My
06 Cayman S
keeps getting air in the power steering system, which results in loudish noise during slow speed turning. I can clear the air by jacking the front of the car and moving the wheels from side to side 30 times or so. It takes about a month for the noise to return. The fluid in the reservoir does not lower. I saw a recent sale of a
Porsche
(I cannot remember the model) on BAT, and the description included a replacement of the power steering reservoir. Does it make sense that there is a leak between the reservoir and the pump that draws air in, but the fluid does not leak out? Any stories or assistance concerning repair would be appreciated. I plan to make the fix myself.
Hey there -- Having power steering issues myself per a different issue (a leak in the high-pressure line that goes to the front of the car). Remove both engine covers and inspect carefully with a flashlight -- as you might find a small leak somewhere. Replacing the line may be about 5 hours labor in a shop, so I'm guessing that's about the same for the reservoir.
In trying to narrow things down, I agree that your loud whine is the cavitation of air getting in the system, as the pump motor is spinning against air and not fluid -- which is bad for the pump. I'm assuming the noise is coming from behind you from the pump...so I would think that the pump is being starved of fluid somehow.
I'm assuming you've tried topping it off? I believe that CHF 11 or 202 should be just fine. Make sure the reservoir is topped off at the right level, and don't overfill or it'll spew out the top and make a huge mess in your engine bay (previous owner kept topping it off and I had a lot of cleaning to do when I got the car).
Hope these initial thoughts might help.
The reservoir - if it's like every other euro power steering reservoir has a filter cast into the bottom of it. To change the filter you have to change the reservoir. If the filter is plugged up - that will cause cavitation of the
power steering pump
, and could result in air getting trapped eventually in the steering rack. The filter can get plugged up if the vehicle was run in conditions where the power steering fluid overheated (track use perhaps?) or it got contaminated somehow. Normally the filters last almost forever, but it's probably not a bad idea to change the reservoir and fluid at 100k intervals if not sooner.
Let us know how it works out..
The upper Power steering reservoir is a source of concern. Always be extremely cautious when adding PS fluid.
I post this as I awaken my 30K mile, 1 owner
987.1
CS from almost 8 years of slumber (storage).
Just today, while in the process of replacing inspecting/replacing virtually the entire fuel delivery system (as well as the usual oil, filter, coolant flush/pressure test, brake bleed,
PIWIS III
fault hunt, etc, etc) I came across something that seems odd. I pulled my manifolds for ease of fuel injector replacement and got a truly good look at the upper power steering fluid reservoir. My Pentosin fluid was a bit low, but fortunately registered on the reservoir
cap
's built-in dipstick.
...And regarding fluid level, what is most baffling me is that it appears that the reservoir's "overflow vent tube" (rubber, about 7" long) simply dumps (open ended and unsecured) any potential overfill onto the front top of the engine block, and the left side resonance tube sleeve (more specifically, therubber connector sleeve to left Intake Manifold).
Previously, my car had only been serviced at
Porsche
. Likely someone in one of the only two service departments this car ever saw carelessly overfilled the reservoir. This resulted in a dark oily mess from Pentosin escaping the overflow/vent tube. Not having a path for this fluid to exit properly isn't exactly what I would describe as "German Precision Engineering". There should have been (or perhaps IS and I can't find it) a proper evacuation path for any excess fluid... like there is with the
battery
acid vent line, which exits under the car, behind the right front tire.
I looked and looked for a nipple to receive this steering reservoir overflow tube, thinking that there
MUST
be a proper exit path, like the battery acid has, but I cannot find anywhere it would go (and there is only so far to look, as the hose is relatively short)!
This stuff cooks on top of the block making a general sticky mess, and might also possibly cause confusion during an vehicle inspection, as it might be attributed to a more serious issue(blown engine gasket, or AOS leaking).
It is surprising to me that Porsche could have overlooked this, as they are typically fanatical with most everything else. A simple small plastic bottle (better would be an aluminum cigar tube)can be attached to the end of the vent line to capture any overflow without creating an oilydirt infused mess.
Does everyone's 987.1 have dirty Pentosin on the engine block top, and underside of the Resonance tube sleeve?
