Question about steering column/switches

[jerryjfunk]

Hey guys, I have a '98 LSC. The horn doesn't work (it's not a fuse or relay), the cruise control doesn't turn on, and the telescoping steering wheel hardly ever works (tilt works, though), and when it does work it grinds and sound strange.

I've heard people talk about a multifunction switch... what does it control? Could this be the problem?

Thanks!
Jerry

 

[Jibit]

clock spring could also be broken

 

[Frat-man-du]

potentiometer $20-$30 at the stealership is the most common failed part. Nothing to do with the horn though - that could be a bad clockspring.

 

[maskmarkman]

Sounds like you got other problems as well as the protentioment and your clockspring if your hearing griding sounds coming from your lower end of your steering column.

The Gen-2 powered telescopic is driven by one of the two motors at the very bottom of the steering column. That motor drives a outer column up and down and over the top of a inner column housing. Think of it as a housing within a housing that moves up and down. The steering column is allowed to move up and down by a couple sets of ballbearing between the two inner and outer housings. The ball bearing themself are housed within a 3-4 inch plastic bearing holders and they run between the two sperate housing units on some bearing guides. The bearing guides themself are held into place by a little pin like "guide holders" at the top and the buttom of each of the inner and outter housings units and then the bearing roll on the bearing guides. The other motor at the buttom of the your steering column drives a long shaft that runs though the lower end of steering column for your tilt wheel operations.

If some ballbearing are out of their plastic holders, or your bearing guides are not held into place correctly, then the motor can't drive the unit up and down and that mite be where your griding souding are coming from. Anyway it not a healtly steering column unit.

I have a 97 and my stealership wouldn't touch my steering column because it came apart into two parts (one upper and one lower) so I was forced to order the bearing, bearing races, and the bearing guide holder pins to rebuild my column. Its a two man job because you need more then two hands to get it back together. The clockspring and the potentiometer can be reached by taken the steering wheel off the top end of your column and it sounds like you would still need or want to replace them as well.

You do have take the steering wheel column out of the car and start into the unit from the buttom by the motors to rebuild the lower steering column itself. I would say its about a half a day job and I think the parts where about $60.00. Your other alturnitive is to purchase a used unit for about $200.00 and you still would need a new protentiometer and clockspring. If you was to have someone to do this job it would be over $600.00 and then finding someone that would touch a column like that is not going to be that easy.

Good luck.

 

[jerryjfunk]

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Looks like I'll probably buy a used column and just take a day to swap them out.