Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:29:11 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Advice about power steering problem
In-Reply-To: <02af01cbfbd4$0a6ee770$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Hear is a source.
http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=251498020
John
John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com
On 4/15/2011 8:17 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
> any PS rack rebuilding kits available anywhere these days ?
> I have, let's see..
> 6 I think..
> 3 running in vans, and 3 tired ones.
> There's no risk to installing a kit in a rack that is no more than a
> core right now anyway. Well worth taking a chance on a kit.
> anyone know of any kits ?
> Scott
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* John Rodgers <mailto:inua@charter.net>
> *To:* Scott Daniel - Turbovans <mailto:scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
> *Cc:* vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> *Sent:* Friday, April 15, 2011 5:22 PM
> *Subject:* Re: Advice about power steering problem
>
> When I bought my '85 GL years ago, the PS rack was dead. Leaking
> all over. I had a friend who was the chief mechanic and a
> specialist on VW's at the VW dealership in Anchorage, AK. I bought
> an official VW PS seal kit from the parts department and he
> installed it at home as a favor and didn't charge me for it. I
> drove that repaired PS rack for 100,000 miles and never had a lick
> of trouble from it. It was still working well when I sold the van.
>
> Installing a PS seal kit is always a bit iffy. Same with any
> "repair kit". It may work, it may not. But it might be worth the
> try. I had three alternators down at the same time. Checked out
> the replacement and given I needed three the cost was horrendous.
> So, I opened up the back of the Alternators, checked the inside,
> lightly sanded the copper inside, installed a new brush kit, and
> away they all went. No problems. BUT, that might not have worked.
> The wear may have been out of limits and the repair consequently
> might not have worked. But you have to try.
>
> John
>
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
>
>
> On 4/15/2011 6:31 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>> sounds weird all right.
>> I have a used PS rack that seems just a tad bit bind-ye going
>> straight.
>>
>> I was reading in Bentley about that ..
>> not going to look right now .
>> but what I remember is they had a few tests ..
>> fluid pressure from the pump ..
>> and it wasn't many steps before they got to 'replace rack' ..
>>
>> oh right ..it was make sure the pressure part and pump were
>> working..
>> measure turning effort at steering wheel if I'm remembering right ..
>> if that was above speck - 'replace rack' .
>>
>> Like they got to that step pretty quickly ..no adjustments on the
>> rack or
>> anything.
>>
>> I suppose you could crack the 'in' pressure line to the rack , at
>> the rack,
>> and fire up the engine ..
>> make sure fluid comes out of there pretty nicely under pressure (
>> if you
>> don't have some sort of pressure gauge ) .
>> If the pump is pumping well..
>> and the lines are not blocked..
>> and the PS give no 'power assist' ....it sure points to the rack
>> itself , to
>> me.
>>
>> how much are those Mavel racks in dollars ?
>> one of these days I need to buy a good new rebuilt one.
>>
>> Used pumps make me nervous ..I had an old used pump blow out a
>> perfectly
>> fairly fresh looking and good rebuilt rack about 6 months after I
>> started
>> driving it, or sure looks like that's what happened.
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Ken Wilford" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 4:08 PM
>> Subject: Advice about power steering problem
>>
>>
>>> Dear List,
>>>
>>> I have been installing power steering racks for a very long time.
>>> However I have run into a strange problem with one I recently
>>> installed
>>> for a customer.
>>>
>>> Customer had a leaking rack. I put a new one on. The fluid in the
>>> system looked fine and I changed the filter to be sure there
>>> would be no
>>> problems.
>>> Power steering worked great for less than 200 miles. Then it just
>>> stopped working. There is no leak whatsoever. The customer
>>> brought it
>>> back and I tried a new power steering pump thinking that the old
>>> one had
>>> just died. There were fine metal shavings in the fluid this
>>> time. The
>>> new pump did nothing. So now I am thinking that the rack itself is
>>> messed up. However I have never heard of this problem. I
>>> checked the
>>> Bentley and they don't really seem to indicate that a heavy
>>> steering
>>> problem was a rack fault. Has anyone had a similar experience
>>> in the
>>> past? It is a Maval rack and I installed one on my own personal
>>> van
>>> about the exact time that I did this for customer. The one on
>>> my van is
>>> working great. I have sold many of them over the years and they
>>> are
>>> good. If anyone has any experience or advice I would appreciate
>>> the
>>> feedback.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Thanks,
>>> Ken Wilford
>>> John 3:16
>>> www.vanagain.com
>>> Phone: 856-327-4936
>>> Fax: 856-327-2242
>>
>>
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