Steering column looseness

[garys86]

Hey guys,
I have a 86 and the steering column moves excessively in the up direction, I guess because it rests in the down position. Is this common for a steering column that has telescoping and up & down settings to be loose? If not how do I fix it. When I put my knee on the wheel for a second to keep the car going straight my knee pushes it up. Where the column attaches to the dash is fine, its the wheel itself.
Gary

 

[B17Crew]

I had a little bit of play in my ’96s steering column -- similar to your description. A trip to the dealer solved it. Dealer said they see the loose column from people using the steering wheel to pull themselves up and out of the C4. I can see that being the case, the original owner of my car was an older gentlemen.

I don’t have a cost for the repair because it was covered under warranty. That was about 5-6 years ago, the “looseness” has not returned.

B17Crew

 

[MK86VELA]

Hey garys 86, I had the exact same problem on my 86. The whole steering column is loose. I found out the their is 2 hex t8 bolts that u need to tighten in the column. Problem is u need to remove the steering wheel, turning signal and ignition switch to get to them. It took me a whole day to do this. i tightened these two bolts and no more shaking, or loose steering wheel.

 

[MK86VELA]

http://www.chevyasylum.com/column/tiltcol.html



Try this site it helped me!!

 

[garys86]

Thanks MK,

I checked out the link, looks doable for a part time corvette mechanic.
Gary

 

[MK86VELA]

the only thing is the telescoping on the vette. The link does not include this. I had a hard time putting the wheel back cuz the tool would literally pull out the shaft and hence the tool would not work. I had to push the spring back as hard as i could and had my son insert the clip. I'm sure there is an easier way but it was late and i was tired and it worked.