Does anybody know if the part

activator gear
Is supposed to fit loose in the upper shaft housing assy?
Mine rocks back and forth and it will not catch on the shaft lock bolt. I am wondering if the upper shaft housing assy is worn where the gear goes through to attach to the shaft.

anybody have any ideas. these are all new gears and bearing.
Car is also a 75 with tilt and telescoping wheel.
thanks
Larry

 

Your Activator Gear link takes me to a place that I cannot access. Please look at the following T&T blowup and try and describe the parts that are loose.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TCol...cRev03FE04.doc

Also, these pictures may be easier to use to describe your problem.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/T&TDisasmPage2.doc

JIML82

 

Hi Jim
It is where the sector gear goes it to the upper housing. it is real loose where it meets at the housing and the lock plate bolt just slips past the sector gear.
Thanks Larry

 

One end of the plastic Sector #34 should be a press fit on the Drive Shaft #26. (There may be a snap ring on the end of the Drive Shaft as well.) The other end of the Drive Shaft engages the ignition Lock Cylinder. If the Drive Shaft is sloppy in the Housing (#24). You will most likely have to replace the Housing. I cannot find any typical Corvette supplier that sells the Housing. A place like Columns Galore in New York (www.columnsgalore.com) may have one - for a price. If you can find any 1969 or later GM T&T column with a round head (like yours) the Housing would be the same.

Hopefully, your problem is just that the plastic Sector is loose on the Drive Shaft. The good news is that the Sector is available. The bad news is that it is included in a kit. I found the kit at Zip Products here on the Forum (SC-432). It has the sector, the rack, spring, and bearings. You might just as well replace most or all of your column parts with the parts from the kit if you need a new Sector.

If you need assistance in disassembling and repairing your steering column there are several papers that I have authored in the Steering section at www.corvettefaq.com

Also, more help is available through posting on this forum.

Good luck,

Jim Shea

 

thanks Jim But I replaced the sector and the rack and bearings. they are all new from my chevy dealer. So now I need to find a housing it sounds like.

Thanks Larry

 

Larry,
I just haven't heard of a problem like the one you are describing. I wouldn't have thought that the drive shaft would have enough side force to wear into the housing. Particularly such that the sector could disengage from the lock bolt. I don't know if you have access to a machine shop. I wonder if the worn drive shaft hole in the housing could be bored out and a bushing inserted to support the drive shaft. It might be cheaper to fix your current housing compared to trying to find and purchase a donor column.

Jim

 

There is a lot of slack in the opening. I thought about talking to a machine shop about making a sleeve to fit the housing.

Now this is what the key is doing. It works fine but when you turn the key to the off pos and try to take the key out, it won't come out, so if you turn it really hard to the off pos and pull on the key it will come out. I tried 3 different Key Locksets and none made any difference, GM set was the worst. So I remove all and replaced the sector gear, bearings and the switch rack, plus cleaned and regreased everything. Nothing helps, until I saw that the sector gear was wobbling a little to much.

Thanks Larry

 

Ttt

 

Larry,
This morning I talked to a UAW skilled trades retiree who used to build our prototype steering columns at Saginaw. A couple more thoughts. Some may be fairly basic but here they are anyway.

Problems with removing your ignition key:
1. Do you have the lower lever on the steering column all the way in the UP position when you try and remove your ignition key? The steering column/transmission interlock cable should be pushing the lever to the UP position when your automatic trans is in PARK or your manual shift transmission is in REVERSE gear. If the column is out of the car, looking down the column at the lever from the steering wheel end, it should be all the way UP in the fully counterclockwise position.

2. Are you sure that your ignition switch is adjusted correctly? Here are the instructions for a T&T column:
Loosen and remove the ignition switch from the column. Take the ignition switch and move the internal slider all the way to the right to the ACCESSORY position. In the START position you should be able to feel a spring pushing the slider back. You want to be at the opposite end of travel to be in the ACCESSORY position. Now move the slider two detents to the left to the OFF-UNLOCK position.

It is now necessary to place the lock cylinder in the OFF-UNLOCK position. Reach down and place the steering column lever in the all the way DOWN position (all the way clockwise viewed from the steering wheel end). Now rotate the lock cylinder all the way counterclockwise until it stops. This will be the OFF-UNLOCK position.

Fit the actuator rod into the slider hole in the switch and assemble it to the steering column with the two screws. Lightly push the switch down the column (away from the steering wheel end) to take out lash in the actuator rod. Tighten the two screws. Make sure that you don't accidently move the switch out of the OFF-UNLOCK position while installing it.

Problem with your sector
1. The die cast rack in your steering column should have a small leaf spring #36 that pushes the rack up into the sector. Is the leaf spring in place?

Hope these ideas help,
Jim Shea