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  1. #1
    Occupant Ilied Industries occupant's Avatar
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    Jan 2007
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    Wichita Falls, TX
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    Official "I hate fixing steering columns" thread

    I haven`t been on the forums in awhile because work has kept me busy. Right now I`m ftp`ing so much garbage in the background that I have a few minutes where I can`t do anything else. Work has gotten to the point I don`t do anything else. So the project car I bought a month ago is sitting in my yard with a dead battery and no steering wheel. It`s nothing special, just a 1990 Cutlass Ciera that drives beautifully and has a bunch of small issues. It came from an impound auction (previous owner went upstate on DUI and other prior warrants for things like assault, home invasion robbery, and well, let`s just say he better look svelte in a safety orange jumpsuit because he will be staying that way for awhile) and cost me all of $247.50 so far.

    The car has three "major" issues keeping it from being my or someone`s daily driver. The radiator has a pinhole leak I think I can get welded up. The front tires are pretty much junk, I think they are Baldyear Maypops. And the biggest of the little major issues was a steering column you could move a good 6-8 inches horizontally or vertically.

    I fixed the tightness problem in the column. The knuckle bolts were LOOSE in their bores, not even bolted to the column frame. They are in now, coated in Loctite and torqued to spec. However, in reassembling the column, I bent the rod that controls the high beam switch pretty bad. It now sticks out past the steering wheel. It`s my fault. I should have removed it like the instructions said by pulling the lower dash off and popping it out of the way. But I did a poor job and now it`s come back to haunt me. I can`t turn the ignition switch at all, either. Off and On I can do, but I can`t Lock to take out the key, nor turn it to start. So it`s a problem.

    I think I`ll be taking the entire column out of the car. I may be able to fix it. I may not. My local mechanic here in our tiny town might be able to fix it. He might not. I am almost to the point where I want to go to a junkyard, sit in a hundred different cars, and pick out the column that is the most functional, and live with it. That will cost $55 or so.

    Another option is to spend $20 or so and get a floor-mounted dimmer switch but then the turn signal switch will flop around loose with no support from the stupid rod.

    *pulls out a little more hair*

    Just needed to vent. Feel free to share more column horror stories below!

    By the way, here`s a picture of the car. This is what a 20-year old GM car looks like after fifteen years parked outdoors in Texas sun, a Maaco repaint, and then someone who doesn`t wash the car owns it for a few years and lives in it:



    Had the original owners kept it in a garage and took better care of it, it would probably look more like this:



    I don`t really care for this car either. It`s not costing me any money. Here`s why:

    $31.05 sold price of car stereo from trunk on eBay
    $10.49 sold price of another car stereo from trunk on eBay
    $67.00 current bid for a handgun from trunk on GunBroker
    $25.00 current bid for the other handgun from trunk on GunBroker
    $69.95 not spent on a floor jack since it had one
    $84.00 not spent on replacement tools from my 5 year old Channellock set
    $40.00 approximate pawn value of the 200+ CD`s it has in it

    I also have a standing offer of $550 for the car with the column fixed and the tires/radiator NOT done from a family friend. Another lady offered $800 if I fix everything (column, radiator, 2 tires) and replace the back shocks.

    But it`s all on hold while I bust my tail on these websites I am working on.

  2. #2
    Jodaddy's Avatar
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    May 2010
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    Re: Official "I hate fixing steering columns" thread

    shes a little rough around the edges but all cleaned up it`ll be a decent ride, but for the money spent cant beat it! I`m surprised you didnt find a dead body in the trunk!
    and as for the steering column, ive been there done that, my first car was a 1980 Firebird (still have it in the backyard awaiting a new powerplant transplant!) But that thing was always giving me issues! So i feel your pain.

 

 

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