2001 with 18,000 miles - driving today I developed 1/4 to 1/2 inch play in the steering wheel. What could be causing it?

 

The first thing to check would be the lower steering coupling bolt.



It should be torqued to 25 ft/lbs.

 

100% on the mark! MARK!

First point of failure!!!

BC

 

Thanks! It worked. Was surprised how little I had to turn it to get it tight.

 

Glad to help

 

Hi guys, I know the original thread is quite old but it was a perfect find for what I suspect my problem is. Just had a new cam installed so the steering rack was removed to allow for the install. The guys marked all the parts to ensure things went back correctly. Once I got the car back after the cam install I notice a little play in the steering wheel which landed me here.

I can actually see the lower steering coupler clamp moving a bit on the steering rack stud when the steering wheel is moved slightly from side to side.

Sure looks like I need to tighten the coupler bolt some more but wanted to confirm that what I am seeing should not be happening, that is, that the coupler clamp should not be moving on the steering rack stud.

Question, where is it best to tighten this from, the top or should I be removing the wheel to get better access, not sure if that is possible or not.

Thanks in advance

Bruce

 

No there should be no movement between those two components. If you see movement then you need to tighten it up. Best way to do that is from the top. Turn your steering until that bolt faces up and use a ratchet and proper extension. Make sure you use a proper torque wrench.

 

Even though its 5 years old, MarkC5 hit the nail on the head. That's the exact bolt one needs to tighten when you have play in the wheel. I had a cam install done a couple years back and over the next few days I couldn't help but notice the play I had in the steering that was not there before the install. I believe when the steering rack was placed back in the car, that bolt was not tight enough. I managed to get a quarter turn on it and BINGO no more wheel play!!

 

Hi Guys, here's my situation .. if my bolt is torqued anymore there is a real good chance it snaps. I still have that slight bit of play, here's what I'm thinking of doing so I don't chance snapping the bolt.

I'm thinking maybe the fellas pryed it apart slightly when removing the coupler from the rack shaft after they removed the bolt, which makes perfect sense since it was probably on there for 15 years. When they put the coupler back on, they simply placed it back and when using the bolt to pinch the clamp back, there just isn't enough to snug it right up before the bolt bottoms out sort of speak.

So, I'm thinking to remove the bolt completely and then use a small C clamp to pinch the coupler clamp a little bit to snug it against the shaft. Then I install the bolt back in to keep everything honest. I read that the torque spec is 25 foot pounds which is really next to nothing, just enough to keep things in check.

What do we think ... ?

Thx

Bruce

 

Make sure that there isn't anything between the PINCH JOINT that would keep it from PINCHING down on the shaft.

Bill

 

Mine was already tight as hell which scared me when I tried to tighten it, but the small amount of turn I got fixed the problem.(shrugs)

 

Quick Update ... Success !! .. although not without some panic. Started to loosen the bolt and it was tough, all of a sudden it broke loose. However, the bolt was not unthreading from what I could see. Put my finger underneath and could feel that the nut was actually turning. Thought ok, I didn't strip anything but thought maybe that nut shouldn't be moving. It loosened enough that I could easily move the coupler around on the shaft. After re positioning it, it seemed to naturally sit a little further back on the shaft (towards the firewall side), maybe an 1/8 of an inch.

Had to use a stubby open wrench to hold that nut on the bottom while turning the bolt from the top, not easy for one person but was able to get enough leverage while holding the bottom nut to snug it up, gave it a few more turns to ensure it was snug and things were good.

Went for a spin and all is well .. I'm guessing when the guys repositioned things, it wasn't sitting properly on the shaft.Looking at some closeup pictures of the steering column coupler from Ebay it looks like that nut is fastened somewhat to the bottom of that C clamp which probably under normal circumstances will hold when torqueing things to that 25 foot pounds but I can assure you, I had to use more than 25 foot pounds to loosen and retighten that thing. Looks like if you happen to snap that bolt you could just buy another bolt and nut to use since it looks like the bolt only threads into that nut and not the C clamp piece.

Anyhow .. just wanted to share my experience


Thx Again !!!

 

We have a great group here, thanks to everyone!

 

THANKS for the up-date and thread closure!!