718as Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 Hi, Just reading this post, is steering rack failure a common problem?, seems like fix is £3k! Crazy market values? - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 Ok I’m not sure what that thread is saying (didn’t read the whole thing but little steering rack content!). I don’t think rack failure is at all common. I in fact did have a steering rack issue but it was because someone crashed into my wheel which was stationary on full lock and the angle created to the rack bent the rack. Fix (full replacement) was around £2500. At the time I searched around to see if there was any possibility of a repair but could find no other instances of any failures. Obviously it’s possible that an incident similar to this, or extreme pothole might cause a similar problem for anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted May 21, 2021 Report Share Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) Maybe a good excuse to get a used 718 rack and see if you can retrofit. Edited May 21, 2021 by daz05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boiks Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 Dropped my recently acquired (Jan 2021) 981S into OPC Reading to check out air con not working and they diagnosed a leaking condenser. Caused a bit of internal grief on their side as the car was supplied by OPC Hatfield (same dealer group) and it could be proved the fault was there when I collected the car and therefore not covered by warranty. Luckily it will all be resolved with no cost to me. Anyway, I was also told they noted an odd issue with the steering (I'd not noticed anything) where it "turned beyond normal lock" or something similar. On further investigation they tell me it needs a new rack! Again no cost to me but surprising on a car with only 20k miles and great history. I think I'll be extending the warranty on renewal in a couple of years 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted June 9, 2021 Report Share Posted June 9, 2021 £250 on eBay for a steering rack and quite rare I'd say. Interestingly I note the 718 is still using a 981 part number so the difference must be in the software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted June 10, 2021 Report Share Posted June 10, 2021 11 hours ago, daz05 said: £250 on eBay for a steering rack and quite rare I'd say. Interestingly I note the 718 is still using a 981 part number so the difference must be in the software. Yeh, I image the rack itself is not the reason for any lack of feel. I wonder if the electric motor is identical in the 718?. When I bought mine I had to buy the whole unit including the motor, so if the part is still the same then maybe the motor is too? Or maybe they have changed the motor specs but kept the part number the same. If it is just the software (or maybe a control module) I wonder if updating the 981 steering to 718 specs is possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz05 Posted June 10, 2021 Report Share Posted June 10, 2021 1 hour ago, Greenman said: Yeh, I image the rack itself is not the reason for any lack of feel. I wonder if the electric motor is identical in the 718?. When I bought mine I had to buy the whole unit including the motor, so if the part is still the same then maybe the motor is too? Or maybe they have changed the motor specs but kept the part number the same. If it is just the software (or maybe a control module) I wonder if updating the 981 steering to 718 specs is possible? The mechanical rack appears to be from the 991 but looking at used racks the electronic module has a 981 part number which is also carried over onto the 718. Must be possible to code it but it probably changes the steering behaviour rather than the actual feel in your hands. More research is required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway Posted June 10, 2021 Report Share Posted June 10, 2021 When I read the toxic message on the dash stating ‘Lack of steering assistance’ I initially thought turning off/on would resolve. It didn’t. I researched the issue and it’s clearly a recognised issue affecting pre 2015 cars. It seems Porsche revised the rack but as ‘continued travel is possible’ they didn’t have to issue a recall. Clearly a nonsense but if we learnt anything from the European reaction to self destructing engines across 996 and early 997 cars, we know they won’t admit fault. You can get the racks refurbished and you don’t have to suffer the £3k cost of refurbishment Porsche request. I’d add that many had this failure whilst cars under warranty so frankly didn’t really care save for some minor inconvenience. This isn’t the case if you are running one sans warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boiks Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Just picked up my car after having the new steering rack and condenser fitted. No cost to me but I saw the internal bill was £5500! 😲 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Seems steep, my rack fitted by OPC and paid for by me was £2300 three years ago, so that’s a darned expensive condenser! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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