ynk1121

Edit: I'm trying to remove the steering column now. I have the bolt out under the hood under the brake booster, 2 under the dash, and the 2 at the firewall, and still won't come out. What am I missing?

SELLC

Never seen one quite elongated like that on the bolt holes!

I guess the only option would be to release whatever collar holds that shaft down below and pull it thru.

Too bad them bolt holes are elongated or you could be just about ready to put it back together!

If you don't mind me asking, how many miles did it take for that to happen? It must have been really loose!

ynk1121

95 with 65k miles. It looks the way it does because the bolts were loose and it was moving around. There are two separate issues with GM tilt steering columns of this era. The 4 bolts holding that lower housing rattle themselves loose. GM apparently never heard of Loctite because there was none on the bolts. The other issue is the pivot pins (3 o'clock and 9 o'clock on the housing in the pic) elongate. I pulled the left pivot pin out by hand and unscrewed all the screws by hand. It sucks that I got this far and I'm stuck. The only way I can see to remove this is by dropping the column and I can't drop the column because I can't get the damn bolt loose under the brake booster.

antfarmer2

There is a easy fix for this and most times you just replace the left bolt. If memory serves me right it is a $50 oversized bolt.

Found it look below even cheaper.

antfarmer2

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com/GM/Pins/

TA

Damn, I wish I would have found this link before I spent $50 for the Haibeck piece.

ynk1121

Thanks but it is beyond that fixing it. The screws holding the housing were coming out.

antfarmer2

Soak it with PB blaster and hit the grove with wedge or a chisel you must remove the bolt it is in a notch holding it.

Once it is fixed find another way in and out not using the steering wheel.

ynk1121

Got the column out! For future reference in case someone else has this issue, the gas pedal is on top of the steer column plate. That's what was holding it.

Next question: how the hell do I get the shaft out of the column?

antfarmer2

I believe there is a good sticky with pics on this.

ynk1121

Took practically the entire day... I got the old part out, put the 4 screws in for the new part, I go to reassemble it and NOPE! Can't get it back together. I hold the new and old part up to each other and the new one is like a 16th of an inch bigger. That's why it's fighting me. It was a tight fit with the original so there's no room for a bigger one.

New one at the top. Old one at the bottom.

ynk1121

Well, I ended up sanding the new one down because it looked the same otherwise and plus it's a discontinued part and that was the last one they had. I assemble it. Everything looks to be going great. I put the column back in the car. I test everything. All the electrical (wipers, signal, hazards, etc.) works. Last step I go to put the steering wheel on and.....



It's like those two spring loaded things that grab at the bars can't fully grab them. I don't know if they gave me the wrong part or what is going on. I can feel and hear the bars bouncing over the notches as I tilt it. I'm wondering if the bars are spaced wrong or are the wrong thickness.... Has anyone dealt with this before?

ynk1121

Special thanks to kg4fku for this scan.

My original issue was GM failed to put loctite on the screws 61. Also 62 is connected to 46 with nothing but pivot pins 39. The hole in 62 that the left pin went into elongated from wear which caused more play.

My current issue is 34 and 35 don't seem to be grabbing onto the bars inside 62 very well.

PatternDayTrader

You just replaced part #62 didn't you. I believe you also said it didn't fit properly, at least initially. Unfortunately I suspect your new part is wrong enough that's its not going to work. Hopefully not, but that's what it looks like from over here on my keyboard ....

antfarmer2

My guess is you're not the first one in there. I worked at G.M. for over 30 years. I have never seen any assembler use any locktigh. If it was to be used it came on the bolt from the manufacture.

ynk1121

Yep. That's exactly what I'm fearing. I'm hoping for a miracle that someone on here has an easy answer to this that doesn't involve me taking it all apart yet again.

Fastnail

I tried to repair the column in my 96 with parts from an 88 and discovered that the part #62 is different depending on the year of the column. Can you verify from the vendor that they provided the correct part for your year column? You may be able to change #34 & #35 to match to correct the problem. I ended up having to take my part to a local machine shop and have new pins fabricated and the part reamed to accept them. I found out about the oversized pins that were available after doing that. Good luck with it.

Cheers