When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
About a week ago, I posted an issue with a turn signal not staying on.
I bought the replacement parts, took everything apart, carefully removed the worn-out cam and put everything back together. When I was done, I took the car for a ride and the turn signal worked fine, but I thought the steering felt a little funny, like it was binding a little or not wanting to return.
I just took the wheel back off, all the way down to the pressure plate (but no further). Everything looked fine, so I carefully put it all back together. Without the car running but with the wheel unlocked, I was turning it back and forth and noticed a definite issue. When I turn the wheel to the left, there is no noise and the wheel moves freely both ways. But when I turn it to the right, I can hear something rubbing and if you turn it about 10-15 degrees, it wants to stick and not go back to center. Something is definitely not right, but I have no idea what.
The only thing I can think of is the black plastic cover that snaps in over the pressure plate; if that isn't snapped in all the way, could that be causing my issue? Other than that, I'm not sure what else to check/look for. Can the plate itself be hitting or binding on something?
Re: Steering wheel is binding - what did I screw up?
Thank you for the diagram. What I was calling the pressure plate (no idea why I was calling it that...maybe because you have to put pressure on it to take it off???) is actually the shaft lock, #4 above. It's only held on by a retaining ring, I don't know if I could have put that on incorrectly or not???
The plastic cover I was talking about isn't on the diagram, but it snaps on over the shaft lock.
Re: Steering wheel is binding - what did I screw up?
Right: the cover is there to defeat the method of defeating the steering lock on earlier versions of that column design dating back to the 60s, where you could basically "card" the steering wheel lock through the crack between the wheel and the housing.
Re: Steering wheel is binding - what did I screw up?
Well, I found the problem; I'm just not sure how to fix it. Wait - that's not true. I know what the fix is, I'm just not sure how to not do it again.
It turns out that when I originally tried to fix it a year+ ago, I bent the lock plate; some of the tabs or fingers are pressed down and rubbing on the plastic housing where the button that locks the column is. You can see that the plastic is really worn down, and parts of some of the fingers are shiny. When I took it apart this last time, I must have made it worse, to the point that I now notice it.
I believe what caused this issue is the lock plate presser that I've been using. Its not something I rigged up, but an actual lock plate tool made for this. The problem with it is, it sits really wide, near the end of the plate and puts a lot of pressure on the outer edge, causing it to bend. I can straighten the plate or replace the plate, but the minute I go to put it back in, its going to bend again if I use this same tool. If I don't use it, I'm not sure how to press the lock plate in far enough to get the clip on. Ideas?
Re: Steering wheel is binding - what did I screw up?
you need to assess were the tool is working incorrectly and fix it.
if it is pushing too much,remove material in that area with a lathe dremel etc and keep testing the part on the tool
so you do not remove too much material.we all need to custom make or modify tools from time to time.
i am only envisioning it in my mind so go at it carefully and take your time doing it right.
08-17-2015, 07:38 PM
