How to fix/adjust broken tilt steering column on RL

[OLD_HATCH]

Well. I recently received the dreaded broken tilt sterring colum after trying to adjust my wheel when I received it form the shop. Needless to say it was NOT an easy fix. I had a broken plastic gear. Of course this might not be the problem with everyones so make sure to test these things first.


1. reset the steering column module.


This can be acomplished by either disconnecting the negative battery cable, (making sure you have radio codes etc) or disconnecting the 3 plugs from the module itself which is located on the left side of the steering column. If the steering colum module senses something out of place it will stop working that particualr adjustment. Could be either tilt, retract, or both.


2. test the motor.



this can be done by simply applying power/ground to the plug off your car battery after removing the motor from the column. (four phillips head screws)



3. check for broken gear. (most likely cause)



To check for a broken gear you must remove the electric motor first. Only 4 screws like mentioned above. then inspect for broken gear parts or split plastic gear.



Here is a basic digram mof the steering column. The retract/extend motor is on the left side higher up on the column, and the tilt motor is at the right side at the bottom of the column.







Now contrary to what I saw posted on the web, replacing the column is not the only option. If you have a pick n pull or junkyard that will let youremove only the plastic gear you will be in luck. Not only money wise but in time spent.

Now this is only a description for a broken tilt gear but the extend/retract gear should be similar.




1. remove the lower dash cover below the steering colum (pulls off has clips)

2. remove the tilt steering motor. (4 phillips head screws)

3. remove the broken plastic gear. (this parts a little complicated so pics will do the talking)



At the bottom of the column you will find 2 12mm bolts on a shaft. These serve as a stop point for the tilt mechanisn so remember or measure its distance.






You will need 2 12mm opened end wrenches as the purpouse of the larger nut is to serve as a stop point and the second nut is to lock the first in its place.


After those are removed there is a rather large nut that needs to ne removed. I used a pipe wrench cause its bigger than most adjustable wrenches etc. After thats remove you will see what looks like a threaded plug. You can unscrew this by hand as its fairly easy.

After that there is a ball bearing ring, and seat should come out. If they do not come out on their own, either pull them out or let them fall out on their own when you remove the plastic gear piece.


Now in the space thats left open where the motor once was you can see the gear. turn the gear either by hand or scredriver so that it backs out of the shaft out towards the bottom.(you might have to move the column up and down to give you slack) Eventually it wil come out the bottom followed by another ball bearing.



This is what all the pieces look like.






and this is the empty space left behind







This a comparison of my broken/split gear next to a good one.






Its actually made up of 3 pieces pressed together with a plastic gear that is made on the shaft of the machine. Its impossible to fix.



Here is a picture of all the the parts layed out including the extend/retract gear to the left of the tilt gear. Unfortunately the do not interchange as the are different sizes and it has sealed bearings to the tilt motors open.








Now installation is the reverse of disassembly.

First goes one of the bearings

Second goes the plastic gear which you will have to turn by hand untill it reaches the top of the shaft. It will stop by itself at his point.

Third is another ball bearing

Fourth is the ball bearing seat.

Fith is the threaded plug that goes into the bottom of the steering colum.




At this point you need to do several things. You need to make sure the steering column is at the lowest position. It should just fall there unless your pushing it up out of your way. After that make sure the plastic gear is turned up as far as it will go without jamming it hard into the top. Then you need to screw in the threaded plug piece. You need to bolt it in till it touches and stops, and then back out very slightly. You see this piece is what keeps the gear in its place and keeps it from moving up and down. After that bolt on the large nut that will lock the threaded plug into place. Put on the 2 12mm bolts at the previous position. Install the motor, and reset the system.



After that everything should work as before. One very important note is to verify the tension and position of the plastic gear before the electric motor is reinstalled. If you reach in and try to spin the gear it should only slightly move in either direction. (like an 1/8 of an inch or less) If you can spin the plastic gear by like a 1/4 turn etc you need to tighten the threaded plug till the play is gone.




Now there are two ways to adjust the tilt into a permenant position with either a broken gear and or bad motor.


The first is simply remove the motor and spin the gear inside the column until you reach the desired position. You might have to help along by pulling/pushing the wheel up and down. reinstal the motor and it will stay in that position.



Now if for some reason the gear is just broken to pieces you can simply remove it like explained above and then tighten a tension bolt on the side of the steering column.




There it is. You basicly loosen the large locking bolt and then use a 10mm allen wren to tighten the center threaded plug as tight as you can. This will keep the wheel in the position you want. tighten the locknut and you will be good to go.



I hope this is a good explenation and if there are any questions feel free to ask.

[aftermathacura]

wow dennis, what a great write up on this. i manually adjusted mine to were i needed it most but, you now have me wanting to check some junkyards to fix it this way. much better option than bending over for honda to rape us on a new steering column.

[OLD_HATCH]

yeah.

buying a whole column for one little plastic piece is just ridiculous.

Tip for anyone interested though.


When adjusting column only adjust in one direction at a time and let the column come to a stop before changing direction.

I adjusted up and quickly pushed down and thats when the gear broke. Had I just stopped adjusting up for one second before adjusting down the gear would have probably not broken the way it did.

[sjsu95132]

Dear Old Hatch~
This is really helpful!!! Mine 97" RL also has this problem!
Would you tell me where to find the new gear to replace the broken one?
Thanks!

[B+O]

DENNIS, you WIN dude!

DIY maniac!

PM Sent.

EDIT:

when you say only in one direction, you mean only go one direction opposed to another direction at a time??? Like when you push up don't push down immediately? or when you push "out" don't push down immediately?

my wheel pulls up and away and down and out upon key insertion and removal... at the same time.

[OLD_HATCH]

exactly

if ur moving up don't imidiatly push down

or if your going out don't immidiatly push in.

For that split second the load on that plastic gear is doubled if not tripled.

I suggest when adjusting column if you overshoot let the joystick(knob) come to rest in the center (neutral) position for a split second before changing direction completely opposite.

[brysta]

hmmm will have to try this on my 98 RL

[OLD_HATCH]

Originally Posted by sjsu95132

Dear Old Hatch~
This is really helpful!!! Mine 97" RL also has this problem!
Would you tell me where to find the new gear to replace the broken one?
Thanks!

Unfortunately those parts are not available on their own.hgeez:


You have 2 choices as far as I can tell.


1. purchase an entire steering column and swap out the parts into the car and try selling the column parts that are left like motors etc. (swapping these small pieces is much easier than swapping the whole column.

2. to to a junkyard that will either sell you just the gear parts or let you pull them yourself.



Option 2 is a little harder to come by as most junkyards will want to sell the column as a whole. If you come across an RL with a damaged column from a crash etc they might let you pick it apart.


What I suggest is go to car-part.com. Alot of major junkyards use this system to inventory cars and parts. Search for RL quarter panels or fenders etc. Big parts that dont usually get removed from the car. That way you know thay actually have the whole car and its not crushed.

Search by distance and if your lucky and theres some local RL you can pick yourelf. If not you can ask about buying only the pieces you want.

[HapaLegend]

Dennis.

Can you send me your broken gear? I'm tempted to draw it up in Solidworks and see who I can have make it for all us people with the broken column...

[OLD_HATCH]

I "think" I still might have it.

If I do I'll PM ya. Remind me in a week or so if you dont hear from me.