Steering Wheel Noises

[sitesbyjoe]

Since I bought my 84 FJ60 in August my steering wheel has been making these noises. "Grindy" sounds and clicks. Early on I opened up the column behind the wheel and sprayed some WD40 in there and the grinding sounds went away (temporarily).

The clicks occur when I turn the wheel - but not when I'm moving. Just if I turn it like I am in the video when the vehicle is sitting still. What do you guys think are causing the sounds?



Thanks!

 

[Output Shaft]

Its the horn contact. They all eventually get like that after a few decades.
WD is a lame lubricant, that's why it's still making noise. Use something better.

If you remove the steering wheel, you can replace the contact pin. Either with a new Toyota pin or a gun shell if you're a hillbilly

Some guys have used dielectric grease to help lubricate it and it seemed to help, but dielectric grease is an electrical insulator, not conductor. Copper anti-seize would probably be a better choice.

Or a Teflon oil like TriFlow.

 

[Scottkcoop]

I didn't have to take the steering wheel off mine. Remove the plastic cowling that wraps the column behind the wheel and hit it with some silicone or I have used dry graphite spray lubricant with success. Did that 3 months ago and still have no noise. Only 3-4 Philips head screws that drive through the bottom to remove

 

[sitesbyjoe]

Thanks for the feedback so far! What do you guys think about the clicks - anything I should be concerned about?

 

[Beachcomber Bernie]

Watching this. Same year and clicks.
Thanks

 

[Output Shaft]

There are several threads about this.

Here's one:

Horn Not Working

 

[Spook50]

I vote horn contact as well. I used a bit of Fluid Film to silence mine and so far it's worked great. Way better than spray silicon or WD40, and seems to be lasting pretty well too.

 

[sitesbyjoe]

Thanks for the feedback all - as soon as the auto part shop reopens tomorrow I'll go get some lube for that bugger. My horn works great - too great - I accidentally hit it all the time lol.

 

[Jesper]

When it's really cold and I go start mine, I get the most horrible howl/vibration/buzzy kinda shriek (is that descriptive enough) from my steering column. Happens about at about 15 degrees or below - tachometer doesn't work either til it warms up to op temp. First time it happened I kept shutting the truck off thinking the starter or something was somehow stuck....fun having a 30 year old truck.

 

[Miloslavich]

ive got the same clicking.. here i am thinking i need to replace some joint in the steering column.. time to bust out the fluid film tomorrow.

 

[RadarFJ40]

Any lubrication is most likely a band-aid. Replace worn part while it is still available. ........

Sent from my SM-G900P

 

[sitesbyjoe]

I'm more than happy to replace the part if I can. In this case were talking about the horn contact pin.

Are we saying the clicking is bad? What I'm getting from this thread is that the click is common, and ignored?

 

[IBFJ62]

Just an FYI, I replaced the contact pin recently, dialectic grease will cause it not to make contact. I thought it would be a good idea to get rid of the 'grind', but it just cut the electrical connection and the horn would no longer work. Wiped clean, working again. Sounds like Fluid Film might be my next try.

 

[Crick60]

Treat the cause not the symptom.
Wet and dry/Emery cloth both the contact surfaces to get a nice smooth polished finish...no more grind.

I think Scotts got the right idea with graphite if you want a bandaid fix but you'd want to be fairly precise and used sparingly.

 

[TLC Norway]

When it's really cold and I go start mine, I get the most horrible howl/vibration/buzzy kinda shriek (is that descriptive enough) from my steering column. Happens about at about 15 degrees or below - tachometer doesn't work either til it warms up to op temp. First time it happened I kept shutting the truck off thinking the starter or something was somehow stuck....fun having a 30 year old truck.

sounds like you have some old/bad power steering fluid. With a hint of water in it maybe. Long time since you flushed it? Change the fluid

Sent from my SM-G388F

 

[sitesbyjoe]

FYI - I believe this is the part here: 84312-20011 - Toyota Parts Deal

 

[SteveH]

My '87 and a few other Toyotas have had issues of the steering column clamshells rubbing on steering parts that move when you move the steering wheel. Removing and filing down the clamshells solved this. I agree that many (but not all) steering column noises are caused by the horn contact parts.

 

[sitesbyjoe]

I haven't tried the replacement yet to confirm if that part is in fact the culprit. By clam shells, do you mean the plastic housing around the column behind the wheel?

 

[sitesbyjoe]

Finally had a chance to pull the covers off from behind the steering wheel and was looking around for where this pin would be! I had it all wrong in my head, I was imagining that is was spinning but that's not the case. As you can see in the photo, the end of the spring/pin touches the back side of the steering wheel. And there was a ton of crap in there hence the "grindy" noises. I cleaned that crap out and it sounded good again. I'll probably buy a new pin and pull the wheel eventually but wanted to share my findings for anyone who didn't know this - like me.

 

[sitesbyjoe]

and FYI - cleaning this up did not stop the clicks from happening - but since they only occur when I turn the wheel and am not in motion I'm gonna worry too much about it right now.