steering column S3C

[nigegas]

Hi all doinng some checks on the S today and noticed there is a fair bit of movement up and down and side to side holding the steering wheel, it seems to be at the lower end of the column shaft before it goes into the bulk head
bearing, the bearing was replaced last year so i dont think this is the problem and the mot is the at end of the week so im thinking i may need a replacement column what do u guys think
thanks nigel.

[v8s4me]

Check the two bolts which hold the upper steering column to the steel cross piece under the dash. If they are loose you’ll get quite a lot of movement.

[Griffinr]

Check the plastic bush that locates the steering column shaft in the lower bearing these are triangular on the inside and wear and sometimes slide out of the bearing if they are not fitted right.
Rob.

[nigegas]

Hi guys and thanks for the above info i have checked all of these things and there all ok, it seems the problem is where the lower triangular part of the column shaft meets the steering column if u see what i mean this is where all the movement is coming from is there some kind of bush fitted in here ? as the bulk head bush is fine any ideas nige.

[phillpot]

nigegas said:

it seems the problem is where the lower triangular part of the column shaft meets the steering column if u see what i mean this is where all the movement is coming from is there some kind of bush fitted in here ? deas nige.

The triangular part is held into the round part at two places, A. There should be absolutely no movement between the two parts.

There is a (nylon?) bush visible, B

The triangular part sticks out 192mm. HTH

[nigegas]

Thanks for that phillpot thats the info ive been looking for im taking the column out tomorrow so i can have a good look at whats going on cheers nige.

[Gerald-TVR]

The things you forgot you had!!!!!!

Info from an old post

Steering Column Bushes

I have just received a pair of brand new upper and lower Steering Column Head Bearings. I went to my local Ford Dealer with my woes and they have delivered. I located the parts on their spares system by using the part number from the steering column shaft, they are from the MkII Sierra. They had to be put on special order, and paid for up front (£21 inc VAT). After convincing myself they would not be the right ones, well they are spot on. The ones that I needed to replace are highlighted on the following picture.



Item Pt No Price
Upper Bearing F1583755 £9.66 + VAT
Lower Bearing F6118528 £9.13 + VAT

[v8s4me]

Do you happen to know if the lower bushes shown as 7 & 8 and 20 & 21 Sierra parts as well?

[tvrgit]

Gerald-TVR said:

The things you forgot you had!!!!!!

Info from an old post

Steering Column Bushes

I have just received a pair of brand new upper and lower Steering Column Head Bearings. I went to my local Ford Dealer with my woes and they have delivered. I located the parts on their spares system by using the part number from the steering column shaft, they are from the MkII Sierra. They had to be put on special order, and paid for up front (£21 inc VAT). After convincing myself they would not be the right ones, well they are spot on. The ones that I needed to replace are highlighted on the following picture.



Item Pt No Price
Upper Bearing F1583755 £9.66 + VAT
Lower Bearing F6118528 £9.13 + VAT

[obi-wan mode]
Those are not the bearings the OP is looking for
[/obi-wan mode]
But don't tell me, you just happen to have a pair at a reasonable price?

Well those might be shot as well, but the plastic bush Phillpot was talking about is half-way down part no 6 in that diagram - it's shown as a single part but the lower triangular bit slides up into the top bit (something to do with "telescoping" in frontal impacts), and there's a plastic triangular busy where they join. That can come loose, and then the triangular section can wobble about a tiny bit - or the bush can slide down the shaft and then it wobbles around a lot, and doesn't turn corners very well at all.

Mine did, and I took the column out, pulled out the bush, "dinged" the three "flats" on the bottom of the column in a wee bit with a carefully-chosen hammer and drift, until the bush fitted properly again. There was no wear on either part, it had just come loose.

And V8S4me, yes those are Sierra parts as well.

[Harry1972M]

Nigel I have a spare column as sadly I don't have my S any more as I moved to the dark side (Chim) - You are more than welcome to it for comparison/ replacement for the price of postage.
Cheers
Graham

Edited by Harry1972M on Thursday 7th March 07:17

[Gerald-TVR]

tvrgit said:

But don't tell me, you just happen to have a pair at a reasonable price?

Nope just the few last bits which are listed in the classifieds

[nigegas]

Harry1972M said:

Nigel I have a spare column as sadly I don't have my S any more as I moved to the dark side (Chim) - You are more than welcome to it for comparison/ replacement for the price of postage.
Cheers
Graham
Hi graham that would be great thank u i have sent u a email with my details
many thanks nigel.

Edited by Harry1972M on Thursday 7th March 07:17

[AutoAndy]

Just replaced mine and noticed that the surround (New one in silver) has a different hole number and PCD to my existing one (black). - Mine is from a S3C and i understood the part was for a "later" car.



...is it just me...?

Or have I got a miss-made bit?

Note the I/D was OK and so I put the new bearing and plastic thingy into the old surround and used that.

[GadgeS3C]

I'm sure the one I fitted had 5 holes - certainly didn't have to do any drilling.