A couple of weeks before the Third Coast I started to hear and later feel a scratching/dragging sound (real light) when I would turn the steering wheel.
Condition was noticeable when turning in either direction.
I thought that since the steering wheel outer plastic base and the trim surround
were so close that I was just suffering from a dust/grit/cleaner residue.
And, of course, it was axiomatic that since we tend to turn the steering wheel a lot more at low speed, backing-up, or, parking than when we are actually driving (at least I hope so) I would forget about it till the next time I parked etc... . This pesky problem stopped by itself just prior to the Third Coast but came back after my return.
Yesterday, while making a turn from a light, there was a clunk in the steering wheel as I straightened out and again when I parked.
The clunk was similar to the sound made when you loosen/drop the Pod.
I reached under the pod to feel the shaft with the pod in latched down mode and wiggled the steering wheel left ,right, up, and down and could not feel the shaft move??? So I removed the "bridge piece" of trim -under the steering wheel and the larger piece under there as well. I have now discovered that the shaft is inside another "pipe". What I am wondering is how could there be any hanger system other than bearings, bushing that would keep the shaft aligned/straight.
FWIW
NO grinding or camming sensation.
The final symptom is axial play with more movement up/down than left and right. It will physically clunk in any direction. The wheel/shaft seems solidly mounted toward the fire wall -almost hinged- while sloppy/loose toward the driver.
There is a clunking in all directions.
Anyone btdt/have this issue before? I have that sHARk owner feeling that I won't find much in the WSM's.
On the upside -Boy! Except for the stale bread this is the BEST CRAP SANDWHICH I ever ate - after cleaning things, and wiggling wires/connectors, etc. around the steering column and pod the volt meter jumps up to around 13.8 volts after start and stays there with minor fluctuations only due to accessory use
TIA

 

Commmon with Porsches is the bushing fails ... can get a repair kit from pelican, likely the big five too.

 

Can the top bearing (under the steering wheel) be replaced without removing the steering shaft?

 

Full details at https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...eering+bearing

 

Thanks all.
Wally much appreciated.
Usually I do a search but thanks to you I discovered why the search feature was missing on the upper tool bar (gotta log in first folks), I noticed this problem before but since I developed
Half-ziemer's I kept forgetting to investigate.
Mine also lost the self cancelling feature-turnsignals- so its pretty much a sure thing.

 

You've developed "Critter Jitter" from hitting one too many anymules!

 

Ern,
Could find no part of the strpped, nocturnal, quadra-peds.
Though memory does trigger a pungent, perhaps unpleasant, olfactory imprint.
Wortd has it that the Pepe LaPue option was never factory approved.