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Telescopic steering column - advice needed!

Nick Farrow

Nick Farrow

Donation Time
Hi guys,

The central locking ‘nut’ on my steering wheel does not move at all in either direction, thus my steering wheel can be moved up and down. Does anyone know what might be wrong with it?

Cheers!
 
Rodewaryer

Rodewaryer

Donation Time
By up and down you mean the telescopic action is unchecked? The wheel freely moves toward and away from the dash?

If so my guess is that something in that over engineered telescopic system has failed and the nut no longer locks it in place. Maybe it was over torqued once upon a time?
 
M

mikephillips

Donation Time
If it won't turn counterclockwise by hand, no matter how hard you try the first thing I'd suggest is popping the center cap off and removing the bolt holding the plastic piece on. Then pop it off and take a look inside to be sure the bits and pieces are ok. You can also get a wrench on the coupling for the centercap at that point for a bit more leverage. Unless the parts are damaged, or someone epoxied/glued it in one position that should free it up.

Now if the cap turns and the wheel doesn't move, then give the cap a wack with the palm of your hand once loose, since the internal rod can get stuck and sometimes needs a bit of persuation to move down the inside of the column.

Those things don't do it, well you'll need to start looking at the internal parts and possibly remove the horn ring and more.
 
am99ey

am99ey

Gold Level Sponsor
I had this some years ago (30+).
IIRC , left turn 2 or 3 turns and tapping with the palm (moderate to strong; like honking for a donkey on the road..)
good luck
Andy

btw , Alpine V
 
Nick Farrow

Nick Farrow

Donation Time
Sorry...I was busy at work when I posted earlier and didn't get a chance to give all the details.

The steering wheel is free to move up and down (towards the dash/towards the driver). The centre cap doesn't turn at all. I have already taken off the centre cap completely and have tried to get a spanner (7/16" I think it was) on the '0' shaped centre piece, which still doesn't turn. I haven't tried striking it (it didn't occur to me, even though it's a similar idea which you might employ on a bicycle), but I might give it a go.

At the end of the day it doesn't bother me that much as I'm over 6ft tall and would always have the wheel set at the lowest point, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I like things to work how they should!
 
M

mikephillips

Donation Time
The center coupling itself, which the center cap attaches to, is threaded onto a rod that runs down the center of the column. That rod should move in and out as the coupling and cap are turned right or left to lock or unlock the column. That's the only thing the coupling should attach to so my guess is it's rusted or otherwise stuck on the rod. Try putting som penetrating oil down the hole for the cap attaching bolt as I recall it goes all the way through the coupling. you can also remove the horn ring to see if anythings been done to the steering wheel end that might be a cause.
 
Nick Farrow

Nick Farrow

Donation Time
OK, I've had another go at this; I've tried tapping with a hammer and I've tried the spanner again with more force this time, but no joy. The shaft does turn back and forth slightly (maybe 5-10 degrees in each direction) and you can see the 'shaft' that runs in the centre doesn't move when this happens. It's sounds like I have a major issue....
 
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