Ryan,
Oh, THAT squeak. I just fixed that (again) on my Herald this weekend.
What happened is, you succeeded in telescoping your inner steering
column. The fix for this ties in quite nicely with Nick Moseley's
suggestion on taking out the play:
> Near the base of the column is a collar type fitting. There are two pieces,
> one is semi-circular (or U-shaped, if you prefer) and the other is a sort
> of plate. Through the plate is a bolt that accepts (I believe) an Allen key
> to screw it in. The bolt is itself surrounded by a nut.
> Loosen the surrounding nut, and screw in the bolt, whilst gently turning the
> column to make for the least resistance to the bolt being screwed in. Once
> the bolt is in as far as it will go, tighten the nut.
Before you do that, loosen the two bolts that hold the two halves of the
collar assembly together. C'mon, admit it. You loosened these to create
the squeak in the first place, didn't you:)
Now pull back on the steering wheel, maybe 1/2". It should move easily.
Slip two pieces of shirt cardboard between the steering wheel and the
switch cowl, or matchbook covers folded in double - something that will
hold about 1/16" of clearance while you climb back underneath. Push the
steering wheel back in to hold these "assembly shims".
If you want to change the position of the steering wheel, now is the
time to do it. You have to loosen the clamps holding the outer column to
the dash, and slide the outer column in or out as required. Retighten
the clamps before proceeding.
Loosen the nut Nick talks about, and at first LOOSEN the allen screw
(3/16" allen wrench) a turn or so. Tighten the two bolts that hold the
halves of the collar together. Then tighten the allen screw so it's VERY
snug, and lock it down with the nut.
Finally, remove the 1/16" shims. Presto! No more squeak, no more play.
Or, more precisely, any remaining play is from the rack.
As for the screws, they're sheet metal screws, 1/4" long by I believe
#6. Take one of the switch covers with you to the hardware store, and
get a 1/4" long oval head sheet metal screw that will fit the outer hole
snugly but without gripping.
BK
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