04 Steering Wheel squeaks going to top position

[JW in Dixie]

When I turn motor off and wheel goes "home" it has recently begun making a slight squeaking. Advice? Thx

 

[KennyWG]

When I turn motor off and wheel goes "home" it has recently begun making a slight squeaking. Advice? Thx

My 04 squeaks all the way up so I hope you get an anwser.

 

[JW in Dixie]

My 04 squeaks all the way up so I hope you get an anwser.

I'm sure WD40 will cure it if we can just find out where to aim it, Kenny. Cheers

 

[edward301]

You need to put some lithium grease on the screw mechanism, some of the plastic
parts have dried out. You can usually reach these parts by only removing the
plastic collar around the steering column.




There is a slight chance the metal in the back of the steering column where
the motors are needs oiling. That is much harder to reach, so try the plastic
parts first.

 

[BluByeU]

Whatever you do do NOT use WD-40. Use the Lithium base on all plastic & nylon parts. WD-40 will run & drip into areas where it should not be and will create an area that will remain sticky as it gathers dust.

 

[JW in Dixie]

Whatever you do do NOT use WD-40. Use the Lithium base on all plastic & nylon parts. WD-40 will run & drip into areas where it should not be and will create an area that will remain sticky as it gathers dust.

Thx - really joshing about WD40. "Cures everything"

You need to put some lithium grease on the screw mechanism, some of the plastic
parts have dried out. You can usually reach these parts by only removing the
plastic collar around the steering column.

View attachment 5068


There is a slight chance the metal in the back of the steering column where
the motors are needs oiling. That is much harder to reach, so try the plastic
parts first.

Thx v much. Will do. Cheers

 

[Issyro]

When I turn motor off and wheel goes "home" it has recently begun making a slight squeaking. Advice? Thx

I have the same issue on my 03, I figure it’s old aged bones trying to move. May involve taking off the housing and greasing it up.

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I have my 02 dash apart right now....I found old congealed grease in a metal channel on the top and bottom where the mechanism slides - cleaned that up and put some high-quality grease in there....I'll know more when things are reassembled next week..

Also appears there is some grease on the plastic flat part of the position sensor, I treated that too.

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I should have added that there are a lot of moving parts on the ass'y....there are two vertically mounted motors under the column and I assume one is tilt and the other extend... On the left deep inside the metal housing you can see what appears to be a long screw that is prob the extend mechanism. (FIRST PICTURE) I took a Popsicle stick and smeared some lube on that part....on the top left just behind the steering wheel there is a metal arm that goes in between two pivot points (SECOND PICTURE) which I assume is the tilt, the arm appears to be cable operated. I sprayed some Teflon lube on those pivot points. Finally if you stand up and look down through the windshield with the steering wheel fully extended and fully down you can see a gap where a metal tube is inside the housing and there was some white (lithium?) grease on that so I assumed there is movement there... (THIRD PICTURE RED OVAL)

Again I put some grease on a Popsicle stick and smeared it on that tube (both top and bottom).
The third picture also shows the long guide channel (RED ARROW) that needs grease...there is an identical channel underneath the column.

There is a long rod that goes down beside the plastic position sensor and passes close to the upright plastic tab on the sensor. I would keep that part clean as I suspect the sensor operates by monitoring that rod and it needs to stay clean.

Some assumptions on my part here but I think I've got it somewhat figured out...
If a motor doesn't fail, nothing gets in a bind and the position sensor doesn't go fluey the assembly should go forever..