Steering column removal

[tony9704]

Hi all,

Newbie Porsche owner here. Drove home my '88 cabriolet only to figure out that the steering locks up while driving. stripped her down to just the steering tube,shaft and the two bearings. I can turn the shaft by hand and make it lock up. (Yes, the steering lock has been removed) Bearings fell out of the lock housing when removed. I can't seem to remove the shaft. Haynes has been useless thus far. The other threads never quite answer how to remove the shaft, they sort of turn into another thread regarding the sleeve bushing. Is there a 'shelf' that the bearings sit on? Can I drive the shaft through to the trunk? Anybody got ideas? I'm way past the point of no return. But at least I can be thankful I got the car home without getting killed. I will post pics as soon as she doesn't look so sick....

[Jim75911S]

[I]'m not sure if the year you are working on is the same as mine,but I just rebuilt it. On the u-joint end there is a small circle clip in front (shaft end) and a circle clip behind the bearing. The
shaft goes in from the front (trunk)side. Everything on that end must be removed, clip bearing
clip. There is a clip on the oppisite end that keeps the steering wheel from going down too far.
Remove this and the shaft will pull out towards the front of the car.The bearing next to the steering wheel goes in from that side and is resting on a lip. Look for a exploded diagram on this site that shows it. German Auto Dismantelers also has a site w/PET style diagrams. Hope this helps.

[tony9704]

Hi Jim,
I did find the circlips holding the whole works together. It was able to be driven out 1/2"-3/4" I thought it was going to just pop right out soon, then it stopped. I'll look again in case I missed one. Is the lower bearing going to pop out with it? You mentioned it has to be removed to get the shaft out. How the heck did you do that? Could the free ball bearings rolling around in there be jamming it up? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for the work so far!

[KTL]

You need to take the column out entirely to re-do the bearings. The upper bearing is pressed into the housing and the shaft has obstructions on it that don't let it slide past the bearings even when you remove the upper and lower circlips, so I don't see how one could pull the shaft into the cabin? I guess you could use the shaft as a slide-hammer after you removed the lower clip and pull hard a number of times to drive the upper bearing out with the shaft?

I've done this job twice (two more times that I would wish on anybody else) and removed the entire steering column both times. I documented some of it here on Pelican. It sucks butt.

Steering Column Shaft Bearing Removal Replacement

[tony9704]

Hi KTL,
Nice link for the steering tube removal. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you I have searched for 2 entire evenings after work to find something similar to what you have posted. I was really hoping to not have to pull the entire tube. I thought I would have to remove the entire dash to do this. I guess though to be honest, it really isn't that much more work to do so at this point. (from what your link shows) I just can't figure out why the shaft won't drop into the trunk with a few sharp strikes with a brass rod. I would think it would drive the bearing and shaft right in there. I suppose from what you have said, there would be no way to pull the upper steering wheel bearing out then. How big of a pain is it to remove the tach? Thanks again!

[KTL]

The shaft won't drop into the trunk because I don't think there's enough clearance/open area to give the full length of the rod room to come all the way out?

Removing the tach is the easiest part of the job. Reach in the trunk with your hand and find a clear spot on the back of the tach so you don't smash any terminals or bulb fittings. Push and the tach should likely fall right out. It's only held in there by a ribbed rubber gasket. Don't push too hard or you may send the tach flying into the cabin!

[john walker's workshop]

thereare 3 break-off bolts up close to the dash that need to be drilled out or ground off. not easy to get to and require a lot of stuff to be removed and/or pulled out of the way. basically they hold the upper housing to the cowl.

[Pazuzu]

The three break off bolt are easiest if you can get a dremel in there, and cut a slot, then use a stubby flathead screwdriver. 2 are on top, and can "kinda" be seen through the empty tach hole, or from the trunk. The third is in the bottom, and must be accessed from under the dash...watch out for wires. You might try putting a sharp chisel on that one and see if you can hammer it loose. They're exactly the same as the bolts you removed on the ignition, and they all should be finger loose once you take the pressure off, so you don't need to get a tool in there for too long.

[tony9704]

Wow. Lots of great stuff here. The three steering tube bolts are giving me problems. As KT describes, I'll try a baby vise grip. Then maybe a chisel to try to remove them. The craftsman extractors did not have the testicular fortitude for this job I think the shear bolts are the only piece of the puzzle standing in the way of a sucessful job. I'll keep ya updated. Thanks to all who have contributed.

[KTL]

Do get the baby vise grips for the column tube bolts because you'll surely use the tool at some other time. Get the curved-jaw type, not the needle-nose type (although the needles are good to have too!)

Cutting slots in the bolts is a PITA. I resorted to that for only the ignition keyset assembly bolts. The ignition bolts are a PITA to get out because they've got a threadlocking patch/paste on them. I suggest you use a very fat flatblade screwdriver and put a wrench on the screwdriver shaft if you can't get enough torque on it.

[tony9704]

Took your advice on the baby vise grip. Worked like a champ! Managed to get the whole tube removed from the car. Now I've got a can of worms to deal with. The upper bearing was almost completly destroyed. There was apparently one of those slip in sleeve bushings installed and it somehow worked it's way down into the tube past the upper bearing. I don't know if anyone has seen the upper bearing so bad that it left the outer portion of the bearing in the tube. I have tried to get in from the other side with a long punch to try to work it out with no luck. I'm ready to take a small pointed burr bit on a die grinder carefully to make some relief cuts to get it out. I'm not sure how sensitive the bearings are to having a perfect seat to sit in. I don't have nearly enough experience with this type of assembly to know. I will try to salvage the tube to prevent a 200$ replacement. I'll keep all informed as to what goes down and works.

[Zeke]

Hey, Tony, before spending the amount of time required to fix all that, why not see what a dismantler would sell that part for? They will guarantee the part to work, so you shouldn't have to buy anything else. I don't think they sell a lot of these. There are 2 places to at least ask: Parts Haven in CA and DC Automotive in SC (I think). Both have excellent reputations on this board. And, there are a few more.

[tony9704]

Hi Milt-
Thanks for the advice. Parts Heaven has it for WAYYYYYYY less than half the price. I'm still going to try to recondition the old one. It just wouldn't be very Pelicanny (is that a word) of me not to try! I emphasize TRY. Later

[RoninLB]

and post pics.

this could be the only time project details was ever posted here.

[Pazuzu]

Agreed! Full photos!

One of the concerns I had when I torn into my steering issue (which you asked about Tony) was that I found NO threads about a deep rebuild of the steering column, and I thought I was going to go in there blind. Fortunately, it was something else, but I think a decent thread on the column tear down is way past due.

[KTL]

Geez, I thought the info I posted was pretty comprehensive............ Granted it's not a step-by-step but it covers a lot.

The info I posted tells you how to get the bearings out. You remove the internal snap ring for the lower bearing and then drive that bearing out with the steering shaft itself. I used a brass rod to hammer on the steering shaft to avoid damaging the steering shaft with my 3lb. sledge. After removal of the lower bearing and steering shaft, you can remove the upper bearing by driving it out the top. I used a large-blade long screwdriver by hammering on the driver end and placing the handle on the bearing. Both bearings are lightly pressed into the steering column tube, so you don't need a lot of force to remove or install them. Installation of the bearings is easier- just lightly drive them in with a piece of plastic pipe. Just be sure to put the steering shaft into the column tube before installing the bearings!

Milt brings up a good suggestion about getting a salvage steering column. I actually did that too. My salvage column was bought from PartsHeaven for $75 and a year later the bearing failed. Instead of doing the 928 sleeve solution I replaced the upper bearing so i'd not have to ever worry about it again.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by KTL

Geez, I thought the info I posted was pretty comprehensive............ Granted it's not a step-by-step but it covers a lot.

I apologize for missing the single thread from 6 years ago that documents the removal of the steering column.

You didn't take any pics of the actual removal process though

[KTL]

Removal process is very tedious but also straightforward- get everything out of the way to get at the steering column tube

Steeering wheel
Tachometer
Lower dash kneepad ( real bear to remove)
Ignition switch and steeering shaft lock assembly
Steering shaft u-joint disconnect
Airbox beneath windshield cowl