The good news is that I got the steering wheel off and got the turn signal switch replaced. Finally got the wheel off last night...This evening I had just enough time to pull the old switch out and put the new one in after buying some cord today to pull the new wires through the column.

Still need to hook up the wires under the dash but can tackle that tomorrow evening.

The only question I have is how do you know if you have the steering wheel on tight enough?

I tightened it pretty tight but it still looks like there is more of a gap now between the back of the wheel and the top of the column then there used to be.

When I got inside I noticed the manual said torque it down to 30 - 40 lbs so going to make sure and check that tomorrow evening when I get out to the garage.

If it is torqued down enough is it safe to assume all is well even though it looks like the gap is just a slight bit larger now?

I try not to so much rely on how it looked before because the kid that used to own the car was known to short-cut and jerry rig things and I have been straightening out half-a** things he had done since I bought the car.

 

Sometimes the column will slide down. The bracket that mounts the column underneath the dast has two bolts. Loosen the bolts and pull the column forward a bit to get everything back to normal.

 

If you torqued it down, you can be assured that it is safe. It is a tapered/splined shaft. It goes together kind of like a ball joint or tie rod. As you tighten it down it "wedges"? itself on and will not come off. That's why they are so hard to remove.

 

You are not kidding about that one. Mine obviously hadn't been taken off in many years and I was about to give up then gave it one more shot with a breaker bar and a BFH.

Thanks for the advice.

Just hoping this fixes several problems such as horns not working and the park lights coming on when I applied the brake.

Most important however is to get the horns working. I have state inspection coming at the end of April. After I get this part done I have to figure out why my park brake isn't working since I believe they check that as well as part of the inspection.

But then again, last year it passed inspection right before I bought the car with a tail light out, horns not working and only one head light working when on high beam...LOL!