Wife pulls on my column and breaks it.

[DNO62]

Hello folks,
I noticed a little fore and aft movement on my HX Sandman steering column when I pulled on my steering wheel, so I and decided to ask my wife for some assistance. Being married for 35 years I thought she was the perfect person to pull on my colum while I watched the back and forth movement.

I opened the bonnet and positioned myself so that I could see my column and asked her to give it a pull, stupid me didn't say how hard and she pulled it that hard that a gap of about 10mm was created between the part the steering wheel is attached to and the part of the column where the indicator is positioned.
My wife was in a complete panic trying to push it back in, but alas the damage was done and I was in a state of complete shock, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as she had almost torn my column out with her bear hands.

After the panic and disappointment of breaking my favorite toy had subsided I consulted Dr Google and it appears that the soft metal holding the upper bearing into the honeypot has been damaged and I am up for a replacement honeypot. I have however been able to centralise the column and push it back into place, completely closing the gap completely. The steering feels as it should and I am confident that unless I pull on my column again, everything is back to normal.

My questions are:
1. Would it have been 100% the upper bearing that caused the gap,
2. Now that it is repositioned (pushed back in) should I risk driving it,
3. Does anyone have a really good HX honeypot with a known good upper bearing they are willing to sell,
4. Does anyone have an idiots guide video of how to replace the honey pot?

Cheers,

[wbute]

It's all here
http://www.mysandman.com.au/forums/s...eering+columns
Good luck.
There's nothing worse than your wife pulling on your column and breaking it....

[DNO62]

Hello wbute,
Thanks for the link, I have read the post a few times now and I am still unsure as to what i have damaged, if anything, since I have been able to align the column and push it back into its original position.
Cheers,

[wbute]

Sounds like the top bearing from the thread. You probably need to pull it apart and have a look. Either way, they don't like force either up or down.
Maybe someone else has more idea. But I really think you need to pull it apart. It's a fairly important part of the car...

[Innuendo]

I'd say it's the shear pin that has been broken. This is the collapsible part of the column.
You can drive them broken, but I would 100% recommend you pull it all apart and find out where any issues are.

[Vombil]

pull steering wheel off, unscrew canceling cam and indicator stalk. then you thread large steering nut back on and sit there moving in and out, u and down. you should see if play is somewhere in pot ie C clip or bearing - if not, you've got much bigger probs like innerz has suggested

[DNO62]

Thanks Vombil, I will take your advice and remove the steering wheel and go from there.
Cheers,

[maxsandman]

Sounds like you entire car is buggered, but I will take it off your hands to save more expense

[DNO62]

Thanks for offer maxsandman, it might just be easier to give it to you.

[maxsandman]

Thanks for that

How are you doing with your column?