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tilt steering column flops like a fish - pics for repairs

91K views 86 replies 47 participants last post by  manimal 
#1 ·
out of water.

I have taken it apart to where the pictures below show. Â Beyond that are the four bolts that go through the support assembly into the plate lock.
Now , I am kind of stumped. Â I can look through the bottom of the support assembly and see two of bolts, and sure enough, they are loose, Â But I can't get to them and still can't see the two on top.
(Hope this is making some sense). Â Never done this before.
Do I have to take the shaft  and the bearing housing assembly out also ?
To take out the bearing housing it says to use a pin pivot remover. Never seen or heard of one of those. Â Is there something that will subsitute?
Also, the four bolts are torx and require a female torx socket. Â Does anyone have a clue what size they are? Â Another tool I don't have.
Man, this has got my head spinning.
And as long as I'm in there, are there some things I should replace?

Thanks,,,,any help/info will be greatly appreciated. Â

chuck. Â (hope I don't have to be logged in somewhere for these pics to stay up)



 
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#3 ·
G
#4 ·
chazz said:
all right !! this place rocks.

gmule...you could get to all four of those bolts without removing the housing?
And out of all the sockets I own, I lost my 12 pt. 1/4" about a month ago.

Dodgeboys..I have gone up and down that "how-to" list and still cant find the how to. I'll try again.

Hey....THANKS guys.
later,
chuck
I could get 3 of the 4 the top right one I left alone
 
#7 ·
I decided to get the pivot pin remover tool so I could get all four of the bolts tightened. Amazing how the right tool makes it so much easier.

O'reillys had one..it was Kastar brand # 525 for $7.95.
Lisle also makes one..#19940..it's about $8.00 also.
and OTC makes one...they were from $17 to $20.

I got the Kastar and it worked great. took a couple of minutes to get both pins out.

In the pic below the pin remover is on the right.
On the left is what I used to get the lock plate retaining ring out.
Just a mending plate and a couple of 1/4 bolts. worked great.

so, if anyone else has to do this, maybe those part #'s will help.

 
#8 ·
BOGGER35 said:
pheonix827 just submited a HOWTO on this a week or so ago / it must not be posted yet
Still needs some editing. I know it's a LOT of info for what turns out to be a fairly simple job, there are a lot of little parts to keep track of. I KNOW I need to type up the re-assembly a bit more.
The pivot pins will just pull out with some finagling. When I did mine, I never even knew there was a special tool for it! lol I just cross threaded a sheetmetal screww tight enough to hold and pulled them out with a claw hammer. (*******, I know) ;D Once you get them out, relese the tilt adjuster and the whole top piece will come off,
Make sure you use lthread locker on the screws when you tighten the screws down or you WILL be doing it again! (and soon).
 
#10 ·
Lousy god-forsaken GM steering column! I did this to mine about a year ago. I "locktited" the inverted-torx bolts. Now my column is loose as hell again. I had a devil of a time doing this. Like an idiot, when I pulled the inverse-torx bolts out, l sat them on the dash, and knocked two of them down the defroster vents. I was not a happy camper. The prospect of having to do this again makes me wonder if I should also incorporate lock washers into the mix???

Jason
 
#13 ·
auto zone has a tool set for the "reverse torx head bolts" that has one socket that will fit the tilt column bolts. I think they refer to them as star head bolts, I recall they are for 3/8 drive, I welded the right size socket to a 1/4 drive socket, cheaper than snap on or matco,
the site from Dirt Devil was about best I've seen for directions.
 
#14 ·
DirtDevil said:
{wave} k guys here is the detailed fix looks i'm not the only lonely one kudos to this guys documentation{cool}{cool}
http://home.t-online.de/home/O_Scholz/steering.html
The link is dead now.
Does anyonne still have the how-to I sent in? I had completly forgotten about it!! Send it back to me with a list of whatever you need and I will see what I can do.
 
#17 ·
If you are far enough in to pull the ignition, you are almost in far enough to fix the problem. LOTS easier then swapping the column too!
 
#18 ·
I have made a new how to on this topic, and have a 13 page in depth procedure saved in a Word .doc format.

It is a good complete How-To with step by step instructions, and nice clear photos.

To whom do I send this for posting on RCC?

 
#20 ·
Nice job!! I just threaded whatever I had that fit into the pivot bolts and pryed them out. After about 1/4" they slide right out. This also works on many jeep and GM columns!
 
G
#24 ·
On this particular steering column there is only one elctricle function on the steering wheel it is the horn. The black circle in the middle is what makes the electrical connection possible. That piece lifts out. Below that the white piece of plastic is the turn signal cam. Remove the 2 screws that hole it to the column. You may want to unplug that at the bottom of the steering coulmn so that you can slide it up and out of the way.
 

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#25 ·
Once you have the horn ring and the turnsignal cam out of the way you will need to remove the ignition lockset. To do this press tab in the slot with a small screwdriver and pull on the lock it will slide out. You will need the key in the lock and turned to the on position.
 

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