21 replies to this topic

[BuzzKill]

To correct this, pull the knob all the way out. Clamp down onto the metal shaft, just behind the knob with some vice grips. Bend the shaft to the left a little - it will feel like it might break, but it won't. You're only trying to bend it 1/8 of an inch or so. What I did was bend it a little, then test, bend a little more test again, etc.

I've done this on 3 StarQuests so far and it works like a charm every time.

[mikec]

Another trick is to pull the knob all the way out and then bend the support ear a bit.  Push the bottom towards the front of the car about an 1/8th of an inch.

The real problem is a design change to the column deep under the dash - Mitsu did something for the 88 model year and they goofed.  There is some beefy metal part that keeps the inner mechanism from going back as far as it's supposed to - "over center" to the locked position.  If you really want, you can pull the steering column down a bit and see where things bind and cut/file the offending spot.

mike c.

[Quilabong]

Heh, thats freakin unreal..   I had that same problem today, thanks for the info!



    QuiL

[da_drgn]

i knew this was the best site! thanx buzzkill, it was 2am when i saw your solution
& i went out to the garage & tried it... the next day i test it & the son of b#@! worked! thanx again...

                                                    drgns88quest. 8) 8)

[jeffhallDVM]

You all are great -- that is one irritating thing that has bugged my last two conquests, just went out and did it, that has driven me crazy cause it always drops down when i am crankin!

thanks

[onestorm1]

Just got an 88 and had the same problem thanks for the solution.

[Mr._HP]

I have come up with a permanent solution that allows it to never come undone while driving, but still remains adjustable whenever you need it. Best of all is that it cost me $1 and about 10 minutes to do. I posted it on tristarion.com yesterday, but the site seems to be down right now. As soon as it gets going again I will post it here for all to finally fix this.  ;D

[Mr._HP]

This is something I'm VERY happy to share with you guys because I know the aggravtion that comes from the steering suddenly moving up and down on you while flying through an exit ramp, or even better, an autocross course. I set out to come up with a real solution to this problem after my first autocross experience a week ago. This is a fix that will allow you to still adjust the tilt, but never have to worry about it loosening up, and it only takes about 5 minutes and a $1 to do  So what is it you're asking?

I'm going to try and explain this as best I can without pictures, but can add some tomorrow if you guys need them.

First, take a look under the steering wheel and you'll see the culprit... See the t-handle with a nut locking it in place? Follow it down the rod and you'll then see a round black piece with threads on the outside of it, in which the rod slides in and out of. This is as far as you need to go for this fix (other than driving down to Home Depot). Remove the T-handle (says TILT STEERING) by loosening the 10mm nut butted up against it and bring that nut with you to Home Depot. You'll have to go there and get 2 things; One will be another 10mm Nylock nut,and the other is a 3/8" compression cap. You'll find the compression cap in the plumbing section with the other brass fittings. It's just a Hex brass cap with threads on the inside of it. They have 2 styles though!!! You want the cap with no hole in it! Once you have those pieces you can go home and find a 9/32" drill bit and drill a hole in the center of it. There should be a dimple on the insode of the cap right in the center to use as a center for the drill. Once you drill the hole you simply go out to your car and push the rod in to lock the steering, and put the original nut back on until it just barely bottoms against the black piece. Now slide the brass cap over the rod and screw it onto that black piece with the threads on it, put the Nylock nut on and screw down leaving room for the brass cap to spin and then screw the t-handle back on and adjust the nut so that it tightens up and leaves the handle in the proper position. That's it!!! Now when you want to adjust the tilt, loosen the brass cap pull the rod out and relock at the desired position, push it back in and screw the brass piece down again.

Let me know if you need pictures. I'll get them for you tomorrow. I think you'll see what I mean if you go out to your car and look though.

[Mr._HP]

here's the pics ;D

[BuzzKill]

Cool, now we have 3 solutions (well 4, if you count welding) to fix this problem! Variety is the spice of life, they say...

[supturbo]

I WAS JUST WONDERING HOW TO FIX THIS ON A 88 QUEST I JUST BOUGHT THIS WEEKEND ....

[raytech]

I know that this is an old post, but I figured that this might bee seen. I have the same problem. I will be fixing it soon so thanks to everyone that has posted a solution so that we have different choices, and an extra thanks to buzzkill for starting the thread.

[raytech]

sorry I realized that StarQuestRims started this post. Thanks to StarQuestRims, The only name I saw on the posts was BuzzKill. I kneed to give credit where credit is due. StarQuestRims THANKS FOR STARTING THE POST. BuzzKill THANKS FOR CONTINUING THE POST. Sorry for my mistake.

[boom]

I'll try this out todaybuzzkill.  I'll let you guys know the result.

[IntercooledFlatty]

;D , hasn't come loose once, and it's been over two weeks now.  ...and it took all of 60 seconds to fix  8)

[Acselor]

I have a 5th fix that took me about 6 hrs of laying under the steering wheel with my legs sticking out the door to figure out. if i had pics i would show you cuz its kinda hard to explain but ill try to explain as best i can. all the other fixes never worked for me i dont know why so dont ask. except for welding i didnt wanna try that. after taking the panel above the pedals and the panel below the steering wheel off i began to devise other stratagies to fixing this.

I eventually took out the very bottom cotter pin and and pulled the arm off (you'll understand better if your looking at the setup). Now the setup doesn't work at all. but if you press it in to the locking position and then use your fingers to push the very very tippidy top arm up it should get real snug and hard to move the steering wheel.

now thats just to show you how it should be or how mine was. I think mine was kinda worn out anyway. now what i did was pull down on the middle arm to unlock it then pull out on the tilt steering knob itself (if you don't do it in that order it wont unlock). Now that very bottom arm is free and can be moved around so i tried resting it on top and to the left a little of the old pin it used to rotate on. i got a small screwdriver likle a stubby or something and put it in the hole at the bottom of the arm to hold it in place, then i pushed in on the tilt steering lever. It should lock better than before. ( i dont know mabey this only happened to my car ???). if yours locks completely which mine didnt in this spot then this is where you need to stop and skip down some. for those that didn't, keep reading. Like i said mine didn't lock completely so i tried a different spot which became difficult because i had nothing to rest it on while i locked it. I unlocked it either by holding it down tight with the screwdriver and pulling the knob out or pulling down on the middle shaft (watch your fingers its a great pinching space). I then moved it up the left side a little bit so it was no longer resting on the old pin. i held it in place with a srewdriver and locked it, to my surprise it locked tight i could pullmyself out of the car with it . if yours doesn't lock there i dont know what to tell you this is as far as i got i am assuming try different positions.

Now you have to drill a hole through the original hole on the bottom arm in the place where it locked best for you. (use the hole in the arm as a guide for where to drill through the piece of metal behind it and watch out for wires behind that). after the hole is drilled i just grabbed a small bolt and some nuts that fit it from a bucket downstairs and bolted it on but leaveing enough room to spin. if it doesn't lock all the way dont force it. i had a problem after i got it bolted in because i could get the exact same spot that i had before. So mine doesn't lock completely if i push the steering wheel all the way up but if i move it down slightly and then try to lock it, it locks just right and doesn't move.

I am warning you though if you happen to screw up and drill the hole in the wrong place there is no second chance, theres just no room for 2 holes so make the first one work(or youll be stuck with it back in the orginal spot). i would also wait for me to give mine some time. if something goes wrong i definetly dont want it to happen to a bunch of others too. feel free to ask any questions except for pics because i dont have any, i can try to explain it better if you have a specific part you dont undrestand. i hope this helps and i hope no problems arise.
                                                         
                                                                 

[sanitariumite]

this is just out of simple curiosity, but what does bending the tilt adjustment do to make the steering wheel lock into place, and is that a permanent fix or is it re-adjustable after that?
~Adam

[JustPaus_88TSi]

The problem is that the adjusting rod(part you pull on) comes loose rather easily after aging.. Bending it just makes more friction, and harder to pull out.. And if you know it's kinda hard to pull it out, you know it's not gonna slide out by itself...