I just wanted to give my .02 about this subject, i have searched the board and read the write up, and wanted to state that in my situation and probably like many others, its not the column that is loose, its the tilt. i went all the way to tighten the 4 bolts like the write up said, which was already tight, but my tilt was still loose after half way assembling the column with the pivot pin seeded as i remember when taking it apart. But in my situation the 2 big pivot pins, were not seeded in tightly, must of came loose over time. as i was putting it back together, i lightly hammer them in tight and the loose tilt was gone.
i thought i just might pass this on cause it seems to come up often.
just make sure those pivot pins are in all the way cause they are thicker closer to the head of the pivot

 

The loose column problem is only a problem in pre airbag (82-89) cars. The 90-92 cars have the problem you mention (the pivot pins coming out or wollowing the hole they are in). And it seems like all the pins that come loose are on the left side....causing the wheel to pivot at the 7 o'clock position.

 

yep its the moving back and forth at 7 oclock position, now that the column is back together, its tighter, but still move a little and i would care, but i think the **** inspection in VA do care, cause it failed the first time at two different places. so can you get new pivot pin somewhere, like the dealer or just junkyards?

 

i just bought a 1988 gta with a loose column how much do i have to take off to get to the pins and screws also my horn does not work any ideas thx guys

 

In my '89 I couldn't even get the pins out!!!! I properly used and eventually broke the pivot pin remover from snap-on and neither would even budge!!!! I ended up going to the junkyard and grabbing a column out of an '87, disabled the vats, and now this one is loose!

I kept the old one, with the pivot pins wedged in... Can't really get a socket in there to tighten it, so I'm going to crank them the best I can with needle nose pliers and then tack weld them in place. Only thing I can think of to never have to do this again!

 

well to take the pins off, you basically have to take everything off and out, so it is a pain, but it just takes a little bit of time, you will have to rent a couple of tools from autozone, but once you start taking stuff apart, you should be able to fix your horn or diagnose your problem.

 

The horn on my '86 doesn't work either. When i switched my stock steering wheel for a Grant I lost the spring and plastic sleeve with a nub or pin that holds the lead for the horn in place. I had a problem passing inspection cause it wouldn't work and actually used plastic like from grocery sack and stuffed in all around where the lead goes in to make contact for the horn and that lasted long enough to pass inspection. That will work for a temporary fix to pass inspection but it doesn't last long enough as a fix for the problem. If you are missing these parts I would look for them at a junk yard. If all parts on there then I would check for slack that would allow the wire to lose connection. Again replacement parts from the junk yard would be in order.