chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

First, this is not related to the infamous 4 torx bolts that always come loose on GM columns. I have a '90 GTA with the airbag and VATS. When I first bought the car I immedately noticed the wobble in the column and just figured it was the 4 torx bolts. (I did the same repair on my '88 Chevy truck so I knew what I was up against) I have the column torn all the way down just to find out there are no torx bolts, it has 4 regular 8mm cap bolts. They were already nice tight so I just snugged them a tad. The real problem is in the shaft it self. With everything put back to together I can move the shaft between 2 o'clock and 7 o'clock about half an inch or so. It is like there should be something that holds it and keeps it centered. I have a GM Service Manual for the car and can not find anything telling me what it could be. For all intensive purposes everything looks to be complete but I wondering if I might be missing something. I believe the column has been taken apart before at some point because some of the small clips that hold the wires in place were out or broken. I have pics of the complete tear down that I will posting in a later thread once I resolve this. All suggestions and advice are appreciated.

AlkyIROC

I just repaired a Topkick with the exact same problem.

You're almost down far enough. Those 4 screws go into a plate that's held by the outer column tube. The tube is broken.

From where you are now it's probably just as easy to pull the rest of the column out.

You need to disconnect the the bolt on the bottom of the shaft and pull that shaft out. Remove the 4 screws and remove that pot metal housing. The outer plastic coller will then slide up and off. Below that pot metal housing held on by the screws will be the retaining plate. Since the outer steel tube will probably need to be welded, you might as well just pull it right out.

Very good pictures. I wish I saw them before I fixed the Topkick. I found the hardest part was pulling the pivot pins out. I had to make a slide hammer.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I would have never guessed something was actually broken in the column, I thought something just needed to be tightened up. I will have to wait till next weekend to pull it out but I will take pics as I do it. Thanks for the info Stephen. By the way, they make a little tool to pull the pins out. Its about $9 at any auto parts store. I have a few pictures of it when I removed my pins. Sometimes they come out very easy and other times they fight you all the way out.

AlkyIROC

I've seen the tool but didn't have access to one. The pins were in very tight. I installed a machine screw into the pin hole then clamped some vise grips onto the screw. I welded a rod with a sliding weight to the end of the vise grips to make them into a slide hammer. I broke 3 machine screws before I got the pins out. Luckly I was able to get the broken screws out of the pins. From what I've been told, they're usually not in that tight. I think someone used some red loctite the last time they were installed.

The broken piece is actually the column itself. I had no idea what was broken in the one I worked on either until I stripped it right down. I was as far as you are now and saw the 4 bolts were tight. That was the first thing I thought was wrong but when they were tight, I had to dig more into the column to find the problem. I never had to go that far in before. I took the column right out and had it stripped down to just the tube. Welding it up took about 5 minutes total then I had to put it all back together again. You need to strip it right down because where it's broken is under that plastic cover and the cover comes off the top. To get the cover off you need to pull the shaft and pot metal housing off. There's not much left after that.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

This is truly uncharted territory for me as well. The service manual is not much help on the topic and forget Chiltons or Haynes having anything good to say. I got the 4 bolts off the pot metal cover but I am having a hell of a time getting the 15mm nut off the bolt at the end of the column. Just to make sure I tackling the right one... I am trying to loosed the nut located about 2 inches down from a coupler about 5 inches or so away from the firewall on the engine side. Is this the correct bolt I need to remove? I thought about jacking the front end up and turning the wheels a little so I can get a better angle on it. Right now the air tube and brake booster are in my way.

AlkyIROC

There should only be one bolt on the double D coupler at the firewall. The coupler has to slide away from the upper part of the shaft. If you have to, you can unbolt the lower part of the steering shaft at the steering box and remove the lower steering shaft complete with the upper part that's in the car all at the same time then unbolt the lower part from the upper part once it's out of the car. There's 3 bolts holding the upper column to the firewall plus the upper support brace, ignition, dimmer switch etc that's bolted on top of the column. Take lots of pictures. It helps when you need to put it all back together.

Chilton and Haynes only give enough information to make a backyard mechanic dangerous. Any technical information I need to find can't be found in those books. I use them for wiring schematics but even then they're not complete.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

Man this is going to suck. I was hoping I could get away with keeping the switches bolted to it. I guess this is one time where having a black interior is not so cool, you cant see anything! I will take lots of pics and post my findings later this week. Thanks again for all the info Stephen.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I am back Stephen. As you can see I have the column out and I have been examining it and I can not find any cracks. Can you tell me where you found yours?

AlkyIROC

Under that plastic cover at the top.

Pull the shaft out the top. Unbolt those 4 screws and remove the pivot mount. Slide the plastic cover off the top.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I pulled the tube completely off and I still can not find any cracks or damage. Where exactly on the tube was yours cracked?

AlkyIROC

Hmmm. That tube is different. The one I had to fix had a plate that slid into the tube through some slots and the 4 screws bolted to the plate pulling it up against the top part of the slots in the column. The piece of tube above the plate had mostly broken away and even though the screws were tight, everything was still loose.

From that picture, the 4 screws go directly into the tube itself. The holes aren't stripped are they?

OK, lets tear down the steering column on the kitchen counter. You must live alone

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

Nope, the holes are not stripped or anything. I am at a complete loss now. I can't see any bearings that are missing or damaged. The shaft does not appear to be scored. I don't know what to do at this point. The only thing I know is that it should not have as much play in it as it does.

AlkyIROC

Start reassembling and check everything as it's assembled.

sellmanb

Would it be impossible to get a new steering column at the junkyard? I know mine sold me one for 7 dollars w/ steering wheel (airbag deployed)

Angelis83LT

there are lots of olumns in the yards. prolly go for cheap.. I have one here that just needs a new plastic out casing (attempted car theft broke the bottom of the casing near the key and the lock). I know of about 10 f--bodies in full condition sitting in a salvage yard right now.. seems more and more keep coming in lately

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I have checked the major yards around here and I need a 90-92 column due to the air bag which none of them have. I may see if I can score one off of Ebay or here on the classifeds. A friend of mine this afternoon said it's the bearings. I am going to look at them closer and see how much a new set it is and so I can hopefully compar the old ones vs. the new.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I went to a big salvage yard today and they only had about 4 airbag cars, all of which were Camaros. Upon looking at them they all had the exact same problem. I am going to try locating a steering column shop tomorrow and see if they can point in the right direction.

SLAYER6669

iTrader: (1)

Did you're pivot pins come out real easy? Mine were really loose and i didnt need any tool to pull them out. I sent mine out to Columns Galore and had it rebuilt, but it's very costly with them. I just didn't have time to mess with it.. I had the same issue where there was play in 7:00 and 2:00 movement. It seems alot of the 90+ cars have this issue.. The parts he replaced he reuses one used peice for $75 that was in good condition beacuse its $180 for a new one, and the other he replaced with new for $90. The parts were described as "Bearing Housing" and "Support" on the invoice .. I think it's where the pivot pins go in the housings that wear out beacuse it's aluminum.. I'm not sure what his exact explanation was but you could always try calling them since he just did mine, he already knew about that 7:00 / 2:00 movement.. www.columnsgalore.com Unfortunately if you want to get a rebuilt one from them its $295.. They repair yours for 100 + parts and rebuild for 150 + parts where the disassmble, degrease, repack bearings, sandblast and paint it.. I said rebuild and it ended up costing more than a rebuilt one.. I dont understand why but what's done is done. Since you seem to have a better understanding of what you're doing than I did, I'd give him a call and see if he can sell you the part's you need to repair it..

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

Thank you for the info Slayer. It is very nice to hear that someone has encountered this exact problem. To answer your question, yes my passenger side pivot pin came out very easily. I did use the tool to get the driver side out but even it did not feel like it had alot of tension on it. I will check out columns galore and see if there are any column shops here in Austin that I can take it to or atleast get the parts from.

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

Today I decided to put it all back together and put the column back in the car. I never heard back from Columns Galore. As I was putting everything back together I analyzed each piece trying to see if anything showed any wear spots, rings, and could not find anything. All the parts went back together well, no holes were stripped and I made sure everything was torqued down good. Once everything was back together I did notice that the wobble was not as bad but it is still there. The part that really puzzles me here is that the columns obviously have a flaw yet no really knows what causes it. I truly appreciate everyone's input on this thread and hopefully in the near future a fix will be determined. Atleast the car runs and steers again and I can use it as a back up car. Next up, full tune up, new smog pump, and interior clean up. As promised I will get the full tear down posted on my website as soon as I can.