steering coloumn play 1800es

[french dave]

Hi everyone,have problem with steering coloumn on my 1800es hope someone out there can shed light on it.with hands on steering wheel you can pull back steering wheel towards you about 1/4 inch with a small thud -you can then push wheel back in again.movement seems to be along whole shaft from where it is splined with collar onto short shaft out of steering box in engine bay.theres no play in rubber joint (collapsable?).inside car i can reach down and feel circlip at bottom of coloumn tube and when i pull on wheel theres movement here upwards.from parts manual i can see behind circlip there are springs at both ends of coloumn then seats and then bearings.theres no indication of bearing wear when turning wheel -could there be play in seats?steering wheel nut is tight.could there be a spacer missing?any ideas folks ?

[biggles24]

I am not an 1800 owner,I have a 120,so the fixings under the dash may be different but I had a similar problem caused by the fixing bracket which is connected directly to the bulkhead where the nut had slackened off a couple of turns.I hope this is not causing more confusion as the 1800 may not have this item.

[french dave]

Hi John,no es doesnt have bukhead plate, column just passes straight through a seal.thanks dave

[940_Turbo]

Originally Posted by french dave

Hi John,no es doesnt have bukhead plate, column just passes straight through a seal.thanks dave

The column has two springs, two spring seats, two bearings and a circlip. Have a look in a parts manual to see if you've got all the bits. I've seen movement before on cars that have spent some time in bits, the upper spring sometimes goes walkies. There are two different incarnations of upper column for B20 cars BTW.

[Volvo Canadian]

Hi. I'm about to put the upper steering-column from a P-1800 into my estate. The lower splines fit my steering-wheel (the late 60's "Y-wheel). I've had to flip it and have a new slot for the circlip machined in, so I've had a good look at both set-ups to make sure all would fit. I was waiting to chime-in because I still don't really know what is wrong, but I'm assuming the movement does not originate in your steering box? If-not, then you could check the circlip at the bottom, the one you can feel moving. Maybe that has been pushed out of its seat. Otherwise, pulling it all out should not be that difficult (if you can get the steering-wheel off), and you will probably see something has gone south - broken or missing spring; there is really not that much else to go wrong there.

If the clip has come-off, I guess you might have to take the whole thing apart anyway to get a new one on again, so I think the best way to do that would be to take of the wheel, then pull the shaft out the other way - through the engine-bay. You will have to pull-out the horn wire of-course, meaning, I think, you will have to cut one end off.

It is worth checking to see if the steering column yoke has come loose (as suggested previously), but it sounds like the column is sliding back and forth inside the yoke, which is firmly-attached.

Do you guys over there call a horn a "hooter", or am I just imagining that? I've lived in Canada, UK, and Australia previously.

[french dave]

hi all,thanks for your inputs.i think ill have to strip coloumn down to see if i can identify where play is? im hoping its in the bearing seats and not in the bearings.i can feel circlip in slot seems ok.will investigate soon also im taking out steering box to reseal as is leaking oil.thanks french dave

[agent_strangelove]

If you end up thinking you need parts for the upper half assembly, let me know. I'm stripping out a '72 ES right now. The steering box is gone (and would be wrong for a RHD car) but the upper column assembly is still there....


Chris

[french dave]

Hi Chris,thanks for info will hopefully strip down the upper coloumn in my car .this week.im hoping play is in seats not bearings.is there any play in the one you have? thanks dave

[agent_strangelove]

Dave-

I dug about in that car this morning. It's pulled apart further than I remember so I really can't tell how much play it had before I disassembled it (to get the steering column lock off). It's all there but it's in pieces. Thus if you can tell where your issue is, I can look at the parts I have and see if I can do any better....


Chris

[french dave]

Hi Chris,will take a look this weekend and let you know my findings.thanks dave