Tim968

Oh, I forgot. This car is ex-Japan, and while it has had a series of poorly-matched panel resprays, it was not appraised as accident damage, and no panels were marked as replaced. No evidence steering column has ever been pulled. Tie-wraps on wiring are definitely 20 years old, lol.

Tim968

Okay gents, I remember now why I'm on this steering shaft mission; it's an intermittent horn ground and rotational slop in the steering, barely perceptible maybe 1/8 inch of rotational play at the edge of the steering wheel.

This is a 92 ROW GTS, and described on illustration 403-06 in the later parts catalog, specifically the second-generation steering column with the collapsible telescoping upper shaft assembly, presumably for crashworthiness.

This assembly is comprised of an upper portion which includes (the steering wheel on one end) and a triangular-shape steel tube into which a polyethylene-coated triangular form shaft (the lower part of the assembly) slides in from the lower end. The telescoping fit is quite snug, about 6 " long, and to disassemble it, I had to hold the bottom end of the steering shaft pressing down on the rag joint with my boots and physically pull the upper shaft off the lower sliding section. The upper shaft is supported on one sealed internal ball bearing in the column and one external ball bearing on the triangular-shaped steel tube which in turn lands inside the steering column tube. These bearings are in good condition, with no roughness apparent. The system of springs and compression preload on the shaft bearings is not in this design. The upper spacer ring and circlip beneath the steering wheel is still there, and this is (apparently) the ground scheme into the body of the car. There is no separate ground lead from the steering column assembly.

The mating (telescoping) lower portion of the upper steering shaft is jacketed with polyethylene, and in this case the polyethylene has shrunk and cracked over the three triangular points, as per the attached pictures. The lower portion of the upper steering shaft is supported by the sliding polyethylene section, and by an external ball bearing, which also appears to be in good condition, with no roughness apparent

The rag joint appears fine although I will disassemble it to inspect it.
Question for the group;

Will this cracked and degraded plastic on the lower portion of the telescoping steering shaft be a problem, and the obvious question should I simply buy another upper steering shaft assembly 928 347 019 02 likely NLA, I am guessing.

Oh, and at last, I can access the ground point beneath the instrument cowl.

Mrmerlin

can you please post a wider angle picture of the shafts ,
thanks

Tim968

Here are some pictures...

Mrmerlin

I have never worked on one of these types before thanks for the pictures

Tim968

I have to figure out the reassembly, ha. Not sure with the various telescoping bits how to get the rag joint through the firewall and down without colliding with the engine. Will keep going, lol. Thanks/Tim

Tim968

Of course, it's an intermittent open circuit to ground through the upper steering shaft bearing 999 052 160 00, a 30 x 42 x 7 deep groove ball bearing, open, with plastic cage.

Drove it down the steering tube with a decently sized socket, but the outer race seems fetched against an internal shoulder, then the upper end of the steering tube was rolled over to capture the outer race, my guess...at least all the ball and the inner race are out.

Has anyone got a FWM description about how to service this bearing in late-model (92+) cars? I think I will have to dremel the outer race and verify if there's shoulder in there...Yikes.

Thx/T

Tim968

Now with Pics - what's the smart way to accommodate this problem?

Maybe the Factory did not anticipate future replacement of the upper steering bearing, as they swaged over the location after the bearing was placed. File this off and bring Loctite to the rescue? See pics.

The outer bearing race was cut off with a Dremel for extraction, and I scarred the tube a bit, but not very much. Because of the external swaged shoulder in there I can't even get an bore measurement unless I mill or file or sand off the external swaging...

Hilton

Interesting - I've not seen anyone post pics this deep into the steering shaft.

I'm guessing the factory just expect you (i.e. the dealer) to just replace the whole shaft, rather than service the bearing.

Mrmerlin

It appears that this part is not made to be serviceable like the old version was,
maybe with telescoping version it has to be replaced VS swapping out bearings.
I would be looking at a breaker for a used part

Tim968

I made a mistake yesterday defining the top bearing as separable. The Parts Cat figure 403-06 for airbag cars shows the bearing integral, shows only the lower bearing in steering tube is separable. I am going to look at the Loctite 680 retainer alternative, and try to dimension the bearing and housing.

ROG100

PET shows both the upper & lower bearing as separate parts.
Upper bearing is 30 x 42 x 7 999 052 102 00
Lower bearing is 20 x 37 x 9 999 052 155 00
Both seem to be available.

Mrmerlin

order the upper bearing and see what it looks like,
maybe the whole outer collar is removed along with the new bearing

Tim968

re: PET shows both the upper & lower bearing as separate parts.
Upper bearing is 30 x 42 x 7 999 052 102 00
Lower bearing is 20 x 37 x 9 999 052 155 00
Both seem to be available.

30 x 42 x 7 P/N 999 052 102 00 is separable, and rides on outside of upper steering shaft.
Lower bearing is 20 x 37 x 9 999 052 155 00 is separable, and rides on outside of lower telescoping steering shaft section.

The internal bearing swaged into ***'y P/N 928 347 903 14 is size 22 x 34 x 7, and not easily found on the net, at least. I figure the bearing could be replaced and the new one secured with Loctite 680. It's too bad I didn't try to regrease it in place with conductive grease, that might have been a better try. Now I am definitely snookered. Ouch.

Tim968

OK, back on the re-assembly path. The replacement steering tube was delivered, and I was able to gently file, drill and remove the locking pin that retains the ignition lock. Repeat the process on the original steering tube (the one I unfortunately trashed thinking that the upper bearing could be replaced).

The locking pin removal was easy, but the original ignition lock cylinder will only move about 2 millimeters axially, refuses to come out. It seems free enough in the steering tube housing, but will not come away.

All ideas welcome. I am afraid to get rough for fear of ruining another rare piece.

Thanks/Tim