Late model airbag steering coulum nut help

[sonomabimmers]

hey r3v looking for some guidance on on some steering play i am having. i have about 3/4 inch of play side to side on my 1991 318ic and have new CA's CAB's tie rods steering coupler and I'm wanting to know what the nut on the bottom of the steering column in this photo does exactly i believe if i tighten it i will have some success with my problem but i don't want to go at it without knowing what it does exactly. i have searched and found people saying this might be the problem but no one explaining ing what it does any help would be great before i go and swap a steering rack in for no reason.

thanks in advance

heres the photo its the nut that is on the bottom of the steering column/shaft

[sonomabimmers]

bump 51 views and nothing. ill paypal someone a helper fee if they know what they are talking about

[nyChris]

That nut provides tension on the shaft. Loosening it will allow you to slide the top portion up and down the splines on the bottom portion.

adding: That shaft slides up and down so you don't get impaled by the steering column in a front end collision.

[sonomabimmers]

That nut provides tension on the shaft. Loosening it will allow you to slide the top portion up and down the splines on the bottom portion.

.awesome so tightening it would just firm it up then? and i tighten normally to the right ? shoot me your pay pal if you want to collect a little helper fee i appreciate it.

[mpowerful]

Thats probably not where the play is though. Check the flex disc on the shaft under the hood. Probably is toast.

[nyChris]

.awesome so tightening it would just firm it up then? and i tighten normally to the right ?

Righty tighty, lefty loosey. Moving the nut towards the steering wheel end of the column will apply more tension on the spline, firming it up.

[sonomabimmers]

Thats probably not where the play is though. Check the flex disc on the shaft under the hood. Probably is toast.

literally just replaced that whole unit not just the flex disc but whole join it was extremley toast. me and my mechanic played with it a lot yesterday and decided its probably from the rack. but we also grabbed that big nut and i tried to just crank it with my hand didn't seem like anything happened but when i drove home the cars steering was way tighter idk. so i wanna crank on that bolt bout to go buy a 32mm wrench. really don't wanna put new rack in :hitler:

[sonomabimmers]

Righty tighty, lefty loosey. Moving the nut towards the steering wheel end of the column will apply more tension on the spline, firming it up.

your the shit man shoot me the paypal i gotta hook you up.

[nyChris]

Thats probably not where the play is though.

Agreed

[sonomabimmers]

Agreed

worth a shot before i spend a whole day and 250$ on a new rack. any suggestions on why i have play in my steering then. I've replaced damn near every component. thanks!

[Kershaw]

You don't say specifically where the play is. Specificity is important.

Is it rotational play in your steering wheel? If so, it's probably the rack. Could be the flex disc as mentioned though.

Is it play in the whole steering column, are you moving that side to side? If so, something is probably broken.

[sonomabimmers]

You don't say specifically where the play is. Specificity is important.

Is it rotational play in your steering wheel? If so, it's probably the rack. Could be the flex disc as mentioned though.

Is it play in the whole steering column, are you moving that side to side? If so, something is probably broken.

flex disk has maybe 100 miles on it. and if i grab my steering wheel and turn it side to side like a clock there is a dead point where they play is about 3/4 inches of side to side play with out the wheels turning. i just replaced the whole flex disc unit the whole coupler. I'm thinking its the rack? and to answer i guess it would be rotational play as its the wheel not the whole column assembly. thanks for responses everyone

[Kershaw]

That sounds like the rack.

[sonomabimmers]

[QUOTE=nyChris;4615628]

[QUOTE=mpowerful;4615640]

That sounds like the rack.

thanks a whole lot guys for taking the time. r3v never lets me down:o

[Dave_G]

My previous E30 had similar symptoms that were cleared by tightening up that nut -- it was pretty loose. Before you go tearing out the rack, my recommendation would be to get yourself that 32mm wrench and spend two minutes tightening the nut. If it works, you've saved yourself a lot of time and money. And if it doesn't work, you're out two minutes, and now you have a 32mm wrench that you can also use to take off the fan when you change the timing belt -- it's also 32mm.