Steering Rack Job - Wheel spins freely any direction w/o stopping...

[b5a4erik]

Hey all,

I'm in the middle of replacing my steering rack, and I have the bit behind the steering wheel that connects the rack to the wheel disconnected, and now my steering wheel spins freely in either direction, and also sort of wobbles back and forth like one of those round toys with weights on the bottom. I was moving the shaft between the steering wheel and the rack back and forth, or towards and away if I was sitting in the seat, however I moved it so much into the wheel that I think I disconnected something in there.

Is this the case or am I A-o1<ay?

[quattrosnrabbit]

If you've been spinning it around willy nilly, you'll likely find that you've ruined your airbag clock spring. As for the fore/aft adjustment, it is possible you've dislodged the inner shaft if you did this with the u-joint disconnected. That you should be able to reinstall into the fixed portion of the column however. Good luck.

[b5a4erik]

Airbag lights been on... will have to handle that.

However, would I have to remove the steering column covers to fix this?

[b5a4erik]

bump.

[b5a4erik]

Help please.

[Rodgman15]

Clock spring can be accessed by removing the steering wheel if I remember correctly.

[b5a4erik]

Thanks Rodgman.

[Wrath And Tears]

Yup, pull the airbag, undo the nut holding the steering wheel, and you will see the clock spring. I don't know how difficult ours our to replace, sometimes you don't need to remove the trim around the wheel. It all depends how the electricals from the harness connect to the clock spring. GM is famous for having super complicated clock springs. Other Euro and Import car's I've done have been pretty simple.

It could be possible for your clock spring (if you didn't tear it by spinning the wheel) to be reset to the neutral position and then reinstalled. Resetting it can be hard and not worth it depending on the cost of a new one.

The rule of thumb when dealing with steering racks and disconnecting the steering wheel is to make sure the car's wheels are pointed straight ahead and the steering wheel is level. This ensures that even after disconnecting the rack from the linkage, and even if the steering wheel moves, all you have to do is center it again before reinstalling the linkage to the rack.

Same kind of rule of thumb goes with airbags. Most people are afraid of them for no reason (besides the fact they can kill you if they go off right by your face). As long as the key is out of the ignition, just go ahead and rip those connectors out. The connectors are made so that as they are removed, they are grounded so that no power can "magically" jump to the airbag and set them off. I've been diagnosing issues in my car and just removed the rear seatbelts. I didn't disconnect the battery, just made sure the key was out and ripped those electrical connectors right out. This doesn't apply for you, but its something good to know just like the info about dealing with racks.

[b5a4erik]

Thanks W&T,

My steering wheel is straight, rack connected, wheels recently aligned... all good then?

Thanks for the airbag knowledge, need to diag the airbag light soon so that is good to know.

[Wrath And Tears]

Yup you should be all good then. If the clock spring did get broken your horn wont work either (normally). Or rather I should say depending on the way it got broke (if it did) the horn could work but the airbag wont, or the other way around, or nothing work.

[b5a4erik]

Good that you mentioned that, my horn doesn't work. Now I know! Thanks again man.