Salutations.
Over the last couple of months my steering column has started to rub away at the plastic switch housing.
Apart from annoying rasping noise, does anybody know if this is an indication of a potentially serious problem, like movement or loosening of the steering system?
I had power steering fitted 2 years ago (used parts) by a well known MX5 dealer.–and it all ‘feels’ fine.Car has only covered 47K miles.
Any thoughts/advice appreciated!
Mart
mart, man of few words, remove screws and refit covers,
HEY no fair, was no writing just a title wen i checked the post[:$]
hi mart, ill try again lol, if u grasp steering wheel push up/down, side to side is there any free play, could b worn top bearing/mount, goochie
Thanks Goochie, have tried but seems totally firm with no discernable play.
Pulling steering wheel towards me as hard as I can and still rubs on the housing-darn it!
Have also tried removing/replacing housing but made no difference. It actually rubs against both top and bottom halves of the housing.
Mart
Does your car have straight or dog-legged indicator stalks?
Hi Saz-The stalks are dog-legged-does that make a difference?
Mart
This type of setup requires a spacer plate between the steering column and body; something to do with the fact that the bent stalk design was originally intended for airbagged cars, but later Mazda just made it standard for all cars.
I recently replaced my 1996 factory Momo wheel for a black leather Nardi Classico off an older car. It took me a little while to figure out why to new wheel rubbed my knees; the later steering wheels have an off-set boss, because of the installation of this plate (this plate appears to function to delay, momentarily, the collapse of the steering column in a crash, needed for correct airbag deployment). I removed the plate, and voila, no clearance problems. But I found the top of the cowl trim now rubbed on the dash a little, causing it to not fit very well. With a little fettling, I improved it a little, but every now and then, a snap off panel on the topside of this trim will pop off. This cover also rubbed on the steering wheel a bit, so some trimming with a knife took care of that.
Here you can see the spacer plate:
And with it removed (LHD Miata, but its the same))
On my car, the spacer plate visible:
And the plate removed:
Where the Nardi boss had rubbed the shroud:
And the shroud moulding in profile; by trimming this a little, I eliminated all rubbing (so the shroud didn’t move with the steering wheel)
And for reference, an earlier non-airbagged car; note no pin on the steering column. The plate allows a pin to engage, and mometariyl delay a column in collapsing. It serves no purpose in a non-airbagged car. But note, if you fit a non_Mazda wheel to one of these cars, be sure to remove the plate.
You can see how offset the factory 1996 Momo boss is here, to correct for the plate:
Saz:
Wow- what a comprehensive analysis-so really many thanks. I now have some investigations to do–although I don’t think I’m up to removing the whole dash myself.
My car is non-airbag–but the steering wheel was replaced by the previous owner with an ‘Isotta’ – so maybe here is the root of the problem. Anyways thank you again and I’ll let you know what I find!
Mart
No need to remove the dash; my guess is the steering wheel is catching the shroud.
Hi SAZ
Yep as in your 5th photo, the boss was scraping the shroud and also the horn collar contact thing was scraping on the contact.
I greased both with copper grease and all seams ok now. It’s quite tricky to get the shroud back centered properly and maybe it wasn’t quite right before, causing the scraping.
Anyway it was very good of you to completely strip down your car and take all those pics for my small problem!
Many thanks, Mart
Saz,
Just bought a lovely black 1.6 92 v-special eunos. The Nardi wooden wheel has been replaced a some point historically for a box standard black plastic mazda steering wheel. I purchased a second hand Nardi wheel with boss attached and the Nardi horn button .
I managed to get the old wheel off and the nardi replacement on. However, the boss is scraping the plastic housing behind the wheel quite dramatically. My car does not have the dog leg indicator/wiper stalks you mention in this post so assume that i do not have the spacer fitted in your pics. I’ve put the mazda wheel back on until I can find a solution.
Any thoughts as to why this is happening?
Perhaps the boss /adaptor is the wrong type for my car
Thanks
…it might be simple.
On mine, the plastic housing that the stalks poke out of was loose. When I checked, it wasn’t attached properly. There are 4 bolts/screws on the underside - 3 just hold the housing together, and there’s one machine screw that bolts the housing to the ignition unit to hold it all steady - this one is furthest away from the driver, more or less in the middle. I refitted a screw, and it was still wobbly. When I investigated, I found the ignition unit wasn’t bolted securely to the steering column - with the housing off there are 2 bolts that hold the lot to the steering column. Tightened them up and job’s a good 'un…
Thanks Landwomble. I’ll check mine out this week and report back
Unfortunately not simple. All the bolts were tight and no movement at all. Back to the drawing board. I’ll have to try a different adaptor// boss kit. Alternatively, may need to modify the plastic housing with a hack-saw although that’s not my preferred approach. Any other ideas would be welcome.
By coincidence I came across this topic. Since I am a Nardi enhousiast, I read the explanation about the dismantling job of the dashboard with great interest. I assume it works, but for anyone interested I think I have a less complex solution. Modern bosskits (Luisi brand for instance) have 12 screwholes. Both for Momo fitting and Nardi. A workaround for your hub hence is: With the wheels straight and hence the steeringwheel also take of the Nardi or Momo wheel (6 screws) and with the new steeringwheel mark the corresponding holes on the bosskit. Take your Black&Decker (sharp!) drill and produce 6 additional wholes. Then with a tap and die set fix the threats! ready you are.
You would need to be very accurate to do this. Sounds like it could only be done with sufficient accuracy off the car, and with a drill stand.
Re-reading, you are suggesting drilling extra holes in the steering wheel. Again, for a neat job, you need accurate drilling. nardi Classicos also come with a trim ring to cover these holes; the screws on these are not countersunk like Momos, so the trim ring has 6 recesses. You will need to drill out another 6 recesses. All of this on a steering wheel that might have cost over £200.
Scraping a bit of plastic sounds eeasier.
Mine is now fixed. I replaced the boss that was fixed to my nardi wooden steering wheel with an original Nardi boss. The boss I received initially was obviously not the right one. Scraping and grinding does not happen. Looks great too!
I think the job mentioned above drilling new holes etc would be to much for me to attempt.
guys just wanna know how to install a combination switch and outlet? anyone? also i am in need the combination switch(turn signal/ wiper switch) where can i buy one? please help thanks!