thread: Steering wheel knoking noise repair

  1. #1

    Aug 2006
    Greece
    209

    MK1 Steering wheel knocking noise/ repair

    Pointed one of the silly knock when you play the steering wheel and got it fixed here is how.
    Really easy even for me that i have no mechanical knowledge whatsoever, to check if you need this repair, duck under the steering wheel and play the steering wheel left right, you have optical view of the part and you can determine if this really is the issue with your case, play the steering left right in short bursts and fast (you should hear the classic mk1 knock knock), at the same time, look under there, it is just behind and between brake petal and accelaration, and check the pinion which is mated with the u join, those should move together as a whole, if not then you have got the issue, even the slightest delay in movement will create a knock and will get worse as time goes by


    1) Remove column, not needed probably, you could weld it while on car, but it is a bit tight, and you have to work upside down, + without clear view of the part
    Remove the trims/plastic under the steering wheel plenty of screws and cables to watch out, this will give access to the column bolts
    remove the bolt thats hold the U join to the pinion ,also remove the 2 upper 12mm bolts and the two 14mm lower where the circles are in the pic,
    also disconnect 3 or 4 plugs from the column to the wiring loom

    now the column should be free

    importand note 1: first remove the u join bolt then all the rest, the column it self is heavy and if you do it the other way arround you will have to support the column, as well as turn the steering to get good access to the u joint bolt and also work the tool to unbolt,which is usually stuck after 20 years of use :) oh and all this in a worm position with limited hand movement

    importand note 2: the pinion has a flat surface, mark where this faces in regards with the u join, also DO NOT insert the pinion the other way arround in your steering column or your steering wheel will look up side down when the wheels are straight

    importand note 3: mark where the pinion sits on the steering column side, this is very important as if you weld or polybush the pinion in the wrong height it will mate with the u join too high or too low, which is not good either way as if it is to high it will barely slide in the u joint thus more force aplied in less area= bad thing for slotted pinion, and for the same reason if it is too low but on the steering column side. in my case the column and pinion was painted blue in one side black on the other, so i had a reference point on which height to weld the pinion




    Uploaded with ImageShack.us


    2) thats the pinion that had a play in my case, it is removable from the steering column, this is supposed to have some rubber arround it and pressed in the column, in my case it had very little rubber left on it, now there are two ways you can fix this,

    a) one is to pour polyurethane in the steering column and install the pinion in there, not to much though the pinion is so tight it barely slides in and out, so if you use this method, pour some in, hammer the pinion in and clean any excess polyurethane that will spil, window polurethane should do the trick no need for liquid one, but as i did weld the pinion, i have no idea if polyurethane is the best method, if it holds the engine it should hold this as well

    b) weld the thing, i went for this method as i didn't have polyurethane in house and was a 2 pound repair to the body shop couple of blocks away








    And with the weld done





    3) prime and then paint the weld




    Took me 1 hour, to remove, go to the body shop, weld and come back, haven't installed it yet as i want to fix a cable that was ripped,

    tada


    Note: as this part of the steering gets quite stressed, it might be better to apply both solutions, use some polyurethane insert the pinion and weld the top,
    if it doesn't hold in my case, next time i ll try both

  2. #2
    adamh's Avatar
    Mar 2005
    south east
    4,439
    brilliant work and write up.. stickied!
    ......in the bluecorner , fighting out of japan....

  3. #3

    Aug 2006
    Greece
    209
    thanks adamh,

    due to my english not being my first language, feel free to edit anything that doesn't make much sense :) i think in greek and type in english

  4. #4
    adamh's Avatar
    Mar 2005
    south east
    4,439
    no problem, your english is perfect to understand. time for a nice shot of that mk1 with a greek licence plate!
    ......in the bluecorner , fighting out of japan....

  5. #5
    snowtigger's Avatar
    Sep 2007
    stockport
    5,475
    Don't worry mate I think in English and write in gobbledegook, your writing is much better than mine.
    And it's a lot better than most kids from school over here, my cousin was asked to write Italy on a plant pot and he couldn't because he said he's never been there, the mind boggles.

    And yes pics please.

  6. #6

    Aug 2006
    Greece
    209
    Installed the column back after i fixed a couple of ignition cables that was poorly fixed some time in the last 25 years, also removed the toyota alarm system which was burned, to many cables to many!

    what a pain in the butt, the pinion can only go at a certain position in the u joint, after several trial end error pinion in pinion out, finally the pinion went in

    The weld option certainly fixes the issue, it is also has the effect that the steering wheel feels the road 100% even the slightest imperfaction can be felt on the steering it is more direct, that can be a good thing and a bad, it is for sure more spot on to drive and waaaaay sportier than before, but that means that the car has lost some of the easy drive options

    the polyurethane fix maybe is better one as it will still cure the knock but also leave a bit of elasticity, but still this could happen again and again so... you decide, also the reason for a rubber there is to take some of stress that otherwise would get transfered to the inner steering shaft and stress other parts of the column, bushings bearing etc i think.

  •