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[P_Russell]

Driving the car tonight I was getting a cracking noise on turning the sterring wheel - like cheap plastic snapping.  Took a sharp turn and the wheel jammed and I had to force it (with more cracking noises) to get it to turn.  It now intermittently cracks and gets stuck when turning, it frees itself under force.

Took the cowling off & this is what I see:



There is a rotaing disc behind the wheel which rotates with the wheel.  The black plastic housing stays put.  Something behind the disc is getting stuck as I can see the disc flex under stress before it 'cracks'.  It looks like the steering wheel has to come off to fix it (how??).

Any ideas?

[Welung666]

Thats the spinning section of the steering wheel loom. Be very careful if messing with it as the airbag is connected through it. You have to take the wheel off to get to it so disconnect your battery for at least half an hour before you start

[P_Russell]

And how does the wheel come off?  Do I need to disable the airbag somehow first??

[Welung666]

Not disable it but remove it. Battery off for at least 30 mins. Feel behind the steering wheel and there is a hole either side, a torx screw in each hole releases the airbag partway and reveals the nut holding the steering wheel on.

EDIT: Don't try using a chisel to remove the nut as it's a collapsable steering column, get the correct size socket!

[P_Russell]

Sorry - new to this (my spitfire has a massive nut under a plastic cover to remove the steering wheel - can't get much simpler than that!) - so I undo the 2 torx screws, then what bit moves?  I'm a bit confused as the airbag seems integral to the wheel

[Welung666]

The big nut on your spitfire is the same as the mig just you need to undo the 2 torx screws to remove the airbag from the wheel first.

[P_Russell]

Thanks for your help.  Any idea what I might find causing the problem??

[P_Russell]

And what size socket?

[Welung666]

And what size socket?

Off the top of my head I can't remember It's smaller than your Spitty though, a good pipe wrench should get it off.

Once the wheel is off you should be able to take off the spinner (4 clips behind it) you should be able to open it slightly but enough to see inside.

[RobG]

And what size socket?

Off the top of my head I can't remember It's smaller than your Spitty though, a good pipe wrench should get it off.

Once the wheel is off you should be able to take off the spinner (4 clips behind it) you should be able to open it slightly but enough to see inside.

And if it`s stuffed I`ve got one here

[P_Russell]

Great thanks - will give it a go tomorrow night & post back the findings

[P_Russell]

OK, got the airbag off, got the nut off - but the wheel won't shift.  I'm expecting it to be tight but can't get any movement.  Any tips for getting it loose?

[ffcgary1]

Dont thump the wheel mate due to the bush, you need a steering wheel puller to get it of, they can be bugger tight.

[Marks DTM Calib]

easy....re-fit the nut loosely.

Brace both knees behind the wheel between the rim and the dash.

Then use a soft drift and a hammer to hit the centre of the column....1 or 2 hard solid blows

[P_Russell]

Right - all done.  The wheel came off with a few side-to-side wiggles along with a few taps around the centre spindle.  Then off with the spinner and this is what I found:

Note bits of plastic around centre spindle bearing


coming from here - the indicator reset mechanism!



So cleaned it out, smoothed off what was left of the mechanism (still sufficient there for the reset to work, at least for the time being) and put everything back.

It was a bit bloody dangerous though!  I had the kids in the car and luckily was going slow in a car park so could stop quickly but the whole steering locked up!

Thanks everyone for their help!