924Board.org

[austinporsche]

Hi all.

I am working on my 1988 924S.

It has had an intermittent starting issue that could be resolved by joggling the key, but it finally stopped starting, so decided to dive into the ignition/steering lock mechanism to inspect and presumably replace the white ignition switch at the back of the key barrel.

I got all the way to removing the steering wheel spacer and removing the allen head pinch bolt, so the lock/ignition mechanism should now slide off of the steering shaft housing (right?)

I know these mechanisms can get "stuck" on the steering shaft housing:  I have a spare complete steering shaft housings (two actually) from a couple of 944s I've parted out.  Even with that shaft housing on the bench, it still took a couple of taps to the back of the steering lock-ignition mechanism with a hammer and dowel to get it to slide off.

Is the a trick here, maybe using a slide hammer or a pulley puller, to break it loose from the front?  Have I missed something else securing the mechanism to the shaft -- I read somewhere about a snap ring but there was no such thing on the two complete 994 steering shafts I have on the bench.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

[Eliza]

On my car, no "sliding off". I've had the lock assembly off of the steering shaft quite a few times over the last years, but I still need to give the assembly a few gentle taps before it comes off.

Do make certain your steering lock isn't engaged ( I put the key in, turn to run and then back and leave the key in the lock ).

I have a dedicated old, wide but short flat bladed screwdriver with a piece of rubber isolating the tip just for this purpose. I hold this against the rear of the assembly, as parallel to the steering shaft as possible, and gently tap on its end with a hammer.

Not sure if it's even supposed to slide off or if something is different in later cars ( mine's a late 1985). Just to hopefully reassure you a bit

Eliza
_________________
1985 924 NA RoW
1981 931 S2 RoW

[austinporsche]

Thanks for the reply. Beautiful city Utrecht.

Late '85? In US there were no 924s sold from 83-86, then we had two years of the 924S with the 2.5L motor. What motor does your late '85 have?

Yes key is in, turned it to start position, then let it spring back to run position. For, good measure, I even slid the steering wheel back on and turned it to make sure the lock was disengaged.

Encouraging in an odd way to know that your lock mechanism doesn't just slide easily off of the steering shaft tube easily as some have suggested, but rather requires some directed force to break it loose.

On my complete steering shaft assemblies I have on the bench, I was able to tap the mechanism from the back with a wooden dowel and hammer to break it loose from the steering shaft tube, but how do you get to the back side of the ignition-lock mechanism to tap it with a flathead and hammer with the steering shaft housing installed as there appears to be a bunch of stuff in the way, most prominently what appears to be the DME (I was wondering where that was on this car)?

I tried wrapping some strong climbing cord (kevlar core stuff) around the body of the lock-ignition mechanism and giving it a tug (avoiding any direct stress on the three tabs/ears) but no luck.

What do you think of wrapping some baling wire around the same place where the cord is now and giving it a tug or two with a slide hammer to break it loose?

[austinporsche]

So the body of the ignition-steering lock housing is moving freely on the steering shaft tube.

It appears that the issue is at the bearing which is pressed into the housing.

Here's a close-up pic of the bearing and shaft tube (how do you post an image?). It looks like there might be a some wax (Porsche loves using wax for corrosion protection) or even glue between the bearing inner race/sleeve and the steering shaft housing, and that might be what's holding it in.

Thoughts? Is there something there I need to chip or solvent off (with, say, a bit of acetone)? Or am I just hallucinating (it wouldn't be the first time I am seeing something incorrectly)?


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[austinporsche]

Got the housing out!

Turns out what I thought might be "glue or wax" in the picture was actually a thin plastic flanged sleeve that fits between the inner race of the bearing and the steering shaft to make it fit snug (which it does).  It sticks out a bit in the front giving the illusion (at least to me) that there was glue or wax holding it in.

I was actually able to finally loosen the ignition-steering lock housing from the shaft by fabricating an 11" long 1/8" diameter rod and weaved it under the dash at an angle around the DME (without having to remove it) to be able to tap on each side of the housing a bit from the rear in order to force it forward.  11" seemed to be perfect compromise length to allow me to use the same rod on the right and left side of the ignition-steering lock housing.  While I had the cordless grinder out (my favorite tool), I also ground a bit of a wedge onto one end of the rod to make it seat better against the housing body as you have to hit the rod at an angle rather than straight on (in order to get around the DME).

Your advice about using a long flathead screwdriver got me to thinking that maybe you could work something under the dash and around the DME just enough to get some purchase on the back of the housing. Didn't have a long screwdriver handy, ergo the fabricating of the rod to look like the end of a flathead screwdriver (FYI, I dipped the work end of the rod in a little plasti-dip to keep from scratching things).

A few taps from the rear on one side of the ignition-steering lock housing then a few more on the other to keep the bearing from binding on the shaft, then repeat, and after 4-5 cycles of that back and forth the housing finally came off the shaft.

While I am waiting for a new ignition switch, I was going to repack the steering bearing. Any suggestions as to a grease to use?

Thanks for the advice and moral support. Hope to be able to pay-it-forward someday to the forum.

[Eliza]

Well done you!

About my car, in Europe the 924 was made until late 1985. Mine must be one of the last, build date is nov 1985. It has quite a few of the add-ons that even early 944s didn't have, like the hatch opening switch next to the hood release.

BTW, I never thought of all the added stuff your 924s ( as a Motronic car ) has around the steering column - no such on mine. I simply lean forward while in the driver's seat and can get my screwdriver in place under the steering column. Glad you managed to get the assembly off after all

I use a reasonably viscous MoD2 grease for these applications, mainly because I have it on hand. Standard bearing grease should be fine though, I guess.

Yes, the moral support on this forum is invaluable! Glad I can pass on some of what I received when I first came here

Eliza
_________________
1985 924 NA RoW
1981 931 S2 RoW

[peterld]

Well done.
Now, ensure the white plastic collared sleeve is in good order and pliable. They become brittle and disintegrate, causing the steering to flop around and create a noise that would make you believe the front end is about to fall out.
The collar is cheap and available from Pelican, etc.

Secondly, the grey/black plastic sleeve with serrations on one end sits on the collar and spaces the steering wheel. Ensure the serrated end is to the wheel side. Many forums and blogs state the serrated side should sit on the collar, but this causes undue wear on the white plastic collar causing premature wear.
_________________
80/81 932/8 ROW

[austinporsche]

Got it, thanks for that. I assumed that the steering wheel spacer went on with the serrated end toward the key housing in order to be able to pry it off easier, but good to know that the serrated end is also designed/sized to accommodate the bit of the plastic sleeve that sticks out from the front of the bearing inner race.