Frontera steering column removal (to take dash out)

Heater matrix exploded on my mum's '95 Frontera 2.4i (as they seem to do)
and I let myself in for the fun of a full dash removal to replace it before
she can sell the monstrosity. At least I convinced her to get a little SJ
like mine - they don't have a heater matrix just a little pipe the comes out
above the exhaust manifold )

However, having pulled apart most of the interior I am now stuck - Sir
Haynes suggests I need to remove the entire steering column, makes sense i
suppose if only because its bolted to some inconvenient places.
Unfortunately Sir Haynes also claims its a simple case of undoing a bolt
above the UJ on the steering column further down under the bonnet - my
problem being I can't find a UJ or a bolt.

There is a spline joint of some description covered with a ribbed sleeve
which i grudginly cut open in the hope it was the right one. Which it
wasn't.
I can only assume the model Haynes worked with was different to mine.

In theory I suppose a joints a joint, does it really matter which one I
separate it at? Especially given I am already going to have to get in there
to regrease and replace the sleeve anyway. But I don't want to go pulling
apart the joint if its going to make it a bastard job to get the steering
lined up straight again.

So, anybody got any suggestions?
Seems like an awful lot of trouble for a bit of hot air..
Thanks in advance

- /\nthony \/\/ebb

Anthony Webb wrote:
> Heater matrix exploded on my mum's '95 Frontera 2.4i (as they seem to
> do)

My matrix lasted a bit longer than that, but yes they
do leak after 10 to 12 years or so.

> and I let myself in for the fun of a full dash removal to replace
> it before she can sell the monstrosity.

Good vehicles. Bad press. Undeserved if my experience
is typical. Y(mothers)MMV.

> At least I convinced her to
> get a little SJ like mine - they don't have a heater matrix just a
> little pipe the comes out above the exhaust manifold )

I had a rented SJ on holiday once. Might have been
a duff one but I've never driven a more scary handling
vehicle in my life.

> However, having pulled apart most of the interior I am now stuck - Sir
> Haynes suggests I need to remove the entire steering column, makes

I read that and decided to try without doing it. And I
did it! Now mine is the old "square dash" model with
push button light & wiper controls and no airbags etc.
Also no tilt adjustment on the column. Your mileage
may vary. All I did was remove the wheel & detach the
indicator/hazard switch and leave it dangling. I was
then able to manouvre the dash out with the column in situ.

> sense i suppose if only because its bolted to some inconvenient
> places. Unfortunately Sir Haynes also claims its a simple case of
> undoing a bolt above the UJ on the steering column further down under
> the bonnet - my problem being I can't find a UJ or a bolt.

It's almost on top of the steering box itself.

> There is a spline joint of some description covered with a ribbed
> sleeve which i grudginly cut open in the hope it was the right one.

You mean the one near the bulkhead? No, it's much nearer
the front of the car than that, and lower down.

More points to watch. There are 2 or 3 multiplugs in the
driver's side kick panel which connect the dash loom to
the main loom. Haynes does not mention them but you need
to disconnect them. The separate dash loom stays inside the
dash when you take it out, this is why you do not need
to disconnect the dash switches (except the heater ones
and the alarm switch if you have that). When you
get to the heater box and remove all the screws and
it won't come apart don't force it, have another look
for the screws you missed.

It's really not a hard job and I definitely recommend
trying to do without removing the column if you can.

-- Steve

Firstly, many many thanks for the only informative reply i've had!
I've not donned the overalls and dived back in yet but i hopefully will do
in a few hours time when its light again..

> My matrix lasted a bit longer than that, but yes they
> do leak after 10 to 12 years or so.

i'm now informed that there was already a stain on the carpet where it must
have happened before, whether they just used some rad repair the first time
and it was that giving up or if it was actually a second fault i will
probably never know. i've gone for the replacement-part-with-guarantee
approach myself.

> Good vehicles. Bad press. Undeserved if my experience
> is typical. Y(mothers)MMV.

s'ok, i was informed suspension clunk, leaky matrix, and rear springs
sagging from towing were common, it suffers from 2 of 3 but fortuantely
never had a tow bar fitted.
don't mention the word mileage! about 3 and a half to the tanker-full? i
suppose its no different to a bmw or indeed any other big 4x4 n i admit i'm
no conservationist myself, but when the fuel tank is twice the size and you
still have to fill it twice as often, its a bit much on the wallet.. or
worse the credit card.

> I had a rented SJ on holiday once. Might have been
> a duff one but I've never driven a more scary handling
> vehicle in my life.

they made it into the top gear book of worst cars in the world for their
holiday rental status. they are in all fairness quite unimpressive road
cars. but i didn't buy my uneconomical and politically incorrect vehicle for
its handling ON the road (and i have no kids to do the school run in it
yet)........not that she has the same excuse of course, but hers is the more
modern version with a few further tweaks by the previous owner to make it an
onroad experience quite well suited to her current
quasi-mid-life-crisis.....thing.

> mine is the old "square dash" model with
> push button light & wiper controls and no airbags etc.
> Also no tilt adjustment on the column. Your mileage
> may vary. All I did was remove the wheel & detach the
> indicator/hazard switch and leave it dangling. I was
> then able to manouvre the dash out with the column in situ.

brightened my day to read that, mine is the same version so will hopefully
work for me just as well!
question though - did you have to undo the bolts securing the column to (in
appearance at least) the dash or does whatever its bolted to stay in place
and the dash come away seperately?

> It's almost on top of the steering box itself.

i'll have a look, hopefully it won't matter anyway!

> > There is a spline joint of some description covered with a ribbed
> > sleeve which i grudginly cut open in the hope it was the right one.
>
> You mean the one near the bulkhead? No, it's much nearer
> the front of the car than that, and lower down.

yeah that one, thought not

> More points to watch. There are 2 or 3 multiplugs in the
> driver's side kick panel which connect the dash loom to
> the main loom. Haynes does not mention them but you need
> to disconnect them. The separate dash loom stays inside the
> dash when you take it out, this is why you do not need
> to disconnect the dash switches (except the heater ones
> and the alarm switch if you have that). When you

gotta love haynes for thoroughness.. presumably if they're not staring me in
the face now, they'll become obvious when i pull the dash off and find its
still connected by some multiplugs <g>

> get to the heater box and remove all the screws and
> it won't come apart don't force it, have another look
> for the screws you missed.

ah, one of those is it

> It's really not a hard job and I definitely recommend
> trying to do without removing the column if you can.

i'll let u kno!

Anthony Webb wrote:
> don't mention the word mileage! about 3 and a half to the tanker-full? i
> suppose its no different to a bmw or indeed any other big 4x4 n i admit
i'm
> no conservationist myself, but when the fuel tank is twice the size and
you
> still have to fill it twice as often, its a bit much on the wallet.. or
> worse the credit card.

I don't know what the 2.4i LWB should do. I have
the 2.0i SWB and it does roughly 24-25 in mixed driving
and 27-29 on a long run. I'd be surprised if a LWB
2.4i in proper order was too much worse than that
- maybe 1-2 mpg less overall? What petrol 4x4 of
comparable size and weight does significantly better?
Of course if it's not running to spec then it needs
sorting but you'll have to measure the fuel consumption
properly to really know (i.e. not an "about 80 miles
to the tenner" sort of estimate).

> question though - did you have to undo the bolts securing the column
> to (in appearance at least) the dash or does whatever its bolted to
> stay in place and the dash come away seperately?

I don't remember undoing any steering column mounting
bolts at all, but there may well be a bracket that attaches
the dash TO the steering column (purely to support the
dash).

> gotta love haynes for thoroughness.. presumably if they're not
> staring me in the face now, they'll become obvious when i pull the
> dash off and find its still connected by some multiplugs <g>

That's how I found them! What's this tugging on the
RHS of the dash when I try to pull it out? By this
time I had carefully disconnected all the dash switches
in the mistaken belief that their loom was staying
in the vehicle. Haynes' sins are largely by omission.

-- Steve