squeak from steering wheel?

[Rick1970]

I have just re-registered a '93 D1 that I bought as a parts car a few years ago and am in the process of working through some of its faults, like a totally shagged rear wheel bearing that was missed during the blueslip inspection.

One of these is a very annoying squeak from the steering wheel when moved, that strangly is a lot worse when cold.

It appears there is next to no running clearance from the rear face of the steering wheel and the plastic steering colum surround.

Going by the ignition switch, the surround is sitting in the correct position. This leaves the steering wheel, sitting too far on the shaft or the whole shaft has moved forward??? Or is there a spacer that sits under the wheel that I may be missing?

The wheel is a Landrover wheel, but going by the slight colour difference may not be the original wheel from the car.

Cheers
Rick

[Spel1]

Its not the plastic surround or anywhere near the steering wheel. Its the rubber boot that sits around the shaft at the firewall. You can grease or spray it and it will go away for a while, but the only way to permanently fix this is to sleeve the shaft under the boot with a PVC pipe or similar.

[Rick1970]

Pretty sure its in the wheel/surround area...sprayed in behind steering wheel with some Wurth sliding door lube stuff I found at work, and noise quietened right down for a short while.


Will check that out tho. Rubber boot at engine side of firewall?

[sparky34]

Its not the plastic surround or anywhere near the steering wheel. Its the rubber boot that sits around the shaft at the firewall. You can grease or spray it and it will go away for a while, but the only way to permanently fix this is to sleeve the shaft under the boot with a PVC pipe or similar.

+1 for Spel1 fix, took me ages to actually locate the fault which was the same as Spel1 outlined, I was also convinced it was within the steering wheel assembly, couple of sprays with Inox or similiar around the firewall boot,no more noise.

[Rick1970]

Ok, gave the boot a liberal dose of Lanotec spray this arvo, but since it doesn't seem to make the noise in high ambient temps, will have to wait til morning to see if it has made a difference.


Thinking about it, I only noticed the noise after giving the engine bay / underside a good degrease prior to taking it in for a blueslip.

[Judo]

Its not the plastic surround or anywhere near the steering wheel. Its the rubber boot that sits around the shaft at the firewall. You can grease or spray it and it will go away for a while, but the only way to permanently fix this is to sleeve the shaft under the boot with a PVC pipe or similar.
Ahhhh, I've always wondered where that noise came from! Thanks. :)

[DieselDan]

Does the '93 have the horn button on the steering wheel?

My '98 had a squealing/scratching noise from the steering wheel which turned out to be the contacts for the horn button.

I just filed the contact points back to a nice rounded shape and problem solved!

[Rick1970]

no, horn button on the end of indicator switch stalk...


Spraying boot has seemed to ease the noise somewhat....tho if you put a finger on the surround and turn wheel there is a definite rubbing between them.


Mite pull the wheel on weekend if I get time and have a better look....if all else fails there is always the die grinder!

[DiscoMick]

Mine has the same squeak so I'll be interested to see how you go.

[Rick1970]

Mine has the same squeak so I'll be interested to see how you go.


Will change steering wheel if i have too......its more than a bit anoying

[DiscoMick]

Mine only squeaks on big wheel turns, its OK straight ahead. Still annoying though.

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app

[Rick1970]

Just had a better look at it.


Loosened the two pinch bolts that hold the steering shaft uni joint to steering shaft/box. Found that I could push the entire steering shaft rearward moving steering wheel away from shroud. Used elastic tie down strap wrapped around head rest and through steering wheel (a helper would have been handy) to hold the shaft further out while I nipped the bolts back up. It now has a good 5mm running clearance between wheel and shroud.......and no squeak !


I'm not sure the inner shaft should actually move inside the column, but going by a few bruise marks on the end of it and the nut, I'm guessing the steering wheel as been removed with a hammer at some stage.