Collapsible Steering Column - Free Play

[David17SR]

I'm a new Jaguar owner, having just bought a 1968 early S2 UK RHD FHC.

My car has got an annoying small amount of slack in the steering column - that is, the steering wheel turns a small amount before any movement is transmitted to the steering rack. I've traced the free play to the upper steering column. I've also satisfied myself that it is not caused by the steering wheel reach adjustment, nor by the UJ at the bottom of the upper column.
I've got two questions that I'd appreciate help with:

1) I've definitely got a collapsible steering column, with the diamond perforated lattice section of the outer column and the horn button on the indicator stalk. Is this the standard fitting for a UK S2 car? (My Haynes workshop manual says these were never fitted to UK cars).

2) The only cause I can think of for the free play would be wear and tear on the breakable nylon plugs that provide the collapsibility of the inner column, although I'm puzzled because the only pictures I've seen show the sliding parts of the shaft as 'D' shaped which ought to prevent them from rotating on each other. Has anybody got any experience of similar free play in the steering column, and if so whether it was possible to fix it?

Many thanks, David.

[e600]

Hi David

It is correct to have a collapsible col' on a series 2, I have had a number of series 2's and all had them.

I have experienced lateral free play in this assembly which has been rectified with replacement col' bushes, but in terms of the free play you describe I cannot think of anything in the linkage between wheel and rack that would give free play if as you say the adjuster is correct and the UJ's are fine. Are you sure its not the rack itself?

Regards
Pat

[David17SR]

I've now solved my problem and thought I should post it here in case it helps anyone else.
I took the steering column out of the car and dismantled it. I found that my diagnosis had been correct, that is, the upper and lower sections of the collapsible inner column did indeed have rotational free play between them. Separating these two sections from each other requires you to remove a cone-shaped nut which is attached to the end of the lower section, inside the tubular upper section. It can only be unscrewed by making some sort of improvised pin-spanner to fit into the pair of holes in the upper face of the nut. Once this has been successfully unscrewed, a bit of brute force can be used to separate the two sections, in the process breaking the nylon "plugs" that hold them together.
It turns out that the two sections of the column are by no means precision components and they actually rely on the nylon "plugs" not only to provide the collapsible connection to allow the shaft to telescope in an accident, but also to take up the rotational free play between them. They are not actually plugs or rivets as everyone imagines, but split-rings that fit into rather crude grooves that run around the lower part of the column. I'm uploading a photo as it is virually impossible to describe. I'm guessing that as they get older, the nylon becomes less resilient and gradually starts to wear. As my car is a very early Series 2, the problem will presumably become more common as other cars reach a similar age.
Given that replacements for these nylon components are not available, I decided on a completely different approach. I used a welding torch to melt some brazing metal (i.e. brass) onto the lower column, adjacent to where each of the nylon components had previously been located, then I very carefully and gradually filed and sanded the brass until it was possible to slide the two parts of the column together as a very snug fit without any free play. You can see the brass in the photo.
To provide the longitudinal location between the two parts of the shaft I drilled a hole right through the assembly and fitted a small soft aluminium pop-rivet each side.
So to transmit rotation, my shaft now relies on the precision fit between the two parts of the shaft provided by the brass. Thw aluminium rivets fix the length of the shaft but are weak enough to shear off and allow the shaft to telescope in an accident.
Reassembly of the column wasn't a problem as the tapered roller bearings were in good order, and I'm delighted to say that the previously vague steering of the car has been totally transformed. I've celebrated by treating myself to a 14 inch Moto-Lita steering wheel to complete the make-over.
David.

[J44EAG]

Interesting.

I`m a simple bloke. Hope I have this right.

I can see you have taken up the torsional play/wear with braze. The hole on the upper shaft matches with the middle hole on the lower shaft? The presumably two hollow centre rivets align upper shaft holes with the middle holes on the lower shaft?

Again assumptions. Presumably the plugs you mentioned have worn whilst controlling column collapse in service and have worn torsionally allowing the two squashed (swagged) deformed shafts to rotate and cause further wear between the two components over hard time?

Must be good to get reasonable steering back again.

Mike K

[e600]

Hi
The photo also describes the construction of the lower steering column. This item splits in two and is originally retained by 2 plug/rings. Interesting to know and thanks for posting.

Regards
Pat

[David17SR]

For Mike K:
The larger diameter hole that you can see in the photo is what I drilled all the way through the assembly for my pop rivets. This is lined up when the shaft is assembled. The smaller holes that you can see above and below this in the hollow part of the shaft are where the nylon plug/rings used to be and are now redundant.

I should probably have mentioned that it is important for the shaft to be exactly ths same length after this exercise as it was beforehand, so that the taper roller bearings at each end are a proper fit. I took very careful measurements, and marked the shaft, before dismantling. (My column does have several shim washers under the end-cap, that would allow some adjustment of the bearings if necessary - but it's obviously easier to avoid messing around with shims if it can be avoided).

I should also point out that I can't guarantee how well my working solution would perform in an accident. The Jaguar engineers who designed the collapsible column were probably working to an exact collapsing force decreed by the US regulations; the force that would be needed to collapse my column is now probably wildly different. But at least it might inflict less injury than a solid column!
David.