Loose Steering Wheel
#1
Loose Steering Wheel
I noticed that I have developed some play (forward and backward) in the steering wheel. Checked the nut and it is as tight as it will go. There is no washer or lock washer - Ford manual doesn't show one. Steering wheel moves back and forth about 1/8 inch or so. The shaft is tight - no back and forth movement at all. Any ideas?
Last edited by unit91; 05-07-2012 at 09:43 AM. Reason: more info
#2
i would check out everything in the colum/linkages. i had my steering wheel come off in my hands while i was driving. not a fun experiacne. luckily i was on a small two lane road and my brakes pulled me into a nice soft ditch and no real damage to speak of. could have been very bad.
#4
I see a part with some small ball bearings on the column when I remove the steering wheel. Should these bearings be visible or encased in something? If they are worn would that cause the play in the steering wheel and cause the nut not to tighten?
#6
When the nut that holds the steering wheel on the column is as tight as I can get it, the steering wheel can be shook forward towards the engine and backwards towards the driver about 1/8 inch or so. It's not left to right play in the steering. It was tight when I replaced the turn signal switch about a year ago but has recently become loose. It's like the nut won't go as far as it needs to in order to secure the steering wheel.
#10
It's the original one - base standard black. Liek I said before, when I replaced the turn signal switch about a year ago the wheel was tight. It's become loose since then. I'm wondering now, since it's starting to look like the shaft has moved towards the driver (is longer) if the worm gear might be worn.