steering wheel won't lock, and sounds like it's loose

[killnine]

Ok well, just got this 73 Duster, and over the last couple of drives around town it has started to develop a clattering in the steering column. It has an aftermarket grant wheel, btw, but otherwise is a column shift. It doesn't lock when it normally would, with the key in the off position. I can feel it wanting to grab the lock plate, but it doesn't. The real problem, is that while I'm driving, I can hear all kinds of clattering when turning the wheel. I'm a little worried that something might grab or stop it from turning, so I've quite driving it until I fix it. I'm assuming something is loose or broken in the mechanism that makes the steering lock work. Any ideas what I might be getting in to?

 

[killnine]

Wow this has never happened to anyone? I've got the wheel off and I'm waiting for a warm break to get into the rest of the column.

 

[Brad4406]

That's never happened to me, but I have removed that mechanism before; on drag cars, you aren't allowed to have that mechanism.

It has been probably 15 years since I tore a column apart, but I believe I can remember what I did. I think after I removed the steering wheel, I lifted off the turn signal mechanism, removed 3 screws holding the upper column on, removed it and exposed a round gear with numerous slots in it. I believe I just pulled that gear up the shaft and off the column. I may have used a gear puller, but I can't remember. You should see a tab that slips in between each one of the slots on the gear. The spring is probably broken on it to allow the symptoms you are describing.

 

[FJ5]

You can leave the little slotted flat disk on there and just remove the locking mechanism.

 

[Brad4406]

You can leave the little slotted flat disk on there and just remove the locking mechanism.

Good point; maybe that is what I did. Like I said; it's been a while since I did it.

 

[rmchrgr]

It sounds like the locking collar is loose. There's a roll pin and a slip on cover that goes over the snout of the collar when it's installed on the shaft properly.

There's also a piece inside the column bowl where the key tumbler is that is spring-loaded. It catches on one of the slots to lock it. That could be worn out or loose as well.

Another possible cause is misalignment - collapsed steering shaft, bearing insulator is shot, coupler is shot causing movement, breakaway pucks on the mounting collar, etc. All this stuff can wear out over time and cause binding or excessive movement which will lead to stuff like this.

Only other thing I can think of is that someone took it apart before you got it and failed to put it back together correctly.

It's not hard to take it out and take it apart. It does not take any special tools or skills.
Pop it out and see what's going on.

Here's a pic of the locking collar. You can see the depression in the slip on cover where the roll pin is.

 

[killnine]

It sounds like the locking collar is loose. There's a roll pin and a slip on cover that goes over the snout of the collar when it's installed on the shaft properly.

There's also a piece inside the column bowl where the key tumbler is that is spring-loaded. It catches on one of the slots to lock it. That could be worn out or loose as well.

Another possible cause is misalignment - collapsed steering shaft, bearing insulator is shot, coupler is shot causing movement, breakaway pucks on the mounting collar, etc. All this stuff can wear out over time and cause binding or excessive movement which will lead to stuff like this.

Only other thing I can think of is that someone took it apart before you got it and failed to put it back together correctly.

It's not hard to take it out and take it apart. It does not take any special tools or skills.
Pop it out and see what's going on.

Here's a pic of the locking collar. You can see the depression in the slip on cover where the roll pin is.

Yeah I can feel it riding the grooves it is supposed to lock into when I turn it slowly. If the key is on it doesn't do it, but it does make other noises. As soon as I get into it I'll just remove the mechanism. From what I've read you can remove the locking plate with the notches also? The thing that looks like a saw blade? Or is that somehow necessary to keep it all together?

 

[rmchrgr]

Yeah I can feel it riding the grooves it is supposed to lock into when I turn it slowly. If the key is on it doesn't do it, but it does make other noises. As soon as I get into it I'll just remove the mechanism. From what I've read you can remove the locking plate with the notches also? The thing that looks like a saw blade? Or is that somehow necessary to keep it all together?

I do have to retract my last statement that you don't need any special tools to take apart the column. You will need a steering wheel puller.

In any event, you can remove those parts but why? If you pull it apart, you will see what the noise is all about. Find/fix the 'problem' and things will work like they should.

The locking collar is likely not the root cause unless the roll pin came out which is hard to believe. Again, misalignment (shaft moving up and down inside the jacket or something similar) will cause this sort of issue. If that's the case, you need to figure out why the shaft is moving up and down; could be mounting, coupler, isolator bearing etc. Something is worn out somewhere.

If that's not the cause, then the spring loaded mechanism inside the bowl is loose for some reason. It's retained by a flat plate to the bowl housing with a couple screws. The back of it protrudes through the bowl to the locking collar to stop it. When the key is turned, it releases. Could be something in that arrangement of parts, possibly a loose retainer plate screw. That could be what's making the 'other' noises you hear.

Here are a few pics for you to give you a better visual idea of what this stuff looks like. First is the spring mechanism thing. The spring is wrapped around the arms to keep tension on it. It gets released by a tab in the tumbler when the key is turned. The second pic is the column bowl where this part resides. You can see the tumbler on the right and the hole through which the mechanism protrudes to engage the lock collar. You can also see the screw holes for the retainer plate. The last pic is the bowl with the plate installed. I believe this is the area where you need to be looking. If not, again, you have something causing excessive movement and/or binding in the steering shaft.

 

[killnine]

So I guess this is the part where the guy with the saggy pants bent under the column turns and says 'this is your problem right here'.

I really have no intention of taking out the whole lower shafts and couplers, working around the headers, and fixing this somehow with nylon screws or whatever. It is going to have to go back together like it is. I took out the spring and arm that lock the wheel. At least I know it won't lock on me while I'm driving.

 

[rmchrgr]

So I guess this is the part where the guy with the saggy pants bent under the column turns and says 'this is your problem right here'.

I really have no intention of taking out the whole lower shafts and couplers, working around the headers, and fixing this somehow with nylon screws or whatever. It is going to have to go back together like it is. I took out the spring and arm that lock the wheel. At least I know it won't lock on me while I'm driving.

Like I stated initially, the shaft is collapsed. No fixing that, it's junk. I mean, it will steer the car but without the shear pins intact, the shaft will not have the correct impact absorption in case of a frontal crash. Just be aware that a hard enough crash and you could potentially get speared with the shaft since now there's nothing to stop it from becoming a projectile, right? I'm no engineer so I have to trust the guys who designed this stupid crap had our best interest in mind.

I've read driving around with a collapsed shaft can wear the coupler shoes out fast because the lower shaft will want to move farther down into the coupler but I have no way to corroborate that. Not trying to be officer goody two-shoes here or scare you, just stating facts, ma'am.

If it were me, I'd try to replace the shaft with a good one or at least put something back in there to keep it from moving, like epoxy or small nylon pins. If you can keep it stationary, the lock collar and spring will work properly, provided you line up the two column halves to where they were originally.

 

[killnine]

Like I stated initially, the shaft is collapsed. No fixing that, it's junk. I mean, it will steer the car but without the shear pins intact, the shaft will not have the correct impact absorption in case of a frontal crash. Just be aware that a hard enough crash and you could potentially get speared with the shaft since now there's nothing to stop it from becoming a projectile, right? I'm no engineer so I have to trust the guys who designed this stupid crap had our best interest in mind.

I've read driving around with a collapsed shaft can wear the coupler shoes out fast because the lower shaft will want to move farther down into the coupler but I have no way to corroborate that. Not trying to be officer goody two-shoes here or scare you, just stating facts, ma'am.

If it were me, I'd try to replace the shaft with a good one or at least put something back in there to keep it from moving, like epoxy or small nylon pins. If you can keep it stationary, the lock collar and spring will work properly, provided you line up the two column halves to where they were originally.

What your saying about the lower shaft riding lower into the coupler makes some sense. I am not sure I understand how the upper shaft would be restricted from still collapsing though. I'm not saying I know what I'm talking about here or anything, but since the column is in the same place it always is, and the upper shaft is in the same place as before because of the way it gets locked down, then why is it any different with or without the pins? It seems to me the pins just keep the lower shaft from moving lower. If the upper shaft were to drop any lower than where it is normally, the lock plate would hit everything behind it and rub on metal.

 

[killnine]

In addition to the thoughts above, if we assume that there is some possibility of the column being 'collapsed' causing a danger, it would seem to me that if you had two steering columns, one where it is the normal length uncollapsed, and one where it is shorter because it is collapsed, how would this provide any measure of safety? If you're moving that far forward, you are moving the same distance to hit the column at its full collapsed location whether it starts out uncollapsed or collapsed. Once way or the other, if you go that far, you're screwed. Now if you welded the column in its normal length instead of replacing the pins or just leaving the pins gone, there is where I could see a problem, because now you have caused the distance you have to go forward before the column stops moving to be shorter, and therefore you will be impaled sooner.

 

[rmchrgr]

I am not sure I understand how the upper shaft would be restricted from still collapsing though.

Understand, it's collapsed already. The shear pins prevent it from collapsing until they are sheared. It was designed to collapse as a safety feature.

A severe enough frontal impact could/would push the shaft backwards towards the driver. If the shear pins were intact, they would offer some amount of resistance if the lower shaft was forced backwards by an impact. So theoretically if you have no pins, there is no resistance acting on the two halves of the shaft and the lower half becomes a spear.

And unfortunately as you experienced first hand, those stupid shear pins are all that prevent the shaft from moving up and down.

Put it back together however you choose. The likelihood of you getting impaled to the back of your seat in a crash is pretty slim. Only thing I am saying is that the potential for that scenario is greater without the pins. The factory put them there for that reason.

I have rebuilt several columns myself, a couple of which had collapsed shafts like yours. I went and got new shafts with the pins intact. Wasn't a big deal, I just wanted that little extra peace of mind.