Power steering return line/cooler.

[amrbose14]

I've tracked down a leak in the power steering to a hole in the return line/cooler, and I'm wondering what to do. In previous posts people have supposedly tried fixing them by cutting rotten pipe out and replacing the section of line - but you'll see the hole in mine is on a bend, and also some other corrosion which I'd noticed before.

One of the on-line parts places lists the replacement part at £178. I guess I could also look for a 2nd hand one. Repairing a rotten pipe seems a bit like engineering in a potential weakness.

The other issue is whether to tackle this myself. Has anyone else taken then on? Any experiences? It's just some piping after all, but will require removing the front bumper (is that all?). I gather this can be a pain (which will be magnified by the narrowness of my garage) but is has the added benefit that I will see what the condition of everything else is behind the bumper.

cheers,
Chris

87 220T.

 

[Riverside]

I had this on mine last summer. Took the bat wing & bumper off & fitted a used replacement from porschapart. While the bumper was off I took the opportunity to fix & clean a few other things (rusty horn mounts for one).

Most of the job was straightforward, the most fiddly bit was reconnecting the indicator wires as the bumper went back on [&:]

 

[amrbose14]

Thanks. Somewhat reassuring.

If anybody has a cooler line in good condition, I'd be interested. Porschapart often seem a bit pricey.

cheers,
Chris

 

[bmnelsc]

Has anyone looked at getting one made by hydraulic shop/heavy equipment service centre? Granted there are a few bends in the tubing but the rest should be straightforward hose and fittings. Should be a breeze for specialists to put one together.

 

[Kongsodoken]

went to see Richard today at the powersteeringstore.co.uk he makes this part[] he did say he hates doing it as it is a PITA

I zinc plated mine and then powdercoated it....Richard added the new hose........I just need to put the bend it the pipe and it's finished

 

[amrbose14]

That's lovely... how much was it (doesn't sound cheap)?

The bulk of mine looks sound... there's one rusty bit which doesn't leak and one which does. I can't help wondering if a repair is possible.

 

[amrbose14]

What I'm wondering at the moment is how well the tube that runs to the rack will seal up again... and whether I will need that as well. And then whether I can actually replace it with the rack in place... and so on, and so on.

On another note, does the washer reservoir come out easily? It looks like it might give me more space to work in, and then I might replace the tubing to the headlight washers as well.

 

[Kongsodoken]

It cost £20 to plate £5 to powdercoat £10 for the hose

mine looked like OK a few rust catches but it is amazing what zinc plating does comes out like new

If yours has a hole then its toast ....I think powersteering store makes them for about £100 just a guess[]

 

[amrbose14]

Best I have so far is £136. Admittedly new.

http://www.porscheshop.co.uk/acatalog/porsche_944_steering.html

 

[Kongsodoken]

ORIGINAL: amrbose14

Best I have so far is £136. Admittedly new.

http://www.porscheshop.co.uk/acatalog/porsche_944_steering.html

It would be wrong of me to say who makes them for Porscheshop .....cough...cough...cough[]... but read my previous posts carefully cough cough

 

[colin944]

You could just bypass it. It's not really needed in this country.You can change it easily without removing the rack or the washer bottle. Just put the car up on stands and remove the batwing and under tray. Loads of access and really easy to do.

 

[amrbose14]

I've already got the bumper and undertray off, and the air duct... I can see it looks doable.

So you reckon if I got some simple hose from said power steering specialists (or something even simpler?) and ran it from the reservoir straight to the rack there would never be any problems? What about a track day in summer?

 

[ChasR]

Richard is a great chap to deal with, and quite a few major supplies (outside of the Porsche World) are quite happy to use him. He is certainly a chap I would consider .

 

[Mike_Pollock]

My cooler has been bypassed - before I got it - and I haven't missed it, but I dont do track days.

 

[colin944]

Buy a used cooler on ebay loads for around £50. It's a really common part every 944 with power steering has the same part. I think it would be ok without the cooler but not sure about track days. You could of course buy some copper or cunifer pipe and make a new one yourself. But a whole lot easier to buy one. There's a guy selling the cooler with the reservoir and the pipes on e bay now for £50.

 

[amrbose14]

I saw that one on ebay... the picture wasn't great and I wondered why it had tape on it. I also worry that the rubber piping will be old and weep like the current pipes. I've been putting up with the weeping for years, but if I am fixing something I'd prefer it to be fixed. Maybe I'll see if I can get some better pics of the ebay one... cheers.

I reckon I'll not go for the bypass option though... every cheap skate has his price but maybe I'm not that cheap!