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creekman

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Everything posted by creekman

  1. Hmmm, I thought I had updated this post on the status of my steering problem... I have a good car buddy, Patrick digs in, hands on. He's worked with cars as a business or for his own inventory for 40 years or more. Patrick brings along a smart young man and tells Shawn to take loose the steering column. This is the steering shaft that is flush with the bulkhead and the rearward end receives the steering wheel. Shawn gets the shaft out, but as he does this he says, "What's this"... I immediately knew what it was, the nylon splined sleeve was about 6" long and was placed between the female and male, it was also clocked have only one way to fit. This entire post of several months was because this missing part. Why didn't we look at the parts book and order a new one... Probably because Porsche no longer offers the part, if you wanted the part you would have to buy the entire assembly and that is $2,000. The reason the nylon splined bushing doesn't show in the parts book is because it's part of an assembly. I'm guessing there are other examples of this throughout the car. Now we had he fix, but how to fix it became the issue. I have survived for all these years having over the top ideas, but through friendships and other people bowing to a better idea. In this case I was going to hold the nylon sleeve tight against the male spline. Patrick thought the idea was good but not the hose clamp. He suggested greasing up the female entry area with bearing grease so if any of the gasket maker ooze out we could separate the parts for installation. Well in theory Patrick was correct, I greased up the female interior wall for about an inch on the entry end, dab a little gasket maker on the male spline, however... there's always a but or however... In this case the thin fragile Nylon is nearly 20 years old and you could how delicate the part was, by the time the male end was partially inserted, I had gasket maker every where including me... There was no way I was going to destroy this Nylon splined sleeve... So now in panic mode I shoved the2 assemblies together hoping that enough grease was pushed ahead to keep the two parts from bounding forever. The next morning my helper was easily able to remove the male spline. I doubt you could insert the female into the male end. You can barely see the male end flush with the bulkhead. My guy was in the cabin with the seat still in place, I bet it took nearly an hour to get the splines engaged, after that it was pretty straight forward. The nylon splined sleeve probably came out when we dropped the gas tank. Mitch Leland “Home in the Hill Country"
  2. Ok, READ AND WEEP... Here's my final answer... Today I was showing 2 car buddies the loose steering (play) in the steering wheel. I've been chasing my tail for 3 months on this, nearly considered filing a Non-OP with the department of public safety. While removing the under dash steering shaft Shawn while on his back found a white plastic sleeve with splines. Once that was inserted into the female spline all the play went away. The picture I posted a couple of days ago appeared to have very little engagement when in fact it had quite a bit once we had access to both upper and lower shafts. My parts guy, Glenn Sager at Pelican Parts said he had never sold one of the columns , which gave me pause and stopped me from moving ahead on a used part. Bottom line: 1`. The missing splined plastic liner caused the play. 2. As I understand it none of the steering column parts are available here or in Germany. 3. I can use my plastic piece and it will be fine, because it was fine for 90,000 miles. 4. I can see if I can find a late model year and if they have the same plastic sleeve. Glenn is working on that. Again, not only does Porsche not stock the larger steering components, but also does not always show smaller part and part numbers..
  3. Ok, READ AND WEEPSteering column pics.rtfd.zip Here's my final answer... Today I had 2 car buddies showing them the loose steering (play) in the steering wheel. I've been chasing my tail for 3 months, nearly considered filing a Non-OP with the public safety. Wle removing the under dash steering Shawn while on his back found a white plastic sleeve with splines. Once that was inserted into the female spline all the play went away. The picture I posted a couple of days ago appeared to have very little engagement when in fact it had quite a bit. MY guy Glenn Sager at Pelican Parts said He had never sold one of the columns , which gave me pause and stopped me from moving ahead on a used part. Bottom line: 1`. The missing splined liner caused the play. 2. As I understand it none of the steering column parts are available here or in Germany. 3. I can use my plastic piece and it will be fine, because it was fine for 90,000 miles. 4. I can see if I can fine a late model year and if they have the same plastic sleeve. Glen is working on that. Again, not only does Porsche stock the larger steering components, but6 also does not show the part and part number...
  4. Well boys and girls, I think we isolated the steering wheel play, but don't how come or how to fix it. The play is in the splined connection. However there's more male spline out than in. We think if the male was pretty much engaged in the female splined aluminum tube there would be no play in the steering wheel. Does anyone know what the dimension is of the free outside exposed male spline? Now I'm assuming if the male and female were more engaged the play would go away...But there is no adjustment, the rack bolts down in one place and the under dash bolt up in specify connections, again no adjustment. I've been all over that car for 10 years and it has never been crashed front or rear. As far as I know everything can only go in one way. Yet I still get the feeling this all started when we remove the gas tank and solenoids valves. I have a video, but I don't know if they're allowed and I don't know how to send it, for now I'll just include a pic. Can anyone tell me how much male spline is inserted into the female aluminum tube? I'll bet it ain't much... Double click for larger view... There's about an inch that looks like it was further into the female spline since there's no rust.
  5. Well, I thought when I installed the rebuilt rack my problems were behind me, After bleeding the system I still had the original play in the steering wheel, I still think there's a broken part here, it's not a wear problem. There's nothing left to fix or do until we get the housing out from under the dash. I bet the upper universal is now the culprit and I'm afraid to drive the car if something in fact is broken. Has anyone removed the steering housing from under the dash to tell me how much of the dash has to be removed to get to the housing? Thans... Mitch
  6. Question for JFP in PA. I Ordered the lower steering shaft with included the rag and universal... Unfortunately It's not to be had in the U.S. and no time frame given from was given if and when fromm Germany... And I still don't know if that's the problem. my Pelican guy doesn't have any breakdown of what's inside the steering housing under the dash. One thought is find and buy the whole business, am I correct salvage yard prices should be half of retail. My front end guy had it on the rack and said everything looks normal, then if something is broken why does the steering still works. Any thoughts..., if he/we had a parts breakdown, it might tell us what did go wrong... Thanks,
  7. Hardtailer, Thanks for you interest and reply. I don't recognize the steering rack from your picture. Here's mine, also my car is a C4S. I'm not sure, but there might be a difference between our cars... I was positive the problem I have is in the housing under the dash since I've checked the play and it had to be in the in underdash part. So this Saturday my helper who is smaller and a lot younger did another test before taking the dash apart. JFP from PA said it was a hard job, maybe only second to taking down the gas tank. Then I talked to my long time friend and parts man at Pelican Parts without any conclusion.a A day later he sends me an e-mail saying in all his years of ordering and selling Porsche parts he has never sold the undersash part of the 996 steering system. So that gave me pause... What I'm going to do is order the lower portion that connects to the rack to be sure the internal female splines are good, if not I'll have to pay restocking fee, but at least I can be sure what's not the problem. I've had the steering rack rebuilt by a company in California that does nothing but steering racks and can exchange Porsche steering racks. I chose to have mine rebuilt... So the problem is not there.
  8. Ya, I know you're right... Glad you haven't lost your sense of humor... I just didn't need this right now as I'm knee deep in finishing a 5 year restomod project...
  9. The lower parts are already separated. I've got to figure out how to move the car away from the lift so we have access to the interior (that's one problem with a 2 post lift, you can't open the doors all the way), remove the driver's seat and have at it. I'll first be sure that the universal can't be bought separately if that's the problem, I don't know what's going on in the housing, but I can't believe it's any more than a shaft supported by bearings at either end. Also, I wonder if the lower universal could be modified to be used for the upper universal... Just to be sue, we slid the lower female spline end into the male at the upper joint, we removed the steering wheel and clamped vice grips on the steering wheel post, I held the vice grps from turning and Josh had play, and he held I turned. The play is completely loose, no bind or grind. I agree there's no connection between the gas tank and this problem. Thanks again, P.S. Not sure why this fun stuff happens to me, maybe the Porsche Gods are getting even with me for installing that 480 HP fire breathing V8...
  10. JFP, Looking at the above pictured of the steering unit, it would seem that my attachment with No. 1 is the last spline/bolted part? From the No. 1 universal to the steering wheel spline it must be just a solid rod with support bearings. There's no play in the rack, no play in the rag and the lower universal . So unless I'm missing something it has to be the upper universal. If that's the case the under dash housing still has to come out. That's a lot of work if I've missed something. This isn't a wear problem, it's a broken problem because it just happen, and it happen concurrently after removing the gas tank.
  11. First off I've spent hours trying to reply with attachments, this has always been easy without problems. Apple seems to have an upgrade every couple of weeks, fixings bugs and improving security. I wish they would just leave things be... The rack has not been installed because then you wouldn't have room to install the column rods. Unfortunately we thought the lower rod with the aluminum female spline and rag would be the culprit, but it's tight. The problem is going to be with the housing under the dash as you pictured above. Is that unit serviceable... Not sure why this has happen, I have 93,000 miles on the car and don't autocross or abuse the car. JFP, I cannot begin to find the words to thank you for your help and support. As a DIYer you isolate yourself from going to the dealer or an Indy if there was one here. Stay tuned, film at eleven...
  12. I've had the rack rebuilt, but we already had figured out that you have to have the column rods in place with the install. However, your pronouncement that the rest of the steering comes out the bottom is news. At this point we weren't sure, so thanks for that.... No. 1 Could be a suspect, I say that as we have checked everything up to no. 2. I'll attach a pic of the shaft end of no.1 No. 2 We can hold the steering wheel to be sure there was no play in the steering wheel connection, we removed the steering wheel and turned No. 1 by re attaching the the female splined other half. No 3. The books book calls it adapter. But you can't fix it if you an't get at it... What bothers me is the play in the steering wheel is so obvious What bothers me is if the alignment is off a tad and that could produce the steering wheel play. This is the end of No. 1, from the top you can see the rubber bellows that I attached yesterday. No. 1 and 2 are a fine piece of work but there is a through bolt that pinces down on the male spline, I say that because that's how they handle the one off the steering rack That leaves us wih the adapter? How big/bad of a job is it to get that down.
  13. Well I'm still at it, I won't give up. We have isolated the slop in the steering column too the second universal or the adapter, both will be suspects... Does anyone have any experience how to get these 2 parts out for inspection. The rubber boot covers everything I'd like to se
  14. JFP... Good explanation, then much like the quiet setting on the exhaust, another Government reg.... I didn't have a code for the head lights, the code I have is ABS and PSM. I have not been able to erase either of those codes with a comom OSB reader or my Durametric program. You had said early on that I'd have to have the dealer reset the steering angle after removing the gas tank. I thought that maybe I can't remove the two codes until I have the steering angle set. I have a shop nearby that has all the Porsche data in his alignment system, but cannot do the steering angle. My plan was to take the car to the dealer and have the steering angle set, then let my local alignment shop finish the alignment. I just hate paying the dealer shop prices.
  15. JFP in PA, I thought I would get support that the sensor had nothing to with the headlights... Then there's a motor inside the light housing that follows the input/output of the sensor. If that was the case the headlights would be jumping up and down as the road conditions change. I wonder how many owners with the Litronic headlights know of this feature.
  16. 2003 996 C4S - 93,000 miles Well folks I'm still at it... One thing leads to another... After making the gas tank repair and replacing $1,000 of solenoids and valves everything that needed fixing got fixed. But the collateral damage that was left was leaking boots on the tie rod ends of the steering rack and pinion. I'm not sure if they leaked before or sitting around the seals dried out, but they needed replacing. I found a company in Escondido, CA that replaces all of this and return the rack with factory finishes. The other issue is a sensor (Potentiometer) that is connected to the big aluminum support for the rack and pinion. I told my parts man it must be part of the PSM and since the car has over 90,000 miles, plus I have a fault that will not cancel with my Durametric program it might be wise to replace it This sensor is shown on the 403 illustration, item 18 of the PET. But it's label just as sensor (996 631 121 00). My parts man comes back and says the sensor is part of the headlight adjustment. I told him no way... The lighting body is attached by 3 fairly adjusting long bolts. Could it be the sensor adjust the ride height and thus the entire car raises up or down. If that's the case the sensor would be part of the suspension. We put a multimeter on the electrical socket of the original socket and there was no change of resistance when the arm was moved.
  17. Jon, After writing this white paper, I hate to admit this, the steering wheel isn't loose on the steering shaft. There still could be air in the system because my car has a remote reservoir some distance away from the rack and pinion. What got me to this major concern and observation is a math problem. When you turn the wheel The nut and shaft rotate maybe an 1/8", but the steering wheel rim turns/rotates maybe 1.5" do to the larger diameter. All the bolting and shaft engagement are good so nothing is going to come apart. We have a good alignment shop in the next town west, if nothing changes after putting some miles on the car I'll make an appointment with the alignment shop. Oh, to answer your question, "how did this happen"... We had to take down the gas tank to solve a gas leak and a bad solenoid in the charcoal recovery system. everything under the gas tank had to be removed including the rack and pinion / plus suspension parts. Actually I had the same idea of using aluminum foil, or as you suggested brass shim stock. Well Jon I'm glad to see you're still on the job...
  18. To add to Loren's reply I would work from top to bottom. Is the bumper cover a factory part or aftermarket fiberglass... Also, if you use drifts or all's to align holes that will help.
  19. 2003 C4S You fix one thing and another shows up unannounced and usually unwanted.... We successfully removed the gas tank, made repairs and were successful fixing a leak and stopped escaping fumes. See my earlier post... "Removing the gas tank on a 996 C4S" When I asked my helper if the steering shaft went back in from where it had been, Josh said yes... Josh didn't mark the parts, he just relied on nothing had moved. Over 3 months and moving parts around we ended up with the steering wheel about 20 degrees out of sync with the wheels. Plus, we had a dead spot in the neutral wheel position. We decided that the dead spot was from lack of bleeding. I left a post to confirm I could re-clock the steering wheel... JFP in PA replies (the guy must never sleep) yes... I disconnected the battery, waited the suggested 30 minutes or more to disconnect the steering wheel airbag. I moved the wheel to sycn the steering wheel to the front wheels, all of a sudden after tightening down the steering shaft nut I find the dead spot in the steering... 3 spoke factory steering wheel, at least I assume so since it has a 996 P/N. Immediately I see that the splines in the pot metal wheel hub are nearly non-existent. The steering shaft is not tapered. The shaft nut (24mm or a 15/16 6pt)keeps the wheel from leaving the car, but the steering wheel rotates on the steering shaft before engaging the steering rack. There's so little engagement of the splines that it worries me that the wheel could rotate further creating more than a small dead spot. And why wasn't it doing the same thing before now... All suggestions, comments, are always appreciated... Mitch
  20. Loren, Can you remove the steering wheel which I'd say is now off 20% and re-install with the wheels straight ahead and the steering wheel is in the same orientation? I saw a 'how to' video on installing an aftermarket wheel and it didn't appear that there were any posts or direction light triggers on the bottom of the steering wheel hub to worry about. If so it would save me a trip to the alignment shop. Am I correct... Thank you, I'm glad you're still on the job... Mitch
  21. Quoting, "it's always something"... I have the nasty job of removing the front half of the car and putting humpty dumpty back together again, but with some collateral issues. I I asked my helper, did you align the steering wheel, Josh said I put it back together the same way it came apart, but he didn't... The steering wheel is off of being centered 20% or more. Can you remove the steering wheel without creating more problems and reset it? I used vernier calipers to install the new rod ends... I guess an alignment shop can adjust the tie rods to put the steering wheel back to zero which is aligned with the wheels? We could drop the steering rack, but that's a lot of work.... Any thoughts would be appreciated...
  22. Well, it's been a long journey, but we took down the gas tank, not an easy job. As JFP said everything under the gas tank has to come down, We tied up the control arms to same removing them. We used a pickle fork to break loose the ball joint on the tie rods. We damaged the boots and bought TRW rod ends for giant savings. But it still would have been better to buy the special ball joint removal tool because if you can't remove the ball joints using old school methods and your rod ends are in good shape don't use the pickle fork... There's is a round gasket at the fill pipe, that is/was where the gas was eeking out, but it was because of back pressure in in the tank and the pressure found the weakest link in a very complicated system. The fumes are collected and stored in the charcoal canister. the next time the engine is started those fumes are moved through the system to be placed in the running cylinders only to be burned up. The engine makes the fumes, then turns around and burns them up. I didn't find anyone that shared a similar problem to mine.. I probably spent $1,000 plus on all the solenoid valves, gaskets, etc. My warped mine decided that better do it right and not do it again. However if there were a next time I would check the valve that's shown below. For several reasons, it's the only one that can be removed without dismantling the car. Secondly it's the only valve that has no electrical connections, it only works with either vacuum or pressure which I assume/guessing does not operate with the same forcefulness has an electric assisted one. My valve was stuck, then several days later when I blew and suck on it it opened. The part that carried the valve for my C4S is longer available so I bought the similar part, cut it out and installed it in my old hose. I was so done with this I went ahead and spent the $225 to get this little plastic valve, but what I might have done would be to clean the valve soaking it in diesel and reinstalling since it was accessible. I still had the leak in the gas tank fill it was very small and without back pressure it might not have leaked... But so far without having driven it, but have run the engine it has been a success... I'll report back if there's any changes. I still love the car after owning for nearly 10 years. While it's on the lift I'm giving the underside a good wash job, the aftermarket GT2 bumper over needed some TLC, The aftermarket back-up camera needs adjusting, and the list goes on... Thanks for all who responded and especially JFP from PA...
  23. I've blown in it and suck without any change, maybe I'm just out of suck... The valve as PET calls it is directional. It appears by the directional arrow that it is some kind of a return line to the tank. When you mention pressure, I believe I was getting pressure build up my tank as it took 2 hands to turn the gas cap. We'll know soon if it's a done deal... Thanks again for your help and support...
  24. JP in PA, I cut out the new valve and have attached with a 1/2" fuel hose and hose clamps. I'll post a picture once it's back together... What motivates these solenoids to open and close?
  25. Agreed JFP, but it comes with a price... I hadn't thought of that condition, but you're right just as soon as you button everything up that valve could take a dump. That brings me to my next question. A few days ago my car buddy and I were trading germs by blowing through the ends of the piping. The new one would pass air blowing in either direction, the old one would only allow you to blow one way so we immediately decided that was the cause of all my problems. The new one was sent back for credit as we were expecting the correct one for my car. I receive it today, but it was the same as the one I had just sent back, again I blew through it both ways without any resistance, then I blew through the old one and now it passed air as opposed not allowing that. I wonder if the valve was just stuck close? There's no power to that valve, does anyone know what it does??? And why you can blow through it from either way, again what does this valve. Whoever answers correctly wins the crochet' Bath Tub. I guess for the same reasons that were stated earlier it still holds true. Still you took half the car apart to get to the gas tank and if you don't want to it again, replace the valves. Do we think the circled valve is a check valve so if the canister is full, the valve closes and diverts the fumes to another location. It would be nice if you're spending a thousand buck a roooos to know why...
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