Brian S · Nov 28, 2011

Prepare to be raped for a new one.

You've only looked for a few hours at most. If its not urgent (mine is fooked all wires cut and no working horn or airbag) then keep a regular look on eBay, not just for the specific part but for breaking ES discoveries with the extras you need.

fishsponge · Nov 28, 2011

it's hard to gauge how urgent it is... but i do about 250 miles per week and although i've not needed an airbag yet and rarely press the horn I use cruise control non-stop! I can live without cruise control for a while, of course, but who knows when i might need that airbag or the horn... so i'll try to get one ASAP.

I've looked up the new price too... they're about £180!!!! That's ridiculous...

davek0974 · Nov 28, 2011

I think you'll find airbags have a life expectancy of ten years or so, chances are that it will work in an older vehicle, mine is 18 years old so who knows? What I'm saying is don't rely on the bag saving yer face. Keep an on the 'bay.

Mr Noisy · Nov 28, 2011

Shame it went wrong though cos otherwise it could have been successful.

Thing to learn from this is that you pull the wheel off as little as possible, don't touch the clock spring apart from as little movement as possible to get it centred and then gingerly put the wheel back on.

I'm sorry i didn't go into it more thoroughly now...

xat44 · Nov 29, 2011

thing is. you`d have thought the guy in the garage would have been aware of the need to just lift the wheel a little.

fishsponge · Nov 29, 2011

the guy in the garage is good, but because the rotary coupler shifted when the wheel came off anyway, we both agreed that we should align it just to be safe.

We pushed in the locking pin, rotated it anti-clockwise as far as it would go, then rotated it 2.5 turns clockwise. We then let out the locking pin and put the steering wheel back on.

That is the right procedure, isn't it?

Mr Noisy · Nov 29, 2011

Basically centring the rotary unit. 2.5 turns must be mid point, can't see a problem with that.

Perhaps it rotated when you took the wheel off because it was not at centre already, maybe it was under tension and semi ****ed?

If its a ribbon type then you might be able to open it up and check the ribbon. It probably is if you have to centre it, a rotary contact one has no centre as such, BT I don't think they're suitable for airbags.

Best of luck!

fishsponge · Nov 29, 2011

the mechanic and I both agree that it was probably on its last legs anyway.

what i'll do with he new one is carefully rotate it throughout the entire 5 turns to make sure it is capable, then centre it by 2.5 turns from one end and install it. It should not break then.

I will open up the old one anyway to see what's inside and if i can fix it possibly get rid of it on eBay to recoup some of the costs.

Oh, and regarding the sheared U-bolt, I got the local hardware store to make me two new ones today with nyloc nuts and washers for £6.00 total. Not too bad. I have fitted the new one, chucked the broken one, left the other original one in place and kept the other new one as a spare for the next garage!

So... i'll let you know how the new rotary coupler goes!

matthew2riches · Nov 29, 2011

Have you ordered one yet?

fishsponge · Nov 29, 2011

yes, i have... found one at another scrap dealer for £33 inc. VAT and postage

fishsponge · Nov 30, 2011

right - new rotary couple has arrived and been fitted (combined effort by myself and the local garage again, for free

)

Cruise control works, horn works, but airbag light is still on, so the guy at the garage knows someone local to me who can reset that. I assume I can't do that myself...

Also, MacKays hardware store in Cambridge manufactured two new U-bolts for me one of which the wheel alignment place sheared off while re-aligning the wheels.

So i'm nearly there.

Steering wheel is still a *little* off centre, but that's because there aren't infinite splines, and I think I can just adjust the drag link to correct the steering wheel by up to 5 degrees... right?

Mr Noisy · Nov 30, 2011

Yes, get the wheel as close as you can to centre and then adjust the drag link to get it perfect. That's what I'm going to do this weekend when I get chance to road test (fitted steering box last night)

Cheers

fishsponge · Nov 30, 2011

fantastic

the drag link adjustment is immensely easy, of course, so that shouldn't be too tough (done it before anyway).

thanks again!

Mr Noisy · Nov 30, 2011

Yep, steering adjustment is never easier than with HD bars

fishsponge · Nov 30, 2011

except I don't have spanners that big, so have to use mole grips and an adjustable pipe spanner! lol, i will buy larger spanners at some point...

Mr Noisy · Nov 30, 2011

You horrible person! I hope you're not chewing the nuts up!!

fishsponge · Nov 30, 2011

no, certainly not... the mole grips are going on the bar itself (not the flattened spanner part) and the pipe spanner is going on the lock nut and not rounding it at all!

i ain't that bad...

fishsponge · Dec 10, 2011

right... all seems well at the moment (apart from the ATF weeping from the back of the gearbox), so here are a few pics of the new steering rods I fitted...