Cayman Power Steering Lines Replacement

Somewhere in this car is a leaking hose. Let's find it and fix it!

Last week I wrote about an easy job of oil+filter change and tire rotation, so let's get into a more challenging job! About five years ago I bought a mid-engine 2009 year model car, and along the way it developed a power steering fluid leak. How do you diagnose this? Well, a few hints were that one day it made a groaning noise when I turned the steering wheel. Now what part of the car has anything to do with that? Several, but I eventually checked the power steering fluid level, and sure enough it was low! Easy solution, add fluid! No more noise! Hooray!

Two hoses, once covered in yuck. Here's the power steering line leak. 

Fast forward a few months, and the noise returned. AH HA! I'll check the fluid! Whoa, it's low AGAIN! Anyway, this process repeated itself, and sometimes there would be a SMALL drop of fluid on the floor under the car. Now, in a lot of cars, your power steering pump, reservoir, and all the steering lines are up front! EASY RIGHT? Probably. BUT, on a mid-engine car, oh no, it's not all located in one place, that would be too EASY! In this case the pump and reservoir are in the middle of the car behind the driver, the lines snake their way down, and then forward to the steering rack by the front axle. One line sends the high pressure fluid from the pump up to the rack, and then another line returns the fluid back to the reservoir. 

The green cap is where the PS fluid goes. It's a little tiny dipstick located behind the passenger seat and above the engine. 

Anyway, fast forward to this year, and one day when I pulled out of the garage there was a NOT SO SMALL puddle of fluid, so I figured it was time to find the leak, fix it, and live a happy life! At school I was able to research where all the lines were, and it was time to put the car up on the lift and get to work diagnosing where the leak was located. After removing a bunch of panels underneath (oh, here's a fun bit of trivia, Porsche uses two different TYPES of fasteners on all the panels under the car, both Torx and regular 10mm.) So, with the help of my instructors, one in the driver seat (up on the lift) turning the wheel with the car running, and two of us below looking for leaks, we found the spot where one of the lines had split and was spilling fluid. 

Power steering fluid

This was good to know, because there are several sections of lines. Pro Tip: This car has GREEN power steering fluid, so while usually if you saw green fluid under your car you might think it's coolant, or Slimer from Ghostbusters, or one of those aliens from Men in Black. In this case, green fluid is just power steering fluid. OK, finding the problem was still a beginner step, so I had to order new lines and then start learning how to remove and replace them. 

Screenshot from my online manual. 

This is where Google and You Tube also come in handy, although for the life of me I could not find a GREAT video showing all the steps of what I was about to do, with my specific model car. This became clear when I eventually downloaded a full repair manual, and saw that up to 2008 the Cayman had one kind of lines underneath that used normal 14mm or so wrenches to take apart, BUT, of course starting in 2009 with my car's year, oh man you needed a special Porsche Tool! That's another story, but I bought the special tool, still thinking I can do this way cheaper than at a dealership. 

Stay tuned for part two!

Just for fun I wanted to show this new dual drive socket set. From 6mm to 24mm with no skips, the sockets work on a regular square ratchet, or on this long 17mm ratchet. They were at a special student price, so I splurged and bought the MATCO version.