Ignition rod fixed but steering wheel misaligned

[lxj1]

That ignition rod broke. Mechanic fixed it but said they had to remove the steering wheel and they put it back about 20 degrees off. Big goof up. Second time it's close, but still off enough that I will be annoyed every time I drive it.

The mechanic will try a third time, but is saying it's a full days worth of work. Is that true? Part of me wants to do this myself and get it done right, but not if it will take that much time.

And I had quickly scanned some info about the ignition rod repair and I don't recall the steering wheel needing to be removed. Was this step even necessary? I'm wondering if the mechanic just made a big mess of something simple.

 

[3_puppies]

full days work to remove the steering wheel and re-install? not even close
should easily be less than an hour

 

[lxj1]

Thank you. I should also add that the mechanic mentioned something about messing with the steering column to get to the ignition.

If the steering wheel did indeed get misaligned because they messed with the column, are there any issues if I just remove the steering wheel and adjust?

I just want to confirm since I don’t want to layer on my incompetence onto theirs!

 

[BadReligion]

That ignition rod broke. Mechanic fixed it but said they had to remove the steering wheel and they put it back about 20 degrees off. Big goof up. Second time it's close, but still off enough that I will be annoyed every time I drive it.

The mechanic will try a third time, but is saying it's a full days worth of work. Is that true? Part of me wants to do this myself and get it done right, but not if it will take that much time.

And I had quickly scanned some info about the ignition rod repair and I don't recall the steering wheel needing to be removed. Was this step even necessary? I'm wondering if the mechanic just made a big mess of something simple.

You do not need to remove the steering wheel. That alone disqualifies your mechanic.

It's not a difficult repair.

 

[Patassa]

It sounds like he removed the lower steering shaft from the steering rack to get the steering column out of the way, that is actually a PITA to get aligned once it's off. If he took it off without using match marks then yeah it could take 2-3 tries to get it right. Trying to make it up further up the shaft like at the steering wheel can work but if you're making up too many splines you'll notice that you have to turn the wheel further to one side to reach full lock than the other, it gets a little wonky. 1-2 splines wouldn't really be noticeable though.

 

[lxj1]

It sounds like he removed the lower steering shaft from the steering rack to get the steering column out of the way, that is actually a PITA to get aligned once it's off. If he took it off without using match marks then yeah it could take 2-3 tries to get it right. Trying to make it up further up the shaft like at the steering wheel can work but if you're making up too many splines you'll notice that you have to turn the wheel further to one side to reach full lock than the other, it gets a little wonky. 1-2 splines wouldn't really be noticeable though.

Thank you for that explanation. If that is what happened, it sounds like disconnecting the lower steering shaft was unnecessary, so boo on them. I've messed with steering splines on other cars, so I'd guess I'm about 2-3 splines off, so I suppose it doesn't hurt to give it a try.

 

[Mike NXP]

Thank you for that explanation. If that is what happened, it sounds like disconnecting the lower steering shaft was unnecessary, so boo on them. I've messed with steering splines on other cars, so I'd guess I'm about 2-3 splines off, so I suppose it doesn't hurt to give it a try.

I would just bring it back to them and be super polite and respectful but also insist that they just do the repair again until it's correct. Are you dealing with a known mechanic shop or just some local shop?

Can you report on how you broke the ignition rod? I have a growing paranoia about this happening to me but I also hate to repair stuff that isn't broken. That seems to be a never ending theme on this rig.

 

[lxj1]

I would just bring it back to them and be super polite and respectful but also insist that they just do the repair again until it's correct. Are you dealing with a known mechanic shop or just some local shop?

Can you report on how you broke the ignition rod? I have a growing paranoia about this happening to me but I also hate to repair stuff that isn't broken. That seems to be a never ending theme on this rig.

Reputable shop. Pretty big, so the actual mechanic/tech you get is a toss up. They've already offered to fix it again, but I'm starting to lose confidence. But I suppose not as much as I'm lazy, so bringing it back in may be the realistic option.

Ignition rod just broke when my wife was trying to start the car at work. Had to get it towed. Would've royally sucked if I happened to be off roading. I say fix it now since it can strand you! Mine has about 165k miles. Next thing on my preventive modification is converting AHC to standard suspension, though my understanding is that a failed AHC won't completely strand you.

 

[Mike NXP]

Reputable shop. Pretty big, so the actual mechanic/tech you get is a toss up. They've already offered to fix it again, but I'm starting to lose confidence. But I suppose not as much as I'm lazy, so bringing it back in may be the realistic option.

Ignition rod just broke when my wife was trying to start the car at work. Had to get it towed. Would've royally sucked if I happened to be off roading. I say fix it now since it can strand you! Mine has about 165k miles. Next thing on my preventive modification is converting AHC to standard suspension, though my understanding is that a failed AHC won't completely strand you.

Oh gotcha, yeah might as well just have them try again. Can't imagine it could get much worse and it saves you the time. Third times the charm

Shoot, yeah the paranoia runs deep on this issue at times. If i was a quick swap I'd reconsider. Maybe I should start doing some more research and figure out what parts I may need...... Your post doesn't inspire me to wanna do the repair , I wouldn't want to have to remove my steering wheel but IDK if that is even necessary.


I'm no expert on AHC, @Moridinbg has some experience with it failing in the middle of nowhere and making it work to get by. Try to find his forum on the issue I remember following it a while back.

 

[3_puppies]

@Mike NXP
main thing on the ignition is not to force it, if there is any pressure on the steering wheel it ups the force needed to unlock it and rotate to start
occasionally you may need to turn the steering wheel to get the pressure off the column lock

 

[lxj1]

A little off topic but what other non-routine modifications are important in order to avoid being stranded?

We had actually come back from a road trip through remote Arizona and the day after the ignition rod broke. I don’t want to push my luck much more.

 

[kevgentile]

Oh gotcha, yeah might as well just have them try again. Can't imagine it could get much worse and it saves you the time. Third times the charm

Shoot, yeah the paranoia runs deep on this issue at times. If i was a quick swap I'd reconsider. Maybe I should start doing some more research and figure out what parts I may need...... Your post doesn't inspire me to wanna do the repair , I wouldn't want to have to remove my steering wheel but IDK if that is even necessary.


I'm no expert on AHC, @Moridinbg has some experience with it failing in the middle of nowhere and making it work to get by. Try to find his forum on the issue I remember following it a while back.

Can be done with the wheel in place, just makes for an easier job. Don't know why they removed the steering shaft, maybe they removed the entire column to do a bench repair? Seems odd but I've seen a lot of odd order of operations in shops.

The lock cyl can be accessed by removing the knee bolster but I don't like working on my back under the dash so I'd remove the instrument cluster out of the way. By doing so everything is right there with easy access. Just need to telescopically move the wheel enough to squeeze it out. I will admit, getting the wheel off is even better and is easy to remove, just a 19mm socket and I believe 37 Nm of torque. Just mark it to the shaft before hand