However while I was away in Canada and my dad took the car out for a drive he encountered the same thing happening and said that there seem to be play in the steering column (movement in and out of the shaft. When I came back I adjusted up the tube that the steering column runs through and is attached to the underside of the dash. This took up the slack in the steering column and cured the horn problem however I was still in slight ignorance as to what the problem really was.
well unfortunately this all came to a head over the weekend when I was driving along at night going over a bridge about half an hour away from home when the steering column become somewhat dis-attached from the car. Suffice to say it left me in a somewhat compromised position doing 40 mph over the brow of the bridge with no steering. The car then veered towards the left hand side with me furiously trying to steer to the right and not quite understanding what was going on. I then stamped on the brakes hit the curb on the left-hand side which then shot me over to the right hand side and the oncoming lane where I come to a halt only just gracing the driver’s side front wing on the barrier.
My passenger and I got out of the car and luckily there was not much traffic. A young lad who i will be forever thankful to turn round, came back to see everything was okay and parked his car up in front of mine with his hazard lights on. I pretty much immediately worked out what the problem was and somewhat shaken up put the steering column back over the splined shaft of the steering rack, then gingerly drove off the bridge and into a lay-by.
I waited for backup and with a few tools it took only five minutes to sort out the issue and I then drove back home with my pride somewhat damaged.
I took the steering column back off again yesterday to realign it so the steering wheel is in the correct position when the wheels are straight. But I'm having trouble with how the shaft sits on the splined shaft of the steering rack. I am unsure as to how far the steering column shaft should sit over the shaft of the steering rack. I understand that there is a recess on the shaft of the steering rack and I want to know if the bolt that goes through the steering column should sit in line with that recess? I have put it back on so that the bolt lines up with/goes through recess and tightened it up. Yet there still seems to be movement when I pull and push on the steering wheel.
so what is going on????[frame]
