My old column did not have a functioning telescoping feature, so I found a 68K mile known good column from a 98 CE along with a good clockspring since I have a flashing code 32 airbag light as well. After work I decided to get to replacing it since it was such a nice day (71 degrees). I have the old column out and need to swap over the old wheel, multifunction switch and clockspring and then slap it back in. That will be the last of the mechanical problems I have with the car after which I will start on getting rid of the few rust spots:
Replacing steering column (pic)
- Thread starter marked8
- Start date
fastmark1993
Dedicated LVC Member
nice job man, i wish i was that mechanically inclined haha.
It is actually incredibly easy, you just have to be careful when taking out the airbag.
fastmark1993
Dedicated LVC Member
haha imagine that exploding in your face while doing that, broken nose just waiting to happen
Which is why the battery was disconnected and all airbag fuses pulled. I was very careful doing it.
chicken
SHEOOOOOOOOT
i pulled and rebuilt mine (the telescopic mechanism, the box on the right in marked8's pic) the upper roller track worked out of place and the roller balls all fell out, resulting in this..
YouTube- loose steering column
YouTube- loose steering column
kustomizingkid
Dedicated LVC Member
Nice!
Mine works... for now
Mine works... for now
Tried to thread up the holes to pull the wheel but they are stripped, apparently from when the dealer at some point in the past put on the overextension prevention cables. Now I need to find a puller for GM wheels that don't have bolt holes. This is a PITA, I just want to get the car back on the road.
kustomizingkid
Dedicated LVC Member
Drill them out and retap them to a slightly bigger size...
ford nut
Local nut case
I finally got the damn steering wheel off. All it took was a 24 inch breaker bar with my 300+ pound weight on it, some drilling and a few busted puller bolts.
I found Loc-tite on the shaft from when the Lincoln techs had done the over travel cable recall on it. I had the new column put together in about 10-15 minutes and it will be going back into the car sometime this week. I have missed driving it.
I found Loc-tite on the shaft from when the Lincoln techs had done the over travel cable recall on it. I had the new column put together in about 10-15 minutes and it will be going back into the car sometime this week. I have missed driving it.
Kstills
Dedicated LVC Member
This is me, with two different steering columns.
Question is, what's the best way to break the wheel from the column? I stipped out both holes using a wheel puller, and have been unsuccessful with soaking the area, then putting a bolt into the hole and hammering on it.
The wheel itself appears to be aluminum, so I'm not sure any conventional puller would work without distorting the brace, even if you could get one to fit over the edges.
I drilled it out and managed to get bigger bolts to hold and get the wheel off.
It has to be the biggest PITA I have ever had with 3 Mark VIII's I have owned.
rayner601
Dedicated LVC Member
I used a 2 jaw puller and an old steering wheel bolt and a dime to get mine off several times.
Kstills
Dedicated LVC Member
Where did you hook up the two jaw puller?
That's what I tried first, but the puller kept slipping off the brace. When I tried to use the screw in puller, the center bolt ripped the threads out of the column.
rayner601
Dedicated LVC Member
I used just enough force to get it behind the center hub. It will go without breaking anything. It needs to be a big 2 jaw puller, somewhere in the 3 ton range.
slowmkviii
Dedicated LVC Member
before putting it back together your airbag light probably came from your old clock spring