Steering shaft hardware question -

[LateFan]

I have an '86 ES coupe. When doing other work under the intake, I noticed this linkage plate in the steering shaft is loose and rattling. We've never heard it while driving, but it seems like it should be on there more solidly.

It's this plate, which locks the two overlapping shaft sections together. It has a bolted connector at each side, which appear tight. Should there be any play in there? Should that plate be flopping around?

[LateFan]

Bump for more ideas...

This is not how our car looks - this is right out of realOEM for an '86 eta coupe.

[Solarian]

I looked at that too, but I ended up getting a bit confused. I have a late model 318is, and according to Real OEM mine should look like the diagram you posted as well. The thing though is, it doesn't. It looks like yours, but without that metal piece. It looks exactly like the one in this thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=66247

I think that you should be able to remove that piece without doing any harm to your car.

[Chuck C]

Those plates were installed in the '80s as a service action--maybe a recall but I don't remember exactly--to keep the steering shaft from separating in case of front end impact. If the nuts are loose, either tighten or replace them; dealers still stock them. I wouldn't take the plates off. The coupling was redesigned later with longer studs.

[Chuck C]

SIB 32 02 86 It is a recall.

[LateFan]

VERY interesting - thanks for the info. It appears, from some other quirky parts installed, that this car spent time at dealers having all the maintenance done. That's probably a good thing on a car with little history. It does have dealer stamps in the book up to about 120k.

Thanks again -

[LateFan]

Those plates were installed in the '80s as a service action--maybe a recall but I don't remember exactly--to keep the steering shaft from separating in case of front end impact. If the nuts are loose, either tighten or replace them; dealers still stock them. I wouldn't take the plates off. The coupling was redesigned later with longer studs.

So according to the rack thread Solarian mentioned, those are rivets between the shaft sections. That thread doesn't show the plate, which looks like a retainer plate, so what you're saying makes sense. The small bolts in the plates appear to be pretty tight - it's those big rivets I'm concerned with now. There's some distance between the two shaft parts, where the retainer plates rattle.

[Chuck C]

Might be time for a new coupling. Or you could try replacing the rivets with high-strength bolts. Looking at your picture again, I'm glad to see the plates installed correctly--seen a bunch of them wrong.

[LateFan]

Do you know why a two part shaft there? Is it supposed to flex at that joint? Seems like the other joints in the shaft take care of that, plus some isolation with the rubber block above.

Or was this a front-end impact thing, so the column would kink and collapse?