fishsponge's ongoing thread of problems!

[fishsponge]

You have done exactly the right thing. The car should drive in a straight line with the Allen key in the box. Adjust until it does this.

It does exactly this

It did give a bit of steering-wheel wobble at 55-60mph which i've never experienced before, but after 200 yards or so the wobbling stopped, did not come back and when I got home everything was still tight and adjusted as it should be, so I put that down to road conditions or coincidence.

Then pop your airbag out and loosen the wheel, then set it straight.

You make it sound so easy... lol

Some people recommend doing the steering-wheel adjustment inside the engine bay, but mine looks as if it's siezed (probably) and there are so many aircon pipes in the way it'll be a nightmare. Plus every time I go to have a look I have to get changed and when I can't figure it out and come back inside I have to get changed again - changing clothes 10 times a day is a nightmare because my wifi doesn't work and my laptop can only be plugged in with me sitting on the sofa!

Anyway... currently my favourite method is to adjust the steering-wheel from inside the car.

I have found two star-shaped bolts in the back of the steering wheel... is this the first thing i do? undo those bolts? If so, why does my horn go off as soon as my flat-head screwdriver (I don't have a star-shaped one) even touches the bolt?!?

Also, by peeling back the bendy rubber "surround" on the steering wheel itself, i can see several other bolts inside the steering wheel, but they all look tamper-proof or completely inaccessible.

 

[Brian S]

What bendy plastic surround on the steering wheel??????

You have the airbag which is sealed, and the wheel which is a solid peice. I don't understand.

Also the horn should not go off when touching those bolts unless you are leaning on the wheel to get to them, battery should be disconnected anyway.

 

[fishsponge]

around the central "core" of the steering wheel is a rubber "cowling". This is what keeps the dust etc... out of the back of the steering wheel itself. If I bend it to create a gap, I can see inside the back of the steering wheel. Inside here are several screws which look tamper-proof.

As for the horn going off them those bolts are touched with my screwdriver, I am certainly not leaning on the horn when it happens. Could it be because it's a magnetic screwdriver?

I really don't know why this is so damn complicated... everyone says "take off the airbag, take off the wheel then do the reverse". I simply cannot find a way to do either!

And I cannot disconnect the battery for reasons mentioned in a previous post...

I have two batteries, do not understand electrics, no idea which cables to undo & no idea what the radio code is or how to program the central locking fob again if need be. Each of those individually is a show stopper for disconnecting the battery.

 

[fishsponge]

Here's a pic of inside the steering wheel itself, looking in from the top of the wheel... I have no way of undoing either the one-way nut in the foreground or the weird nut in the background at 90 degrees to the other one with weird notches cut out of it...

The two bolts in the back of the steering wheel which make the horn sound whenever I touch them with a screwdriver is not in this photograph. It is a star-shaped bolt which I do not have a proper screwdriver for, hence why I would have to use a flat-head if I were to undo it.

 

[fishsponge]

I've been googling this all damn day to try and find a way to level off my steering wheel and so far I haven't found any method that I can make sense of... one I just found is this one:

WARNING: WORKING WITH AIRBAGS CAN BE LETHAL!! USE EXTREME CAUTION!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, if you are still willing to do this, please follow along.

Disconnect the Battery, positive (+) and negative (-) sides.

Locate your fuse panel, (usually under the drivers side dash) and remove the fuse for the air bag (Inf. Res.).

Now, keep your head to one side, (common sense, just in case) if you reach around the back of your steering wheel, you will find two hex bolts on each side. Remove them.

Please be careful, with those bolts removed your bag will pull easily from the center of the steering wheel, there is a wire there, (I have seen it yellow, and I have seen it green) you need to cut that wire, make sure you leave it long enough so you can reattach it if you want to later.

Put the airbag someplace safe, FACE UP. (Unless you want a hole through the ceiling if something happens).

Well that puts me off slightly from doing it at all... and is pushing me towards do it inside the engine bay again, but I cannot figure out how to do that either!

I'm getting rather annoyed with it all now as well... brake pads, track rod, steering damper, wheel bearings, oil changes, filter changes etc... all very very easy. Levelling off the steering wheel seems to be a nightmare!

I wish I could afford to take it to a garage now... but I can't, so I am going to have to do this myself somehow and ideally today.

Here are some pics inside the engine bay...

Here's the top of the steering column...

and the bottom of the steering column...

How do you think I should proceed? Stick with the steering-wheel itself or attempt the engine bay?

This is driving me insane.

 

[fishsponge]

right... i've just been outside yet again to have another look at everything and decided to actually try the one and only thing I could see was even possible...

I removed the bolt with the red arrow completely and tried to turn the steering wheel to the correct position before putting the bolt back in again (because I could see splines and the bolt seemed to be holding shut a clamp):

Unfortunately, having removed the bolt completely, the steering wheel still turned the road wheels regardless of the force I put on the steering wheel.

So i'm completely and utterly out of ideas now... i really have no clue how to do this any more!

 

[jamesmartin]

hello your better doing it at box end ,undo 2 clamp bolts remove them turn shaft till slot can be got at and fit small chisel ,large screw driver to open up slot so uj can be slid up shaft ,on the shafts you will see a notch or flat for clamp bolt to pass ,adjustment can only be made where this is a groove around shaft get somone to hold steering wheel in correct place and refit uj onto box or shaft

 

[fishsponge]

Thanks for the reply, james

The trouble with the box end is all the aircon rubbish in the way... some of it as seen below:

Is it still possible with all that crap in the way?

As for these clamp bolts, I don't see any at all! Where are they in the picture above? I can't get a wire brush in there because there's no room due to the aircon pipes etc so i don't even know where to begin! lol

Plus, it's nearly dark now, so it might have to wait until after christmas (today is my last available day)

 

[jamesmartin]

there your oil cooler pipes they can be undone and moved 24 mm spanner or 15/16 you will loose a drop of oil so put tray down ,some input shafts on pas boxes have a flat for bolt through uj so cant be adjusted there some have a groove right round so can , but it is only a matter of pulling uj back and refitting in right place ,be careful when off as you have air bag so rotary coupling in steering wheel and they can be a bit fragile if steering wheel is spun etc when uj disconnected wedging uj open helps alot

 

[Brian S]

Those first pics were your airbag itself, please don't tamper with them. Get yourself a set of torx bits and undo those 2 bolts on the back of the airbag. But please disconnect the battery and take out the fuse first. With the airbag out there is a plug in the middle, carefully pull it out, it will be in tight but just pulls out.

The centre bolt can then be removed and I find the hardest part can be pulling the wheel off the shaft.

 

[fishsponge]

thanks again, james... it's unfortunately too late for me to attempt this now (i've been stung by working in the dark too many times) so it's either gonna have to wait until after christmas or get done at a garage if i can find the cash...

thanks for the advice though... it really is appreciated and if I can find the time one weekend i'll give it another go...

 

[Brian S]

The airbag looks like this when out.

And the bit you can see is this.

 

[fishsponge]

Those first pics were your airbag itself, please don't tamper with them. Get yourself a set of torx bits and undo those 2 bolts on the back of the airbag. But please disconnect the battery and take out the fuse first. With the airbag out there is a plug in the middle, carefully pull it out, it will be in tight but just pulls out.

The centre bolt can then be removed and I find the hardest part can be pulling the wheel off the shaft.

Thanks for your reply too, Brian...

i will not tamper with the airbag... certainly not!

and i cannot disconnect the battery, mainly because I do not know the radio code. there are other reasons as mentioned a few times before, but if I disconnect the battery, presumably i'll need a new radio head unit... which i cannot afford.

My current plan is to adjust this in the engine bay, mainly due to the battery issue and the fact that someone posted in another thread (which i copied into this thread) which really suggests i shouldn't attempt the steering wheel approach for safety reasons!

Only trouble is, as mentioned above, i've run out of time so it'll have to wait until after Christmas or until i have enough cash to get it done at a garage because i will not have time to work on my car in daylight now until after christmas, basically.

 

[matthew2riches]

Drive it here sometime and I will sort it in 5 minutes.......

 

[Brian S]

I've taken off and on a few airbags in my time and as long as your carefully and follow the rules your safe.

I know what you mean about the radio code, I am not sure of mine either, there is a 4 digit number written on the owners manual but not sure it's the code.

I am avoiding battery disconnection for the same reason.

You could adjust the steering bar on the front to move wheel as well. I don't think it changes anything else in the geometry.

 

[fishsponge]

i cannot adjust the drag link to correct steering wheel position because it'll put the steering box way off center... I did the wheel alignment based on the steering box being centered, so i'd rather not wreck that.

And where are you based, matthew? I'll work out the diesel cost and time to get to you!

 

[fishsponge]

Right... on to a new problem!!

While i was under the car, I noticed this:

At first glance it looks like my transfer box is leaking ATF, but the transfer box has EP90 in it. Also, this stuff does not smell of EP90. It doesn't really smell of anything, but the smell of ATF is so weak that in this small quantity it could easily smell of nothing.

So... auto gearbox rear oil seal gone? I do hope not.

I checked the ATF level today, stone cold, started engine, into reverse, into drive, back into park and dipstick pushed in. Level was in between min and max, but closer to max.

MIN----------MAX
__________^_____

When I bought it (over a year ago) it was lower than minimum so I topped it up very carefully a bit at a time over the course of a week until it was perfect and have not topped it up since.

If i wipe the fluid away and then drive somewhere it is back. Also, if I wipe the oil away and don't drive anywhere it comes back. I've not tried this when cold though... only when i've just got back from a journey, so it could be stuff that has already leaked during the journey just working its way down to the lowest point. I suspect no fluid leaks while it's cold, but i don't know for certain.

Any suggestions?? Do i need to care??

 

[jamesmartin]

need better pictures ,autos can leak from rear seal ,sump sealing rubber ,oil leaks spread backwards obviously

 

[fishsponge]

indeed... it always flows down and backwards... but as you can see in the second photo everything on the left (towards the front of the car) is dry. It therefore suggests that the oil is coming down the front side of the transfer box. also, there is nothing dripping from the auto gearbox sump.

does that narrow it down enough, or more photos still needed?

 

[jamesmartin]

it looks to be coming from gap where auto joins t/box ,gap is there to let oil run on floor if seal leaks rather than enter t/box ,jusrt ensure it not coming out of breather on passenger side rear of auto should have pipe on it