How I fixed my tilt steering wobble

[mike100]

This is not a write-up. I have had a couple of steering columns apart before, but with the internet and digital pictures to guide you it is so much easier now. These things are part IQ test, Rube Goldberg Device, and patience trying mechanism. Basically perfectly suited to the C4.

Here's one of the better how-to's on the C4 Saginaw tilt steering repair:
Click here


Taking it out is easy. The FSM tells you exactly how to do it. Once you pull the airbag fuse, and steering wheel it's only about 3 steps. A couple of 13 mm bolts on the firewall, two 10mm nuts to remove the gas pedal, two 15 mm column to dash bracket bolts, and one bolt for the steering u-joint coupler in the engine compartment.

I custom fabbed a vertical jig to make the column easier to work on



Since I knew I was going to replace the tilt base and not the tilt housing, you have to pull the whole shebang out of the car. It's less aggravating to work on a table top anyhow. Otherwise follow the steps in the linked how-to above if your base is ok and you want to complete the work with the shaft still in the car.

Here's a look at the housing mechanism that wears out. The steel pin (shown at the top of pic) hogs out the cast pot-metal housing. A new housing used to cost $350, but you can't find them anymore. There are a lot of good used ones out there though. A severely loose fitting one may be possible to rebush using a custom machined bronze bushing if you wanted to try that.



Take lots of pics because this is where you start to forget what went where:



This is the tilt base. You have to take apart the bearing housing at the front of the column to remove the steel shaft. Then you can install a new base (still available). I got one from Corvette Central for $130. My base was far more worn than my tilt housing. Shown is a close-up of how the pin fits loose on one side. the new one was tight as can be and totally square.



I measured the tilt housing and found it to have only about .0015-.002 of slop on the bad side (my car only had 30k miles on it). so I chose to tighten it up with a .003 thick copper foil used for winding transformers. Tin foil doubled up even worked ok in a mock up. Basically once hammered in, a couple of small copper foil strips compress and swage into an immovable position. Only the part in the base turns now. You may also want to mic the new pins that come with the new housing and pick the largest two diameters from the new and used pins you now have.






Had a bunch of fun putting it all back together (don't forget the airbag fuse or the CCM cries and complains with a "SYS" warning on the speedo and no start). It's tight as new now and the tilt works fine still. I don't really use the tilt, but really wanted to get rid of the wheel wiggle when you hit a bump with heavy arms on the steering. just the base alone would have fixed most of it, but I wanted no play so I think this solution will last a long time. Just have to make sure that nobody uses the steering wheel to hoist themselves in or out of the car.

[PLRX]

Oh yeah, I found this broken in half on the floor mat about 5 years ago.

I havent used the high beam ever since, I wish I had it when I was driving around Mt Rushmore at night back in May.

Mike, that looks like a nightmare for a DIY. I rather install a camshaft.

[mike100]

^^^ that bright switch lever is a real tricky mofo, but I think it is possible to reinstall it from the back of the turn signal access cover without taking stuff apart.

here's another helpful pic from another website. This is for the key buzzer. when the spring comes off, here's a pic that shows how it is supposed to be:
clicky