Dodgster1 Posted June 12, 2021 Report Share Posted June 12, 2021 Hi guys, today was the day I set aside to install a new steering rack. All preparatory work carried out, all bolts removed and, according to all the videos I’ve seen once all of the bolts are removed the two lines simply pull out…. Not in my case… both stuck solid! ….and no manner of persuasion whatsoever would alter this situation. Has anyone experienced this? What’s the best thing to do going forward, should I Dremmel both off, get some new lines then find a way to attach them to the existing lines and then my new rack? Whats the best way forward? Cheers guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted June 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 Guys any comments? I’m getting desperate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pordave Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Sorry Dodgster you know why there are no replies don’t you. The sun is shining the temperature is rising and we are all out driving with hoods down getting unmercifully sunburnt while stuck in traffic jams. All will be carefully monitoring their temperature gauges worrying if the fans will kick in at 95 degrees, or if a 20 year old pipe will burst and they will suffer the ignominy of going home on the back of an AA truck (obviously other brands are available) Hopefully someone will get back to you when it rains. Dave 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
½cwt Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Only short term suggestions would be Plus Gas or similar and allow it to soak in over a day or so, of if it can be applied without affecting the hose or other components, some heat. Never worked on my steering rack so can't give you any more I'm afraid. @TROOPER88 ever encountered this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROOPER88 Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Never removed a rack tbh If they are a push fit, have you tried mole grips on the ends to get them moving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders59 Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 (edited) In this youtube video of a guy replacing a steering rack, it seems he had to get a bit brutal, using the wheel brace as a hook to separate the pipes from the rack as they were stuck in place. I wouldnt start chopping through the pipes though, as they are pretty expensive to replace.. from 7.15 to 8.30. Porsche Boxster 8 - Steering Rack Replacement - YouTube I need to remove the pressure pipe from mine sometime soon as it is leaking, so will be interested to know how you get on. Edited June 14, 2021 by Bradders59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 7 hours ago, Pordave said: Sorry Dodgster you know why there are no replies don’t you. The sun is shining the temperature is rising and we are all out driving with hoods down getting unmercifully sunburnt while stuck in traffic jams. All will be carefully monitoring their temperature gauges worrying if the fans will kick in at 95 degrees, or if a 20 year old pipe will burst and they will suffer the ignominy of going home on the back of an AA truck (obviously other brands are available) Hopefully someone will get back to you when it rains. Dave That’s quite funny! 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted June 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Bradders59 said: In this youtube video of a guy replacing a steering rack, it seems he had to get a bit brutal, using the wheel brace as a hook to separate the pipes from the rack as they were stuck in place. I wouldnt start chopping through the pipes though, as they are pretty expensive to replace.. from 7.15 to 8.30. Porsche Boxster 8 - Steering Rack Replacement - YouTube I need to remove the pressure pipe from mine sometime soon as it is leaking, so will be interested to know how you get on. I’ve seen this video… and his removal of the lines are a walk in the park considering what I encountered. The problem is that in the UK we salt/grit our roads and my car has had 20 years of this to the extent that these lines are literally welded on. I’ve sprayed them with WD-40, plus gas etc but they are SOLID. The cost of new replacement lines are silly money and used ones are as rare as rocking horse sh*t in the UK as they apparently all do this. I’ve heard that the 997 lines would fit but need to be altered to extend them and then join them to my existing lines that are still perfect…has anyone had any knowledge of doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
½cwt Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 2 hours ago, Dodgster1 said: I’ve seen this video… and his removal of the lines are a walk in the park considering what I encountered. The problem is that in the UK we salt/grit our roads and my car has had 20 years of this to the extent that these lines are literally welded on. I’ve sprayed them with WD-40, plus gas etc but they are SOLID. The cost of new replacement lines are silly money and used ones are as rare as rocking horse sh*t in the UK as they apparently all do this. I’ve heard that the 997 lines would fit but need to be altered to extend them and then join them to my existing lines that are still perfect…has anyone had any knowledge of doing this? At risk of upsetting this forum, can I suggest you post this on the 911uk forum under the Boxster section. There is a good indy mechanic 'de Mort' who comes back pretty quickly with all sorts of experience and knowhow from working on the whole Porsche range of all ages every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders59 Posted June 14, 2021 Report Share Posted June 14, 2021 Disconnect the other end of the lines, then remove the rack with them attached. Might have a better chance of getting them out once off the car, rather than with the restricted access while its all on the car ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody-g Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 If you end up having to replace the hoses i suggest you speak to a hydraulic hose supplier like Pirtek who will be considerably cheaper than Porsche for parts. I know from bitter experience how much original Porsche pipes are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 9 hours ago, Bradders59 said: Disconnect the other end of the lines, then remove the rack with them attached. Might have a better chance of getting them out once off the car, rather than with the restricted access while its all on the car ? That’s a great idea though I’d need a bit of guidance doing it this way… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 2 minutes ago, woody-g said: If you end up having to replace the hoses i suggest you speak to a hydraulic hose supplier like Pirtek who will be considerably cheaper than Porsche for parts. I know from bitter experience how much original Porsche pipes are. I’ve read up on Pirtek…absolutely great at providing “bridging” hoses further down the line but cannot provide anything that fits directly into the steering rack as they are Porsche specific…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBen Posted June 22, 2021 Report Share Posted June 22, 2021 Probably too late now, sorry not been on here lately, did you manage to get them out? I had the same with mine. The two lines seemed completely seized in and I was trying to figure out what to do next, so left it for a bit. I think I might have popped a bit of Plus Gas on. When I came back to it I spent a good while just pushing and wiggling at them, and suddenly they simply popped out, much to my surprise. I had about given up by this stage, so if you're still stuck might be worth just giving it another go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted June 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2021 On 6/22/2021 at 1:26 PM, MrBen said: Probably too late now, sorry not been on here lately, did you manage to get them out? I had the same with mine. The two lines seemed completely seized in and I was trying to figure out what to do next, so left it for a bit. I think I might have popped a bit of Plus Gas on. When I came back to it I spent a good while just pushing and wiggling at them, and suddenly they simply popped out, much to my surprise. I had about given up by this stage, so if you're still stuck might be worth just giving it another go. Mine are literally welded in. They won’t be coming out. I’ve opted for a rather extreme solution as I’ve ordered second hand 997 hoses which I will join to my existing hoses when I put my new rack in. The cost of buying the fitment for a 986 new from either Porsche or Design 911 was eye watering. Hopefully they will turn up by the weekend (as they are en-route from Germany) and cost a fraction of the money that it would cost. I got the idea from a guy called the Norwegian Car Guy on his YouTube channel who had the same issues as me on his 987….much more room under there than under a 986 thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBen Posted June 27, 2021 Report Share Posted June 27, 2021 Sounds like a good plan, hope it works out ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted July 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 As a follow up I succeeded in obtaining the 997 lines, cutting them and attaching them to my existing lines. what a PITA! But it’s done now and instead of paying the ludicrous price of upwards of £1000 for both 986 lines I got what I needed second hand from Teime in Germany for €237. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBen Posted July 2, 2021 Report Share Posted July 2, 2021 Good result, hope it's plain sailing from here!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Sorry to resurrect this thread however I have a question…. Has anyone heard of brand new power steering return line fail? due to my ongoing issues I’ve had to replace both the pressure and return line on my 986 and has to pick myself off the floor when I got a call today saying that the line had literally burst. I went to the garage to question the fitter and discovered that he had put nearly 2 litres of fluid into a sealed system, the system was retained pressure then suddenly the steering becomes heavy and there’s fluid all over the garage. I believe the system should only hold 1 litre and he was negligent so now they want to replace my power steering pump which I originally thought was the issue but they told me that it was not! they have had my car for nearly 3 weeks and all I’m getting from them are tales of woe, lack of phone calls, doom and gloom projections (such as your steering rack is gone…no mate it’s just been reconditioned) so that I’m supposed to be grateful when it’s not bad at all and all the while the labour costs are creeping up. i’d appreciate any advice on this as I believe they are now taking the p*ss and have ruined a part that cost me near enough £400. If it were the pressure line then that would be near enough £600 so thank heavens for small mercies. also how long does it take to fit these lines? They are claiming 4 hours for the pair which I think is ridiculous! Ps I tried to upload a photo but apparently the file exceeds 1000kb…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 Something doesn’t add up there. How would the return hose have enough pressure in it to burst the pipe? I’d be suspicious that they have damaged it during installation. Also I can’t see how you get 2 litres in. I burst a pipe, drove on for 200 mile and replaced the pipe and pump and didn’t need the whole 1 litre bottle I bought. All I can think off is that for some reason the return pipe they fitted was blocked in some way (bung left in that prevents dirt ingress in transit) and that as they filled it with fluid the return pipe pressurised and ballooned allowing the extra fluid to go in until it failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 15 minutes ago, Nobbie said: Something doesn’t add up there. How would the return hose have enough pressure in it to burst the pipe? I’d be suspicious that they have damaged it during installation. Also I can’t see how you get 2 litres in. I burst a pipe, drove on for 200 mile and replaced the pipe and pump and didn’t need the whole 1 litre bottle I bought. All I can think off is that for some reason the return pipe they fitted was blocked in some way (bung left in that prevents dirt ingress in transit) and that as they filled it with fluid the return pipe pressurised and ballooned allowing the extra fluid to go in until it failed. Yes the whole thing seems too incredible to believe… I’ve spoken to Porsche who have opened a case for a return/replacement but this is a brand new line which was pristine when I left it with them. The line did have bungs on them but they were external ones which obviously has to be removed to fit them. the system was pressurised but I believe the fitter put too much fluid in then put the cap back on thus sealing the system. If the fluid then started to heat up and there was too much in it the obvious route would be to seek the path of least resistance which would be the only part that wasn’t metal ie the rubberised crimped join which is where the failure occurred. The reason I used these pr*cks was because online they advertise that they are competent to repair Porsches ….I have learned over the last few weeks that they lie about contacting you leaving me in the dark and are trying to see how much they can get out of me as obviously they think I’m minted after having to pay tip dollar for those pipes…. It made my credit card cry but I rationalised it by telling myself that they would last another 20 years…not one afternoon! Bow should I proceed? Can I accuse them of negligence? They know that in all probability the line was perfect so now they are deflecting claiming that “something else “ in the power steering system caused this but what could? It’s not the pressure line so it was merely routing the fluid back. I have visions of these muppets wrecking the pump end of the return line when putting in the new pump (which I already had) then blaming something else. At this time I just need my car back as I’m starting a new job with changing shift patterns so I have to have my car reliable. this should have taken half a day tops and nearly 3 weeks in my car is still in bits. I know that I’m going to have to refer this case to the Motor Ombudsman as this has been a comedy of errors on this indi’s part… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Dodgster1 said: Edited August 11, 2021 by Dodgster1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted August 11, 2021 Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 I still don’t see how they could put 2 Litres of fluid in. If you look at this diagram the return line just goes into the reservoir and that’s not pressurised. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/steering4.htm Do you have a respected Indy near you that you could get it towed to, or even an OPC as they do classic rates on older cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgster1 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2021 There’s no way they will admit to putting that much fluid in…these guys were supposed to be Porsche specialists and if I attempted to get it towed somewhere else I’d have to pay by them for effectively ruining my car and then pay someone else who I also don’t know to rectify it….I’m not sure what an OPC is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike597 Posted August 12, 2021 Report Share Posted August 12, 2021 14 hours ago, Dodgster1 said: There’s no way they will admit to putting that much fluid in…these guys were supposed to be Porsche specialists and if I attempted to get it towed somewhere else I’d have to pay by them for effectively ruining my car and then pay someone else who I also don’t know to rectify it….I’m not sure what an OPC is? Official Porsche Centre i.e. main dealer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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