No power steering

[steve 944t]

My car has just deposited the entire power steering fluid over my girlfriend's drive (I hope she doesnt notice). It is not coming from the pump, nor from the gaiters on the rack, but from somewhere near the middle of the rack. Does this mean the rack needs replacing or is there a pipe underneath which may have split? I realize this is hard to diagnose over the net, but any suggestions are welcome as I cant get underneath to remove the undertray at the moment.
In the meantime, am I likely to damage anything if I drive the car with no fluid in the system?

Steve

 

[Diver944]

Hi Steve,

IIRC the PAS systems consists of three parts: the pump, the rack and a high pressure hose that connects the pump to the rack. If all the fluid has gone and there is no tell tale sign from where, then you'll have to fill it up again, jack up the car and watch from underneath while someone turns the wheel.

The hose does join the rack in the centre, so if you think it's coming from there then it could well be the culprit, my own hose split a few years ago and the part is over £150 [], though I have heard of someone removing the hose and taking it along to a local high pressure hose place and crimping the existing Porsche fitments onto a new hose for much, much less.

Both the pump and the rack can leak from their internal seals and there are kits available to rebuild them that are cheaper than buying new. The pump kit is available from OPC's for under £20 and there was a DIY guide published in 911 & Porsche World (do a search on this forum for a scan), The rack kit is available from www.rennbay.com for $70 and there is an online tutorial.

As to driving without fluid, I don't know [&:] I wouldn't think it would do any damage it will jst be harder to turn, but don't quote me

 

[Mark_Bennett]

I wouldn't have thought running the power steering pump without any fluid in it to lubricate it would be a particularly good idea?

That is, if the PS fluid does this?


Edit: Can't spell "pump"...

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't have thought it would do it much good to drive without fluid, since the pump wil be running with no back pressure, so will run too fast.
I would suggest that you remove the fuse for the power steering first (if there is one?).
This way the pump will not operate.
The steering will of course be much heavier, although above 15mph or so, I guess it would be OK.

 

[steve 944t]

Thanks folks. Hopefully a split pipe is most likely, as it went so suddenly. I will have to get my usual mechanic to have a look as I dont have the time to do it at the moment. I will have to risk driving it tomorrow, but only a few miles so fingers crossed!

(And I am in big trouble as the gf has spotted the fluid on the drive and refuses to believe that me lying under the car when she got home and the sudden appearance of a nasty stain on the drive are totally unconnected!)