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89 XJ steering column floats

S

skipc

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Georgia & points west and south
The other day the steering column broke something internally. It will tilt down and seem to lock, but you can lift the wheel up and move it side-to-side freely. Almost like a steering wheel joy-stick ;)

What kinda mess am I in for in trying to fix this? Any hints at getting right to the part that holds this in place?

Thanks,
Skip
 
There's a $3 nylon part inside the column that has broken. Replacing it yourself=$3, replacing it at the dealer = closer to $200. I posted the part number once long ago when someone else asked, but don't have it handy currently. My '89 column did that about ten years ago while I was on a deployment so my then-wife spent the extra $$$ to get it done. That hurt at the time, but I've still got the invoice and part number around someplace if you can afford to wait about two weeks for me to dig it up...
 
Thanks! I'll go look for it. If they charge $$$ to replace, it must be a bunch of labor to get at it. Do you remember looking at what it would take?

I'll let you know about needing a number, thanks for the offer.

Skip
 
Yeah, you neeed to pull pretty much the entire top end of the column off, down to the tilt mechanism. I got to it again about a year later when changing out my ignition keyswitch - it had eaten the ridges and valleys off my keys so it needed to go.

I'm in the middle of a move right now but I think I know what box the invoice is in. If I get a chance to look for it tonight I will, otherwise I won't be able to get at it until next year.
 
WOW! A great writeup and now I'm worried!:cry: I dunno, I've taken just about everything apart under the hood of something at one point or another, but I have nightmares about having a big handful of parts fall out in my hand as I do this.... Of course better me there than someone at a place that doesn't know what he's doing AND doesn't really care, but I'm in deep garbanzo beans either way!
:hang:

Thanks for the info - I'll be reading this for a while!
 
Yucca-man: any luck with that part number?

I decided it wasn't important, but now it's starting to 'stick' as I try to turn, and it feels like it's getting worse, even though it freely moves in any direction... Feels like a lose of power steering, but it works again if I hold the wheel up. Not a great thing to do all the time...

Any chance it'll let go and I lose steering completely? Probably at the worst time??

I'd like to have the parts with me as I go in, since it won't be usable until I get it together again once I start.

Thanks,
Skip
 
I managed it twice, first time the bearing retainer was popped off and the little balls, were all over the place, second time was for the screws (may have been what caused the first time). The old plastic in there gets, brittle, be carefull with it. The buzzer, key in, switch detail, threw me the first time I did it.
Nice write up. The second time I did it, I got smart and layed everything out on a piece of plywood on two saw horses, in the order I took them out. Kept it neat and orderly.
First time I put it all in a pile, that was interesting. Took me numerous tries to get it all together again.
He said something about the spring plate, snap ring removal being easy, wrong. Chev has a tool for that, that does make it easy, should be an autozone rent me, I made my own. It´s doable his way, but not easy.
 
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IF you have a steering collumn rebuilding service... (i never knew these existed) but with the # of smashed columns from car break ins they are plentiful and most body shops can refer you to one.. they come out to your car and do it ... anyways here is the deal... mine did it i didnt have the time to fix it took it to the steelership 300 bux....

4 months later car stolen column smashed.... called mobile steering repair company...

FLAT RATE 99 dollars labor any saginaw column he said he does them all the time...

now here is the fun part ... the steelerhsip only half repaired the column.... i took pictures nad htey refunded me my 300 bux...
 
You can rent a steering wheel puller from Autozone or Advance Auto for around a $20 deposit.
The project isn't as complicated as it seems; just remember that a few of the clips/parts in there are under a lot of pressure and may come flying out when they are loosened. I'd say it'll take around 4 hours to complete this project; it took me that long my first time on my 89 cherokee, and I used a homemade puller.
 
See 4 hrs of my time is worth the 100 bux..
 
I might could do the $99, especially if I don't know what parts I have to have on hand to replace going into it...

How are they listed in the phone book? Any big names I should get or avoid?

It seems like I need to do this in the next few days - getting worse. I like the idea of being around while it's done. At least training for the 'next time'.
 
I see georgia listed.. i was living in atlanta at the time...a nd i cant remember the name of the company I will do a search and see if i can find it.. there are two companies in atl that do it... both were at one time business parterns...
 
I found a place called Speedy Steering Systems - is that it? Kinda high pressure sell when I called, and we got disconnected and he kept calling from my caller ID until I answered... He wants $125 to tighten 4 bolts, or if some other thing he talked about is broken, it'll be $300.

I think I'm feeling it catch on the loose bolts now, but not sure about this other $300 item he talked about.
 
Speedy was one of the companies... but i cant remember the other one... speedy is the "evil" of the two business partners.... I know that both the companies were recomeded but if i could only remember the name of the other company... i would let speedy do it... 125 bucks aint bad for the amount of work and its only 25 more bucks then what i was quoted in 99

Look up S&W towing in tucker.... they were the ones that recomended the guy i used... tehy do all dekalb county's impounds so they see alot of stolen cars with mangled columns
 
It is not that difficult to fix if it is the loose torx head screws. You could do this if you have the wheel puller or get one from an auto parts store. If it is the column internally broken, get a used steering column to replace it it is easiest rather than fixing yours. These shops that specialize in this are generally more expensive than a regular shop, and any mechanic that has general experience should be able to fix or replace the column.Anybody who has GM experience as this is a gm column can do it also.
It's a good time to replace that worn out ignition lock cylinder too!.
You should be able to find a general mechanic somewhere in your area who can easily do it. BTW 125 is too much to tighten the loose screws lol
Good luck finding someone.
 
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