Does anyone have a picture of a tilt pin tool. Apperantly it's a tool necessary to get to the torx screws that loosen on a tilt steering column.

 

i just did one of them on my frinds grand am.i used a couple of inch long machins screws and a claw hammer. to take them out

 

I read the tech post on fixing it. I stripped it down as far as I can go without this tool. You can't even see the screws.

 

all thats left is a metal collar and a plasic nuckle right. are there threads in the pins?

 

i think the tool your talking about is called a "Steering Column Pivot Pin Remover "

http://www.toolsource.com/ost/produc...BQ49768EW2BPB8

they don't last long, i have trashed 5 or 6 of them, what i have used for years now is a long all threaded allen headed bolt of the right thread pitch that fits the pins, a nut that matches the threads on the bolt, a washer, & a cheap 1/4 inch drive socket with a small area ground off in 1 spot on the bottom of it & it does the same as the tool but it lasts longer than the tool will.

 

Yeah, thats the tool. Are the pins the two small holes on the bottom of the cylinder?. One of them has threads, and the other has a small pin that protrudes to a point so that it does not expose threads.

 

There's a good chance that you already have the tool. You just don't recognize it for what it is:

 

Ok, I recognize where the pivot pins are. However, On one of the pins there is a small metal insert just barely protruding from the pivot pin threads. It does not allow me to get the bolt onto the thread. I'm wondering if this column has been apart before and there is a broken pin tool inside.

 

that's what the store bought tool does & why i will never use them again.
the pic Vader put up is what i use except i use an allen head bolt as they are some what stronger than a regular screw.

if you can't remove the broken piece of bolt from the pivot pin, you will have to drive it out with a long skinny punch from the inside. the punch will be at an angle so you need to go slow so you don't damage the hole the pivot goes in. once you get the pivot out some you should be able to pull it out with some vise grips.
as far as i know, you can't buy just the pivots from the dealer, you have to get the bowl to get them.

 

So, I would have to pull one side out and then punch the other through the hole left by the removed pivot pin? I went to a local wrecker and tried the "home made" pin remover on a column. I used the 8/32 bolt and nut witha 1/2" socket as a spacer. It would have worked but the 1/2" socket is not wide enough so when I went to pull the pin I was turning the bolt but the socket was not wide enough to clear the pin, so all I was doing was stripping the bolt. I got a good understanding as to what to do next. It looks harder than it really is.

 

there is a joint in the way so you can't go through 1 pin hole to get to the other 1. you get to it from the bottom side, tilt the column all the way up & kneel down outside the car then lean in the car & look at the column from the bottom, you should be able to see the pivot pins, you need to punch out the pin with the broken bolt first so it doesn't get bound up.

 

Mistake I made when doing that was leaving the pivot spring in....

made it a real pain to take it out, bent, stripped 2 bolts...

was easy enough without the spring in...