986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Steering Rack R&R

Racer Boy · 04-10-2020, 01:16 PM

The steering rack on my base '02 (151K miles) is leaking badly. It happened all at once, and the rack was making a groaning noise when the leak began (I drove it about 10 miles like that). The PS pump has occasionally made some noise before, but it was getting very noisy before I stopped the car; I'm guessing that was because it was running low on fluid.

Somewhere I read that a pump with a stuck valve can blow out the seals on PS racks, so I bought a rack and pump from a salvage yard. But I've also read of several guys replacing just their racks and everything was fine.

I've been having a hard time getting the enthusiasm up to replace the rack, and I'm guessing that replacing the pump isn't much fun either. So I'm asking the 986 mind-hive what they think!

If it were you, would you replace both at the same time, or just try the rack first?

04-10-2020, 01:16 PM	#1
Racer Boy Racer Boy Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 946	Steering Rack R&R - What Would You Do? The steering rack on my base '02 (151K miles) is leaking badly. It happened all at once, and the rack was making a groaning noise when the leak began (I drove it about 10 miles like that). The PS pump has occasionally made some noise before, but it was getting very noisy before I stopped the car; I'm guessing that was because it was running low on fluid. Somewhere I read that a pump with a stuck valve can blow out the seals on PS racks, so I bought a rack and pump from a salvage yard. But I've also read of several guys replacing just their racks and everything was fine. I've been having a hard time getting the enthusiasm up to replace the rack, and I'm guessing that replacing the pump isn't much fun either. So I'm asking the 986 mind-hive what they think! If it were you, would you replace both at the same time, or just try the rack first? Last edited by Racer Boy; 04-10-2020 at 02:38 PM.