How hard could it be?
Moderator: martauto
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Stevieabz
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 557
- Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:00 pm
I have a 1987 325i Sport with no power steering. I have a complete power steering set from a donor 325i in my garage. I'm no mechanic but have good tool's at my disposal. How hard could it be? Does any know of any good guides or websites with good power steering conversion info on. Perhaps if someone want's to come help me / learn with me, I'm located in Cambridgeshire and would be up for that. I'm after any help of any kind really. Cheers.
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49360
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Just a matter of making your existing car look like the bits in the donor car.
Don't be afraid to bend the lower tabs on the subframe down a little to get the racks in and out past the sump. The lower tab is much weaker by design than the top one, and will pull back into place when the bolts are tightened.
The hose clips on the reservoir bottle are non adjustable, and will be leaking. Cut them off and replace with good quality, heavy duty jubilee type clips.
The sealing (crush) washers on the banjo connections to the rack and pump are supposed to be single use, so should be replaced, although the low pressure ones on the pipes that go to the bottle are likely to be OK.
You need to change the link between the rack and steering column, as the power one is shorter.
Check that the flexible disc in this link is in good order, and buy a new one with matching special bolts if it isn't.
A screwdriver driven slightly into the 'pinch' gap of the joints on the link where they slide onto the splines will make them easier to slide off.
When you've finished, bleeding the system is achieved by turning the steering from full lock to full lock a couple of times. The system will still be noisy until all the air bubbles in the bottle disperse.
Fluid should be clear and cherry red. If it's not, it's been contaminated by old fluid that was still in the rack, so drain it down and refill again. Dextron III's cheap enough!
Front tracking will need to be checked and adjusted.
Don't be afraid to bend the lower tabs on the subframe down a little to get the racks in and out past the sump. The lower tab is much weaker by design than the top one, and will pull back into place when the bolts are tightened.
The hose clips on the reservoir bottle are non adjustable, and will be leaking. Cut them off and replace with good quality, heavy duty jubilee type clips.
The sealing (crush) washers on the banjo connections to the rack and pump are supposed to be single use, so should be replaced, although the low pressure ones on the pipes that go to the bottle are likely to be OK.
You need to change the link between the rack and steering column, as the power one is shorter.
Check that the flexible disc in this link is in good order, and buy a new one with matching special bolts if it isn't.
A screwdriver driven slightly into the 'pinch' gap of the joints on the link where they slide onto the splines will make them easier to slide off.
When you've finished, bleeding the system is achieved by turning the steering from full lock to full lock a couple of times. The system will still be noisy until all the air bubbles in the bottle disperse.
Fluid should be clear and cherry red. If it's not, it's been contaminated by old fluid that was still in the rack, so drain it down and refill again. Dextron III's cheap enough!
Front tracking will need to be checked and adjusted.
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Stevieabz
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 557
- Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:00 pm
Thanks man, really good advice. Thing is I don't have the donor car or ever did have the donor car to look at. I got the whole set up sent to me after it had been striped out.