Turbo Steering Rack Failure?
 

Hello all. Was wondering if someone may offer some guideance as to what could be wrong with the car I am considering purchasing. When turning the wheel, it takes an incredible amount of force to do so (I have driven Carreras before, but nothing like this!). Besides the Herculean efforts to turn the wheel (as in getting out of a parking spot), it sounds as if some sort of metal piece is binding. All I can describe the sound is as if someone was trying to break a thick piece of betal by bending it. :( It does this if I turn the wheel in either direction. Odd thing is that when I listened to the owner drive away, I could not hear this as he left. You can´t miss this sound from the inside...

The car is a 86 930 with RSR coil over suspension and 18" BBS 3 pice magnesium rims. The seller tried to tell me that these were the springs from the coilovers (sounds right as far as the metallic noise and steel bending) and was due to the high spring rate (something like 450lbs). Sound like a caca story to me...:rolleyes:

Any ideas? Should I just budget the $700 for new steering rack plus labor?

Thanks in advance to those who reply.


SmileWavy

Gus,

It doesn't sound to me like all of those problems are due to the steering rack!

The noises are more than likely from the U-joints in the steering column or bushing just below the steering wheel.

High steering effort can be due to old, heardened grease inside the steering rack ... and I have had very good luck disassembling and cleaning the rack, then applying new synthetic moly grease. Leaking seals can be replaced, but that isn't always needed. Some people have liked the improvement so much they said it felt like power steering had been installed!

Even if there is a damaged steering rack ... I don't think a new $700 rack is needed. A used rack can be bought for $100 or so, plus shipping ... and a clean & grease job plus new set of turbo tie rods would be as good as new, in my opinion.

Good luck!

That sounds like what happened with my original steering rack - water got inside it somehow and rusted the bits together.

You can get a 914 rack @ Pick-n-Pull for $~20

Hi Gus:

This is not uncommon at all on car equipped with coilovers. The top of the springs are trying to rotate against the upper spring hats and what you hear and feel is not abnormal. This can be aleviated with teflon shims and or a roller bearing setup.

This is not to say that the rack might not have a problem, you did not say how many miles are on this car. IMHO, these things last a LONG time and I'd look at the former before spending money on a new rack.

Although it takes some experience to assess this, I'd raise the front end and move the wheel from lock-to-lock and see if you feel any sticking or binding. Its should be very smooth.

Take care,

Thank you for your replies! I will try what Steve said and see how it goes
SmileWavy