98lincmk7lsc
Dedicated LVC Member
Ok, so I searched and didn't really find anything about this. I found a ton of threads about people with broken potentiometers, and other people telling them to find a good used one or something, cuz they're no longer available at Ford. I found one thread where someone asked if they can be taken apart and fixed. No one answered. Another one said something about them getting dirty. The tech article on fixing the problem? It says to replace it with a new one. Good luck on that one!
I recently bought a steering column at a pick-n-pull type junkyard with really good prices. I got it home and tested it by removing the column in my 97 and installing the JY one. Everything worked except the telescope function. Surprise, surprise! I didn't have high expectations for it, so it wasn't too much of a disappointment to me. I left it sit in the garage for about a month, until yesterday when I finally decided to open it up and take a look at it. (Years ago, I had taken apart my 98's column to fix one of the bearing slides. The pin that holds it in place went AWOL.) I took it all apart and removed the potentiometer. With a butt-load a screwdrivers (to hold the clips open on the housing), I was able to remove the top cover. I pulled out the sliding contacters in the pot. and cleaned them up pretty well with a paper towel, then cleaned off the "rails" that the sliding parts make contact with (please excuse my nomenclature, I'm not sure what everything is actually called). There was a lot of dirty grease in there. I didn't put any new grease in it, cuz I didn't have any and I mostly just wanted to see if it would work. I put everything back together and lo and behold, it worked.
Maybe I was lucky and mine wasn't really 'broken' or something, but maybe all you guys need to do is take it out, open it up, and clean it. I'll be doing it to both of my cars (one 97, and one 98), to see if works for them too.
I have a hard time believing that no one else has tried this before, so if anyone else has and it didn't work, please let me know.
Also, what kind of grease should be put back in there? Or would it be ok if I just left it like it is?
I recently bought a steering column at a pick-n-pull type junkyard with really good prices. I got it home and tested it by removing the column in my 97 and installing the JY one. Everything worked except the telescope function. Surprise, surprise! I didn't have high expectations for it, so it wasn't too much of a disappointment to me. I left it sit in the garage for about a month, until yesterday when I finally decided to open it up and take a look at it. (Years ago, I had taken apart my 98's column to fix one of the bearing slides. The pin that holds it in place went AWOL.) I took it all apart and removed the potentiometer. With a butt-load a screwdrivers (to hold the clips open on the housing), I was able to remove the top cover. I pulled out the sliding contacters in the pot. and cleaned them up pretty well with a paper towel, then cleaned off the "rails" that the sliding parts make contact with (please excuse my nomenclature, I'm not sure what everything is actually called). There was a lot of dirty grease in there. I didn't put any new grease in it, cuz I didn't have any and I mostly just wanted to see if it would work. I put everything back together and lo and behold, it worked.
Maybe I was lucky and mine wasn't really 'broken' or something, but maybe all you guys need to do is take it out, open it up, and clean it. I'll be doing it to both of my cars (one 97, and one 98), to see if works for them too.
I have a hard time believing that no one else has tried this before, so if anyone else has and it didn't work, please let me know.
Also, what kind of grease should be put back in there? Or would it be ok if I just left it like it is?
