Steering wheel movement.

[DarkMatter]

My car is a 1996 Griffith 500. In the six or seven years I've owned the car there has always been some up and down play in the steering wheel which seems to be related to the rake adjustment. There is no left/right movement, so I always assumed that the up/down play was a normal feature of the rake adjustment.

At last years MOT I was given an advisory regarding that play - it was a different MOT examiner to the ones who have previously tested my car so maybe he was just being over zealous (he also complained about the seat adjustment and rear number plate).

Does anyone else have similar up/down play on their car, or is anyone aware of any adjustment or repair that I can carry out to eliminate the play? The MOT is due again soon so I would like to attend to this potential problem beforehand.

On my car the play can by felt by gripping the top and pushing while gripping the lower edge and pulling (and vice versa).

Thanks.

[rigga]

On the basis that most of the column appears to be vauxhall as it uses the ignition lock barrel and switch gear, I'll say that years ago when I was in the trade working for said manufacturer, the adjustable columns on cavaliers and the like every now and then developed play as you describe, now the knuckle at the top of the column as I recall had a couple of bolts that worked loose that caused some play I do remember being able to access these bolts (one was difficult I think) and remove the play.

Also remember replacing columns due to not being fixable so this post might not be as helpful as you hoped

[TVR Beaver]

where it adjusts there has to be a joint in the shaft as said above... thats where I'd start.. sounds like its moveing on the splines?

[DarkMatter]

OK, thanks for you suggestions, any additional suggestions welcomed. In the meantime I'll remove the covers from the steering column to investigate.

[rigga]

Its been nearly 20 years since I did one, or had to look at one but all I can say is remove the cowlings and then emulate the movement and it should be pretty clear where its coming from, as I said if its the actual knuckle for the height adjustment there are bolts that may eliminate the movement, there is also a top bearing that sits in the housing for the indicator and wiper switches to click in to, that also may be a source and easy to replace.

[DarkMatter]

Hi rigga, do you think that if it is the top bearing then I'd expect to find the same amount of movement from side to side?

[rigga]

Depends on how the bearing sits in the plastic housing, id agree being round it should wear in all directions but does not mean it will ...... check anyway as replacing the housing with the bearing installed is a simple fix .... again I've replaced these in the past for movement at the steering wheel.

[DarkMatter]

I removed the steering column cowl today to have a closer look at the rake adjuster which appears to have some spring loaded metal teeth which lock together at the chosen position. I couldn't see anything loose that I could tighten. I usually have the steering rake set to the lowest position and there appears to be a small amount of play in the metal teeth, there is less play when the rake is set to the other positions.

So, when it comes to the next MOT I'll set the rake to a position where there is very little play and then remove the adjuster knob so the rake remains fixed in that position