loose steering column

Topic: loose steering column (Read 3564 times) previous topic - next topic

loose steering column

Reply #15 – March 31, 2009, 11:34:19 PM

Some follow up on what may be the issue. I pulled mine apart this evening and sorted out what was loose.

The culprit on mine was two bolts behind the head light dimmer/turn signal switch (they have 13mm heads). These bolts are hidden behind the switch assembly, so they are not real obvious. This means the top and bottom covers on the steering column have to come off. To get mine off I had to pull the dash cluster and steering wheel. The wiper switch needs to be removed, pull the connectors to head light dimmer/turnsignal switch (which can be tough). Remove the two torx head screws (mentioned above), pull the H/L dimmer/turnsignal switch to uncover the loose bolts.

It's a bit of a project, but well worth it! No more sloppy steering.

In my case I was replacing the wiper switch and needed to pull the cluster anyway. Just took me a bit to locate the bolts...

loose steering column

Reply #16 – April 01, 2009, 03:09:35 AM

Quote from: 86T-bird;265182

Some follow up on what may be the issue. I pulled mine apart this evening and sorted out what was loose.

The culprit on mine was two bolts behind the head light dimmer/turn signal switch (they have 13mm heads). These bolts are hidden behind the switch assembly, so they are not real obvious. This means the top and bottom covers on the steering column have to come off. To get mine off I had to pull the dash cluster and steering wheel. The wiper switch needs to be removed, pull the connectors to head light dimmer/turnsignal switch (which can be tough). Remove the two torx head screws (mentioned above), pull the H/L dimmer/turnsignal switch to uncover the loose bolts.

It's a bit of a project, but well worth it! No more sloppy steering.

In my case I was replacing the wiper switch and needed to pull the cluster anyway. Just took me a bit to locate the bolts...

humm, your layout seems very familiar although i did this back in 93 on the white coug.
over the course of two or three repeated attempts to cure it finally with wood glue,,,,,,,,, comes the reason for my reply..............

be very careful and attentive to the removeal of the top cover. It has a plastic lip which tucks under the instrument cluster cover. On my car, a few times of removal and replacement broke the flex print that leads up into the speedo module.
end result was a lime green display with no numbers.

I had to snip the flex print all the way across at the break, and i had to solder in jumper wires in order to make it operational again.

loose steering column

Reply #17 – April 01, 2009, 11:50:37 PM

86T-Bird hit it right on the head, i fixed mine today. thanks for the help everyone

loose steering column

Reply #18 – April 02, 2009, 12:09:28 AM

Those were the bolts I mentioned on the first page.Send me money.LOL.

loose steering column

Reply #19 – September 10, 2009, 12:45:13 AM

i remember hearing that this problem wasnt able to be fixed without getting new parts. im glad to hear they were wrong. thanks guys

loose steering column

Reply #20 – September 10, 2009, 10:01:01 AM

My '88 has the same issue, only it needs a whole new column. The 2 out of 4 of those little grade 8 or 9 bolts are snapped off flush. Only other option would be to drill them out and re-tap, but I don't wanna risk screwing anything up. Until then, I just deal with it.

loose steering column

Reply #21 – February 01, 2010, 11:54:14 AM

I know this is an older thread, but pics always hep me when finding stuff. Figured they would help someone new as well if I put some up, so here we go. After you remove the steering column cover, you will find the two torx screws to remove the switch. I put a red dot on them:

And then tighten the two bolts to fix the play in the column:

This is on my '85 Thunderbird, might not be the same on all but should give you an idea of where the play is coming from.

loose steering column

Reply #22 – February 11, 2010, 10:33:14 PM

Pics are always good. Thanks!

loose steering column

Reply #23 – February 12, 2010, 12:05:31 AM

if you really want to get technical about the columns they are all the same unless there was a no tilt option. in all of my TC's they have the provisions for the column shifter built into the column.