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Re: Replacing the bearing--LONG
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Posted by turbocon86 (more from turbocon86) on Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:49:23 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Re: Replacing the bearing within the steering column, turbocon86, Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:20:42
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OK, so you've got a '93...

I've never replaced the bearing on the steering column, but I've replaced the upper steering column piece as a whole. I'll give you the best directions I can, for what you're trying to do.

Be sure that you have a complete torx screwdriver set. You'll need lots of sizes. You may need a 12'-16" extension for your socket set as well.

The first thing to do is disconnect the battery DON'T SKIP THIS STEP. If you do, the airbag will have to be reset at the dealer. Don't reconnect the battery until you've got everything back together.

You may be able to get the upper bearing off by just taking off the steering wheel and the clockspring, but my guess is that you will have to pull the upper steering shaft out, which means you'll have to take off the knee bolster too.

To get the steering wheel off, you have to take the airbag off first. To get that off you need to remove the two torx screws accessed through the two small holes on the back side of the steering wheel. Once you get that loose, you can just unplug it from the wiring harness. Then unplug the wire connector for the horn. Rotate the steering wheel back up so that the front wheels are straight and the top of the airbag part of the wheel is horizontal. Then remove the large nut at the center of the wheel. Before you pull the wheel, mark the steering column end and the steering wheel with a sharpie so you know how to align it when you put the wheel back on. You'll also notice a small hole just below the large mounting nut. It will have a black pin in it coming from behind the wheel. That pin is the alignment pin on the horn/airbag clockspring. As you are taking the wheel off, try not to rotate the clockspring from that position. It can turn of course while your trying to pull the wheel, but try to make sure that when you pull the wheel that the pin stays down near 6:00. You shouldn't need a puller to get the wheel off. It will usually come off with a little wiggling. Once you disengage the wheel from the steering column, you need to feed the horn and airbag wires through the opening at the top. It's a little tight, but if you pull one at a time they should fit through.

Now that you have the wheel off (and hopefully the alignment pin on the clockspring is still at 6:00) you should put a piece of tape from the face of the clockspring over to the side so that the clockspring cannot rotate. Next remove the 2 small screws that hold the lower steering column plastic housing on, and remove that piece. Then remove the two screws on the bottom of the steering column that hold the stalk housing on (directional and wiper switches) and slide the whole stalk housing down out of the way. You cannot unplug the connection for the cruise control without taking off the knee bolster, so just let the switches and housing dangle.

Now you need to take the clockspring off. Be sure that the face is still taped to the side of the clockspring to keep it from rotating. Remove the two screws holding the clockspring on (1:00 and 7:00). The screw at 1:00 may be a little hard to get at, but if you gently pry back the dash in that area you can get it out. Once you get the screws out you can unplug the clockspring and put it aside. (or leave it plugged in and let it dangle). Now you need to remove the single screw holding the aluminum plate that covers the bearing. The plate hooks at the top, just slide it up to get it off once you've taken the screw out. Now you can see the bearing retainer. It's a black compression/tension ring that is slid on the steering column. Again, I haven't done this, but if you can get access to that retainer at this point, try to pry it off. If you can get it off, the bearing and it's rubber sheath should be able to be removed. If you don't feel that you can easily get it off without damaging it (or maybe you new bearing comes with a new one), you'll need to go ahead and remove the knee bolster so that you can pull the upper steering column shaft.

The upper bearing is a ball bearing type and the lower is a needle bearing type. If the lower one has failed as well, you'll need to pull the knee bolster to get to it.

If you need to remove the knee bolster...

If you have a radio component in the lower din slot, you need to remove it. Pull it from the cage with the radio removal tools. Then remove the cage by bending it down from the top and up from the bottom. Bending it releases the clips that hold it in the opening. Slide the cage out and unplug it from the wiring harness. Next, take out the ashtray and remove the single bolt up inside that connects the console to the dash. Now remove the four screws that hold the ashtray housing to the console and take that housing out. You'll alo have to disconnect the ashtray light. Now, pull out the little accordion-looking trim piece between the floor console and the lower dash console (you'll notice there is a little wire harness with a connector in there. That's to reset the airbag--among other things. Be sure that you put it back there when you put the console back together). Remove the two screws that hold the lower dash console to the floor. Slide the console out from the dash far enough to access the four screws on the sides that hold the plastic console face to the carpeted tray in the back. You should now be able to take out the console face and the carpeted tray.

Where you took the bolt out up inside the ashtray area is a bolt with a hole in the end of it that the console mounting bolt went into, remove that bolt. Now comes the hardest part to describe. The console is held on by two bolts which are accessed from inside the fender well along the firewall. Pop the hood. Right at the rear of the fender at the firewall there is a cavity that has three or four grey wire connectors. It is the same on the driver's and passenger's side. Pull them back out of the way, and about 10" down on the firewall you'll see a 10mm nut with a 3/4" rubber-backed fender washer. If you take the nut out (one on each side of the car) you can now take the knee bolster out. I find that if you put a 12"-16" extension on your ratchet, that you can get at them from above the fender. When you pull the knee bolster out you just need to feed the ashtray light through the little access hole.

Once you get the knee bolster out, you'll be able to access the steering column. The upper part of the steering column is held to the lower part with a universal joint. You need to remove the upper bolt on the universal joint. Don't just loosen the bolt, remove it completely. Once you have that bolt out, you can pull the upper steering column and upper bearing out of the housing. Once you have it out, you'll have complete access to the upper bearing retainer and bearing.

If you need to replace the lower bearing, it probably best to take the housing out as well. You can probably get it out while the housing is in the car, but my guess is that it would be pretty difficult. The housing is a large gold cadmium plated thing that resembles an animal skull. To remove it, you need to clip all the zip-ties that are holding wires to it and then remove the four mounting bolts. There are two accessed through holes on the bottom, and two accessed at the upper face. There is also a spring down near the brake pad that gets connected to it. If you're sure that the lower bearing is bad and you have to remove the upper steering column housing, don't bother pulling the upper shaft first. Just remove the upper bolt on the universal joint and the four mounting bolts and take the whole thing off together. Then you can disassemble it on the work bench.

Just go in reverse when you put everything back together. Don't forget to feed the ashtray light back through the knee bolster when you're putting that back on. And reconnect the spring on the upper steering column housing. Also be sure that the lower bolt on the universal joint on the steering column is good and tight. If it has gotten loose, that will also cause excessive play in the steering wheel.

When you put the clockspring back on, if by some chance you don't feel that you are comfortable with the way it was taped or you think that you may have rotated it out of it's original position, you'll have to re-center it. To do that, mount the clockspring, be sure that your front wheels are pointed dead straight ahead, untape the clockspring and rotate it clockwise as far as it will go (don't force it but don't wimp out either). Then turn it 2 and 1/2 turns counterclockwise and remount the steering wheel.

Jon also has some good reference photos in his "Jon's Garage" gallery on the NYSOC(.)com website.

Good luck, not as hard as it may seem.




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