Wobbly Steering Column

[s1.5f]

After reading Roys guide had a quick look at my setup had a bit of a surprise! The steering wheel has felt very loose since I got the car and the guy at Offord had said the bearing was loose. HOWEVER when I look under the dash the movement is coming from a 'pivot point' where the triangular section of column goes into the round section... is this right surely this is welded or an interference fit! Can't find anything in the bible.

[shpub]

It's an sliding/interference fit so that the column will push back in the result of an impact.

[M@H]

If you put a small jubilee clip or two around it and tightened it up to clamp it together a bit harder, you could probably take quite a bit of the play out of the joint without removing the colapsability of the column in the event of an accident... just a thought.

Cheers
Matt.

[peter m]

You could try squashing it together with a large pair of mole grips to take out the slack, and I am sure that the joint would still slide in the event of an impact (pray that never happens).

[s1.5f]

shpub said:

It's an sliding/interference fit so that the column will push back in the result of an impact.

Is there a known issue with it being loose as it makes my steering very rickity feeling! Anyone else got/had this problem?

[Le TVR]

Never heard of this one before.
I would guess that you could get some shim material and slide this up each side of the triangle and get rid of any play (and keep the possibility for the column to collapse in an accident)?

[keesiev]

I've got the same problem, but not yet very disturbing on my s3.
You can easily solve it by replacing the nylon joint which keeps the 2 parts in place. The old one is probably worn out.

Regards,
Kees

[s1.5f]

Affected the most glorious temporary bodged repair the weekend. Was going to do the job properly but the wires to the igniton barrel have been soldered directly so i couldn't remove the column. Instead I used a blade from my feeler gauge as a metal shim and taped the gauge to the column . Made a hellova difference to the steering feel though!

[RichardR]

s1.5f said:

Instead I used a blade from my feeler gauge as a metal shim and taped the gauge to the column .

Nice!

[M@H]

s1.5f said:

Instead I used a blade from my feeler gauge as a metal shim and taped the gauge to the column .

You'll have fun setting your spark plug gaps now then...

[s1.5f]

keesiev said:

I've got the same problem, but not yet very disturbing on my s3. You can easily solve it by replacing the nylon joint which keeps the 2 parts in place. The old one is probably worn out. Regards, Kees

Finally rewired my ignition switch, pulled out the column and yes there is a nylon bush that has disintigrated - any ideas where the steering column originated from or where the nylon bush can be sourced

Simon

[trickster]

I had exactly the same problem with my S1. I took out the whole assembly and found that the outer column tube is crimped into a triangle at two points along its length. The inner triangular column which is a tight fit in the plastic guide of the outer coulmn is suppose to pick up on both crimped areas. This is how Ford intended it, but I think in the S, TVR pulled the inner column out a bit to extend its length.

I took mine apart and found that the inner column was only picking up on the second cripmed area at the bottom of the outer column. This is fine to start with but after a while the plastic guide wears as the inner column is only supported at one point instaed of two. It tends to pivot around this point as shown in the photo.

I got another column from a scrapyard (it has to be from a Ford Sierra Estate without the column height adjustment). This one was fine with no wear and the inner column was located a lot further up inside the outer column than it is on the S.

I put the new assembly into my S, but extended the length of the inner column by welding on a couple of inches of the old column. It now picks up on both crimped areas of the outer column. (If you are extending the inner column make sure the bit that is welded on is the bit that goes up inside the outer column and not the other way around - otherwise you could be transmitting your steering through a welded joint to the first UJ - not a good idea if the weld is not upto scratch. Also make sure you only extend it my the minimum amount, otherwise the lengh by which the column could collapse in the event of a crash would be reduced.)

Hope that sort of makes sense!!

[s1.5f]

Thanks trickster I'll check out the length on mine, basically though you are saying the column and therefore the plastic guide are stock Sierra?

[trickster]

Well looking at all the sierras in the scapyard the only ones with a similar column were the estate versions. The normal saloons appear to have a different version with height adjustment.