FAQ: Steering Column Slop, Problems & Replacement

As I said in my writeup, my brother the mechanic was surprised that my pin came out because he's never seen this problem - but he's had to PULL the pins to tighten screws that came loose...

On the other hand, the round tilt-columns in my Pontiac and Cadillac accumulated a total of 450,000 miles without coming apart... Put it this way, not all Cadillac 4100's blew up, but it was still a crappy design.

Eldo wrote:

As I said in my writeup, my brother the mechanic was surprised that my pin came out because he's never seen this problem - but he's had to PULL the pins to tighten screws that came loose...

On the other hand, the round tilt-columns in my Pontiac and Cadillac accumulated a total of 450,000 miles without coming apart... Put it this way, not all Cadillac 4100's blew up, but it was still a crappy design.

Beyond the beloved Cadilac,
Has anybody got an explanation for the Riviera situation.

Regarding your brother mentioning the need to pull the pins to tighten screws, what screws.?
From the pictures i saw there are no screws holding the pins in, that's why I suggested adding some.
Am I missing something here or did I walk in the middle of a movie.????????????????????

Yes, I think you did come in in the middle... We've talked about the inadequate way these pins were held in at the factory earlier in this thread: friction and a couple of dimples in the surrounding metal.

As I inferred above, not all crappy designs fail, but not everyone uses the tilt-wheel every time they get in the car... My mother had tilt in every car since '73, but never used it til '93. Constant use of the tilt makes these pins likely to come loose.

As for the screws my brother was talking about, they are down inside - thus the need to pull the pins and separate the joint.

For those of you that have a worn coupling with loose pins, I still think my repair scheme is a good one and will last for the remainder of the life of the car, if done properly.

I can draw a Blueprint if necessary, but I think the explanation was clear enough for anybody with some mechanical ability.

I will assume then that I do not have the problem because I do not use the tilt feature (set it and forget it) and possibly the previous and only other owner may not have used it either.

So, if I should Total the car in the near future, and I plus the steering column survive, then there will be one up for sale at a premium price. Just in case you happen to be one of those people that just can't stop jerking the lever on the steering column.

Rickw wrote:

I will assume then that I do not have the problem because I do not use the tilt feature (set it and forget it)

Precisely...

Quote :

So, if I should Total the car in the near future, and I plus the steering column survive, then there will be one up for sale at a premium price. Just in case you happen to be one of those people that just can't stop jerking the lever on the steering column.

Hey, when you get to my age and infirmity, you'll need every bit of help you can get to climb in & out of these cars!

I don't think it's caused strictly from use of the tilt feature, as I've never used it, except to work under the dash. And one of my pins fell out before 50k miles. I think it has more to do with how aggressive you are with turning the wheel, and luck. Having said that, I've coped with this for such a long time, and have gotten used to it - it's one of those things I'll fix for sure, next time I remove the dash.

Rick, someone said early in the thread that these pins are pressed in from the factory. They should never really move or get loose until the softer surfaces they fit into wear. Mine can move now but I don't think they were meant to. In my pictures you can see factory markings of alignment.

With your idea of tapping them, what part are you thinking of threading? the outter part or the inner part? If you thread the inner part then the pin will be moving or twisting with the wrong part of the column and you have virtually no smooth surface for the assembly to tilt on. In other words, the bushing effect that the pin itself provides is gone. If you thread the outter part, you would need to custom machine your own pins with threads near the head that have 2 different diameters for the inside - essentially recreate the same pins that are in there but with a screw head and a very small threaded area.

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining stuff but I tried.

As I said, for most people it would likely require dropping the column, but what Rick is suggesting is drilling & tapping a hole in the ear, right next to the surface of the pin, and putting a pan-head screw into it so that the head of the screw prevents the pin from walking out.

Same idea as your zippies or my filler, but a more compact or more removable version...

my idea would be to drill and tap a hole on each side of the pin,and place across the pin a thin piece of polyethylene plastic. and secure with pan head machine bolts.tiny ones.



example: .-O-. u get the idea...

robotennis61 wrote:

my idea would be to drill and tap a hole on each side of the pin,and place across the pin a thin piece of polyethylene plastic. and secure with pan head machine bolts.tiny ones.


example: .-O-. u get the idea...

Not bad, especially with a metal strap between the bolts. But with the 1-screw method, you don't have to mess with the weaker part of the 'ears'...

turtleman wrote:

Rick, someone said early in the thread that these pins are pressed in from the factory. They should never really move or get loose until the softer surfaces they fit into wear. Mine can move now but I don't think they were meant to. In my pictures you can see factory markings of alignment.

With your idea of tapping them, what part are you thinking of threading? the outter part or the inner part? If you thread the inner part then the pin will be moving or twisting with the wrong part of the column and you have virtually no smooth surface for the assembly to tilt on. In other words, the bushing effect that the pin itself provides is gone. If you thread the outter part, you would need to custom machine your own pins with threads near the head that have 2 different diameters for the inside - essentially recreate the same pins that are in there but with a screw head and a very small threaded area.

Sorry, I'm bad at explaining stuff but I tried.

I think you may have totally misunderstood what I was trying to say.
If I could use the software, or even had the software that a lot of you guys have, I could paint a better picture.
The idea that Robo or whoever it was just mentioned of mounting a strap to keep the pin captured would work as well, just requires drilling 2 holes instead of one.

Rick wrote:The idea that Robo or whoever it was just mentioned of mounting a strap to keep the pin captured would work as well


Rick.. i love you too Ricker!

my Spanish idea is better though