Before I go yanking the whole steering column out of the 88 MJ I thought I'd see if anyone has BTDT. Setting the tilt got real stiff a couple of years back. Squirted lube in with a long straw and it got back to normal. In the last couple of days I've seen it start to get really loose with a fair amount of play in both the vertical and lateral directions. Looking at the FSM, I'm not sure I can see anything besides the bearings that would allow that kind of play but ISTR some people talking about some screws that can be tightened. Thought I'd ask for input before I go to the grief of yanking the whole column since I can't really get at anything in there w/o a full teardown. It's just the tilt mechanism - steering is just fine.
Tilt column problem
Jul 24, 2004
7 Replies
Not quite the same but close. I'm still looking for one really simple answer: How does the tilt lever come out? Is it screwed in, in a a locking slot ala some simple turn indicators or what?? The rest has been straight forward but that one has me stumped and I'd hate to use the twist-it-and-see-what-gives method when it's a lock screw or something else.
Gotta be simple, but...
should just unscrew
Should - and finally did after I managed to get the cover loose enough to see what I was dealing with. Not willingly tho - must have been a
500-lb gorilla that put that sucker in with tight threads and red loctite. No place for a wrench so it was vicegrip time. Now the FSM has me removing and re-installing it 3 more times to reposition the tilt fro the next steps - of course.Anyway, the problem is obvious now: 3 small torx screws hold a mount plate down in the housing. All three are about to fall out. Next issue is to reach all of them w/o pulling the whole column. At least it's a cheap fix - this time.
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