brattesani Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 so i have about 25 degrees of steering wheel play and i want to weld the coupler, but i cant get the danged thing off the splines on the steering box, isnt it just supposed to slide out? should i soak it in pb'laster or what? thanks in advance for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAinsworth Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 From Mikec: First, set the steering wheel to straight ahead so you can re-align everything. Make match-marks on the steering wheel to the steering shaft too. Remove knee/trim panel under dash... you'll have to pop out the blank cover plate to the right of the steering wheel and the pushbutton to the left to get to a couple screws. Then undo the small screws that hold the lower part of the steering column plastic cover to the upper part. Remove the TILT knob too - loosen the jam nut, spin the knob and nut off. Remove the lower steering column plastic cover; the upper one can be left rattling around. Now look upwards for 4 beefy bolt heads (maybe just 2? been a while...) - they hold the steering column assembly to the bottom of the dash. They'll be tucked/hidden by the upper column plastic cover that's rattling around too. Loosen those bolts bit by bit; you'll feel the column start falling down. Get it loose but don't remove the last two bolts just yet. Follow the column to the foot area/firewall. You'll see a cardboard trim/insulator plate held by bent metal tabs. Pull that off... now you'll see several bright yellow bolts to remove. Grab the brake pedal return spring too - it hooks to the steering column. Now go underneath the car where the steering box hooks to the steering column. You'll see a small 10mm bolt & nut on a clamp; loosen the bolt and pry the clamp open slightly if it's rusted in place. Back under the dash... search around for the various wiring harness clips, connectors, etc. There are a few cable clamps that'll have to be undone too. Remove those last 2 big bolts and gently pull the column out. Watch for any wires that you might have missed. Getting the coupler off isn't exactly fun either. It's held in by some stubby metal pins (cylinder shaped) that in turn are covered by a rubber sleeve which has a thin metal ring holding it in position. Pop off the ring, then roll the rubber cover back like an old sock. Next, remove the pins... Unfortunately those pins don't go all the way through the assembly - you can't "drive" (push) them out like a roll pin. Instead, Mitsu suggests using a magnet to suck them out. Find a REALLY strong magnet. An old speaker magnet or the rare-earth magnet from a dead computer disk drive work well enough. Stand the column up (steering wheel end on the ground) and put a little downward pressure on the coupler to take the tension off the pins... then suck them out with the magnet. Re-assemble. When putting the column back into the car, make sure you hold it in the straight-ahead position. It's usually pretty easy to feel it line up to the steering box but if you've got a helper underneath the car it's much easier. Don't forget to put the clamp back onto the shaft BEFORE connecting it to the steering box! And when you put the clamp on, line up its open area with the slot/open area in the coupler. mike c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brattesani Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 that writeup assumes the coupler is on the steering colum, my coupler didnt come out with the steering colum, its still on the gearbox and the steering column is on my workbench, ive read that article and the 10 others about the steering coupler about 10 times each. the coupler SHOULD just slide off, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slydogg Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 rockvillemitsu sells new ones, to each his own but i would never weld a steering component. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott87star Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 It should, I've had mine apart at least twice without it sticking to the box. Can you use a puller? Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brattesani Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 to my knowledge they are a discontinued part, but that doesnt matter right now because i cant get it off the gearbox, its stuck. and i cant fit the puller around it, its too tight of an area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brattesani Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I think you still need to use the magnet to pull the pins out, but I could be wrong. Jimmy im looking at the service manual right now, the picture shows that the pin holds the coupler to the column, mine just slid right off like the pin wasnt even in there to begin with and the coupler stayed on the gearbox http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9820/steeringbb2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brattesani Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 update. i got the coupler off! woo hoo. the rubber inside was so far gone it had got into the splines making it stick. 20 minutes with a tierod separator (giant fork) and a rubber mallet got the job done though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 thanks for posting how you got the coupler off. good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brattesani Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 thanks for posting how you got the coupler off. good news. yeah. i only use super advanced techie methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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