I noticed a little warm draft last summer and tracked it down to the boot around the steering shaft rubber boot on the firewall being torn. It took a couple months to get around to ordering it from CDan and then it sat in the arm rest for, oh, about nine months.
For some reason I got the bug to change it and here are a couple notes: Done correctly, this is a 15 minute job.
The FSM says to take out the entire steering wheel and column assembly, this is why I put it off for so long. The easier way is to disassemble the flex joint. The steps are as follows.
1. Remove the single bolt that holds the lower half of the joint to the shaft. Paint mark it to ease reinstallation, but the way it is made (the bolt goes into a notch in the shaft) you really can't reassemble it wrong.
2. Remove the two bolts and nuts that go through the rubber disk in the joint.
3. Once this is done, push the lower part of the joint down the shaft (it will go about a 1/4 inch further down when the bolt isn't holding it in the notch). **Don't let the steering wheel move as it must go back on the same way. If you are off by 180 degrees, the steering wheel will be upside down. If you are off by 360 degrees the wires for the horn, airbag, and cruise control will bind before you hit the steering stop (the steering box does ~4 turns lock to lock, the wheel does ~6 from wires binding to wires binding). Ask me how I learned all these things. http://images.ih8mud.com/images/smilies/doh.gif
4. Take the joint apart. It has two dowels that line it up with the notches, but with the extra 1/4" clearance, it can slip apart.
5. Remove the two bolts holding the seal to the firewall. Note the orientation for installing the new one.
6. Install the new seal and bolt it down.
7. Put the joint back together. Try to do it the same way it was before or you'll figure it out in a couple minutes. . . Couldn't find torque specs, but it was fairly hard to get off, so I torqued them on fairly tight. Since having this joint come apart would be about the worse thing that could happen on the freeway, loctite and paint marks to check for slippage might not be a bad idea.
8. Put the bolt back in that secures the joint to the lower steering shaft.
9. Hopefully, you're done. Check the steering wheel for orientation/travel from lock to lock.
10. Check bolts on t
he joint periodically for loosening.
For some reason I got the bug to change it and here are a couple notes: Done correctly, this is a 15 minute job.
The FSM says to take out the entire steering wheel and column assembly, this is why I put it off for so long. The easier way is to disassemble the flex joint. The steps are as follows.
1. Remove the single bolt that holds the lower half of the joint to the shaft. Paint mark it to ease reinstallation, but the way it is made (the bolt goes into a notch in the shaft) you really can't reassemble it wrong.
2. Remove the two bolts and nuts that go through the rubber disk in the joint.
3. Once this is done, push the lower part of the joint down the shaft (it will go about a 1/4 inch further down when the bolt isn't holding it in the notch). **Don't let the steering wheel move as it must go back on the same way. If you are off by 180 degrees, the steering wheel will be upside down. If you are off by 360 degrees the wires for the horn, airbag, and cruise control will bind before you hit the steering stop (the steering box does ~4 turns lock to lock, the wheel does ~6 from wires binding to wires binding). Ask me how I learned all these things. http://images.ih8mud.com/images/smilies/doh.gif
4. Take the joint apart. It has two dowels that line it up with the notches, but with the extra 1/4" clearance, it can slip apart.
5. Remove the two bolts holding the seal to the firewall. Note the orientation for installing the new one.
6. Install the new seal and bolt it down.
7. Put the joint back together. Try to do it the same way it was before or you'll figure it out in a couple minutes. . . Couldn't find torque specs, but it was fairly hard to get off, so I torqued them on fairly tight. Since having this joint come apart would be about the worse thing that could happen on the freeway, loctite and paint marks to check for slippage might not be a bad idea.
8. Put the bolt back in that secures the joint to the lower steering shaft.
9. Hopefully, you're done. Check the steering wheel for orientation/travel from lock to lock.
10. Check bolts on t
he joint periodically for loosening.
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) and the old rubber joint is slightly warped and the rubber is full of cracks. This definitely improved steering feel.
