardly any more effort than before. Trying to park is another story, turning the wheel while stationary is next to impossible.So now I'm kind of on the fence about what to do...If I depower my rack it's going to be a pain in the arse every time I'm parking or doing other low speed maneuvers. But at least I'll never have a leak again...One thing I have ruled out is going to the n/a manual rack. There's no way I want to have a slower rack, as I already find the stock p/s rack to be pretty slow. So if anything I'd get the manual sport rack, but in that case I might as well just depower my existing rack properly.Unfortunately I don't have the money at the moment to just fork out for a new replacement p/s rack, so the only options for keeping p/s are to rebuild it myself or get another used rack. Both of those could be luck of the draw as to whether they leak again. Like I said, my rack was fully rebuilt by a local shop when I bought the car, and it sprung a leak only 6 months later. Then I swapped out the broken seal myself, and now it's leaking again 14 months later. So, if I rebuild now for a 3rd time, how long till it leaks again?Sean, when I take the rack apart, is there something I can check to see what's causing the seal to bust? I'm assuming it will be the same seal as last time...at the bottom of the control tower in the pic below. It's not a slow leak either, it just pisses all the fluid out in one go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buchanan Automotive Posted 9February, 2017 Report Share Posted 9February, 2017 It will actually be the input shaft you will have to inspect. That seal runs on the shaft and can cause a groove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted 9February, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 9February, 2017 I'll pull it apart tomorrow and see what I can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Port 911 Posted 11February, 2017 Report Share Posted 11February, 2017 aPorschaPart in Vic has a reco one at the moment for $1300 exchange. I was looking for one myself, I got my car to a local power steer guy, Real Pcar guy, & he said its just your hoses, he has replaced one & said we will just keep an eye on the other.So the one at http://www.aporschapart.com/index.htmlmay still be there, was only last week.This is the UK mob I was looking at getting one fromhttp://www.design911.com/Steering-Rack-Porsche-944-RHD--Reconditioned-945347011BX/prod4758/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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