Steering column bushing gone bad.

[88KPH]

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George

Haha, ok. I copied and pasted my post........

"Had ago at this today.
Now tried and tested wisdom says there are two ways of fitting these.......
1, Cut Bush in half and shove it in around column.
Or
2, Remove complete steering column, as stated in the workshop manual.

Neither of which appealed to me. So looking for a short cut that gave me a complete steering bush.

Here's what I did.

1, loosen top steering knuckle under bonnet. Remove bolt completely.

2, loosen tilt adjustment under dash.

3, give steering wheel a good yank and intermediate shaft will fall off. Column will just about pull through column Bush.

4, push old Bush out (into car) . Grease and Fit new Bush from the inside of car. I used a 25mm square piece of wood, about a foot long, and hammered it in.

5, Refit in reverse. Making sure column is inserted far enough. I used self-grippers to ensure adjustable column was pulled back out......."

[Bitsyncmaster]

Haha, ok. I copied and pasted my post........

"Had ago at this today.
Now tried and tested wisdom says there are two ways of fitting these.......
1, Cut Bush in half and shove it in around column.
Or
2, Remove complete steering column, as stated in the workshop manual.

Neither of which appealed to me. So looking for a short cut that gave me a complete steering bush.

Here's what I did.

1, loosen top steering knuckle under bonnet. Remove bolt completely.

2, loosen tilt adjustment under dash.

3, give steering wheel a good yank and intermediate shaft will fall off. Column will just about pull through column Bush.

4, push old Bush out (into car) . Grease and Fit new Bush from the inside of car. I used a 25mm square piece of wood, about a foot long, and hammered it in.

5, Refit in reverse. Making sure column is inserted far enough. I used self-grippers to ensure adjustable column was pulled back out......."

A lot depends on how tight your column center shaft is to sliding on the upper column. Also depends on how tight the splines are on the upper "U" joint. But your way is the least amount of work if you can get that center shaft sliding the way you want it to.

When I pulled my steering wheel, the center column probably slid out 6 or more inches before it released from the upper U joint. So you would want to have your steering wheel adjusted all the way in first, then somehow clamp the center shaft to the column then pull the steering wheel (to end of it's normal adjustment) after you removed the locking bolt off the U joint.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Do any of you remember if your steering shaft was turned like mine?

Here is a photo of the steering shaft. The shaft has been turned on a lathe for a length of 3.45" from the 1.000" shaft to a 0.986 dia. I wonder if that was done on all the cars?. I would guess they had some binding of the bearing on the upper part of the column.

The dia of the part where the bushing is sitting is 0.557". My new bushing is still pretty sloppy over that part but I guess the bushing does not need to be a tight fit. It needs some clearance to accommodate the tilt adjustment of the steering wheel. The slop is probably also in the OD fitting where the bushing mounts to add to that adjustment angle.

[DMCMW Dave]

Hi Guys
I replaced my bushing.....had to disconnect column.....and now my directional does not cancel on left turns....any ideas? (not really sure if it worked before job).

Take the steering wheel off and rotate the cancel ring 180 degrees.

[cpistocco]

Take the steering wheel off and rotate the cancel ring 180 degrees.

Thanks Dave
I thought of doing that ( I may have reinstalled the column 180 degrees out)...... But why is the right turn cancelling fine? Neither should cancel if I am 180 out.
=Charlie

[DMCMW Dave]

Thanks Dave
I thought of doing that ( I may have reinstalled the column 180 degrees out)...... But why is the right turn cancelling fine? Neither should cancel if I am 180 out.
=Charlie

If it cancels in one direction and not the other, you need this:

http://store.delorean.com/p-7023-dl-wpr-switch.aspx

Unless you can find someone who broke the wiper part. You can move a working wiper switch to a new turn signal ring.

[cpistocco]

If it cancels in one direction and not the other, you need this:

http://store.delorean.com/p-7023-dl-wpr-switch.aspx

Unless you can find someone who broke the wiper part. You can move a working wiper switch to a new turn signal ring.

Thanks again...... All of you folks are great!
_Charlie

[cpistocco]

Update-
My bushing popped out about a month ago. I am back at square one....

[David T]

Update-
My bushing popped out about a month ago. I am back at square one....

If the bushing came out either it wasn't all the way in or the hole in the front bulkhead is enlarged because the bushing was gone and someone drove around a long time without it. If the hole doesn't look circular you have to fix it before trying to install the bushing again. That means some cutting and welding.

[Nuclearbacon]

Update-
My bushing popped out about a month ago. I am back at square one....

I was also going to add that it probably wasn't seated all the way. I JUST did this job this weekend.

My bushing was... sad. My new one is awesome!

No cutting. No trimming. No alteration to the new bushing. A socket helped drive it home.





Did have to remove the column. Was nervous. Is back together.