"Loose" lock cylinder housing - fault or not?!
 

Ok on my "new" volvo the other day I put the wrong key in and tried turning a few times but obviously it didn't work...

... but seems more than a few nano-newtons of force has meant that now the lock cylinder housing (and therefore the steering column trim and switches) now feel "loose" i.e there is a little left-right play with a bit of effort.

I wondered if somehow there was wear in the bottom of the two halves of the clamp which holds it to the steering column (the column is fine and steering fine no play in that. Also the steering lock works still).

But then I wondered if the same thing happened in the other S40 - tried pulling it round a bit: and it did it as well (although it feels "less loose").

So what's going on: is it just the way the thing is made? Does yours do it?! For sure I wouldn't have used anything like enough force to break anything off. Can't see why if it did this it doesn't seem to have always done it? At best it is annoying, because (at least on my "new" s40, i.e the older / high mileage one) if you are quite "harsh" with e.g the indicator switch then it pulls the whole housing round slightly with a "clunk".

I don't really want to have to remove the whole steering column to discover it is working like it should!

A solution I was considering is to drill a small hole through the top case of the lock housing and insert a self-tapping screw into the column just enough to grip it. I tried sealing it with silicone sealant, but it didn't work. I don't really want to try something more permenant in case the lock housing ever needs to come off.

Thoughts?

Cheers, Pete

Haha you really carn't leave anything alone can you,

Its cos new cars these days are made on the cheap in mass production these days

Yeah you're probably right... it's coz the "new" car had the turbo fault like straight away so now I am all paranoid about everything thinking I've bought another duffer!.... for some reason I am great at picking cars to buy for others, but useless when it comes to me! Anyway plenty more stuff to be sorted on this car, must get on ;)....

Pete