Steering Column Groan On Adjustment

[theron]

From what I've gathered, this is a common issue on a lot of 98 GS's; however, there hasn't really been much written on the issue nor how to fix the problem.

One person wrote that to fix this issue, you need to replace the steering column tube and shims, but he really didn't elaborate on how to identify and replace these.

I took my steering column housing off last night to take a look and found the groan noise for the up and down movement was coming from a small white tube a gear went in and out of, so I'm guessing this is the tube referenced. It did look fine. I put some lube on it, but it didnt' fix the problem.

I have no idea where the shims to fix the telescoping part of the problem are located.

If any of you have fixed yours, please elaborate on what you did and include any photos if possible.

If I can get some assistance from some of you to get this thing fixed, I'll take photos of the procedure for everyone, and I will post them here.

thanks in advanced!

Theron :chairshot: - tired of banging my head on this one

[mehullica]

If the noise is from the "tilt" part of the column, which is most common, the loosen the preload on the tilt assembly. The "hex" nut is a 6mm i think, back it off about 1-1.5 turns and lube the worm gear. That should eliminate the noise.

[theron]

Thanks, I'll give that a try and let you know if it does the trick for fixing the up and down motion issue.

Any idea on how to fix the telescoping movement issue?

This movement doesn't make a groan, it just moves a little then stops when trying to adjust. It seems like it is getting too much resistance. On an old post some one mentioned replacing the 'shims', but I have no idea where these shims are located.

[bIz78]

If the noise is from the "tilt" part of the column, which is most common, the loosen the preload on the tilt assembly. The "hex" nut is a 6mm i think, back it off about 1-1.5 turns and lube the worm gear. That should eliminate the noise.

Could you please include pictures of what to do? i don't know what to loosen. Thanks