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how to finish pulling steering wheel on '93 Fleetwood--and then how to get to ignition cylinder?

4K views 22 replies 3 participants last post by  dochawk 
#1 ·
I'm partway through removing the steering wheel.

I have the four torx on the back backed out enough to remove the airbag (T30 if anyone is researching this later), but there's an annoying little blue clip stopping me from pulling the molex:

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Is there any practical way to pull it other than buying yet another pair of needle nose pliers with narrower arms? I'm not managing to get my regular ones on to it . . .

I have the bolt off the steering wheel (21mm, iirc):

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If I'm reading the various online instructions correctly, I now need a puller with hooks?

But what to the hooks attach to? This plate? The steering wheel casing is too soft to be pulled on without damage?

Is this the same puller as a pulley puller?

I expect some steering column to get exposed by doing this, but am not sure what it will be. Will there be something that lets me release the cylinder, or . . .

And it's a fine time to ask, but will the cylinder from a '95 Eldorado fit?
 
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#2 ·
A steering wheel puller is just a single bar puller.
Could use a harmonic balancer puller also if it has the puller bolt holes straight apart.
Some auto parts stores rent them.
A cheap one at Harbor Freight or online probibley not expensive.

The puller uses the 2 threaded bolt holes in the steering wheel.
The holes located at 2 & 8 o'clock.
Find the right size bolts.
Put on each side across the flat bar puller.
Tighten the center puller bolt until loose.

Once knew a big guy that could pull the steering wheels by hand.
But that's taking a risk of causing stress & damage to your parts.

Tip 1. The notice how the 2 marks on the shaft & wheel align.
Tip 2. Level your wheel before disassembly if possible. Not required but just another way to keep from installing 1 spline off.

After you get the wheel off you have the clockspring (air bag connection).
Below that is a lock plate & snap ring clip.
The lock plate also requires a special tool.
Years ago I made that tool out of steel plate formed in a "U" with a hole drilled in it for a high school shop class.
Again you could make, rent, buy it at Harbor Freight, or online.

Below that is the key warning switch to remove & the lock cylinder bolt.

Tip 3. There are a few center section bolts that can loosen over time.
It makes the wheel tilt feel loose when the bolts are not tight.
Can't reach all without another puller & further dissambly.
But you can tighten maybe 2 of them.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Thanks.

I now have the wheel and lock plate off (although that C-ring like thing took some doing . . . although the ring behind it is rather warped:

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But now I have this thing to remove:

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What is this next plate/cup, and do I need another special tool?

edit: gee, it's amazing how much faster it was to do the second car . . . o_O
 
#5 · (Edited)
That's what I used to get this far--the lock plate was yellow plastic.

Or should I not have used it on that. the c-type ring seemed to meet the descriptions I found.

But according to AutoZone (who shows the ignition cylinder in the wrong placer) there should be a release that I can poke with an awl.

This is what I pulled (the lower one; I just took this)

'
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But now I see that theres' a ring on what's left, with a gap at about 11 o'clock.

So the black one is the lock plate, and this other disk thing is something I haven't seen mentioned in the various instructions?
 
#6 ·
GM made these steering columns since about 1969.
Few changes & options.
This has the air bag, so it's just a few more steps that may not be in some guides.
Same with the security VATS system was another another added feature.

The yellow is your airbag clock spring.
Notice the 2 alignment arrows on the picture top.
Make sure that does not spin on you.

Inside the clock spring is the wires wound up for the air bag, for, & any steering wheel buttons.
Has enough slack to turn a few rotations to the left & right when centered.
Any more then that will break the wires.
Get the center messed up and it could break the wires on 1st turn.
The wires inside it were more of a plastic ribben cable I believe.
Read the warning on it.
They might of had a hole to lock the top & bottom of the clock spring together while servicing.

By the book any airbag work you should unplug the yellow connector under the column for safety.
Kinda like the book always says to disconect the battery. I never do except for certain things.
For this I would disconect the battery.
Reason is if you turn the key on to test the new lock it will set an airbag code & turn the light on.
Not the end of the world. Just easier to disconecrt then to clear codes.
Might not be able to ever clear the air bag code history, only reset it no current code.

Some GM columns had a pin you could depress to remove the cylinder.
I thought these had a torx bolt holding in the lock cylinder.
It's located under the key in igition contacts that need to be removed.

After you get the lock plate off I think you need to loosen & move the trun signal switch & connecting arm out of your way.

This lock cylinder should have a wire for the VATS security system.
 
#7 ·
Almost all of the way there:
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I'm not sure I needed to remove all of those T30 from the housing to get to the T20 that releases the cylinder, but looking at the earlier picture, it does indeed seem blocked by yellow plastic (it's at about 2:30):

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I haven't been able to remove the yellow plastic framing the turn signal adaptor bolts to, but after some fussing about, I managed to get it over the column to get an angle at the T20. There seem to be something similar to spade connectors, but I can't see which way to pull them off--in the direction of the wire, or away from the lug,.

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I had to slide out this sensor, too, as it blocked the T20. I have no idea what it does, but . . .
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and finally, I see the yellow piece over the wires from the resistor checker. Is that a connector, or a crimp of some type, or . . .

Note: all of these are from the '95 Eldorado donor; I figured it was a better place to learn.

I have enough resistors around to run something in series or parallel to gimmick this key to appear as a #8. I have two #8blanks arriving later in the week, so I'd prefer to use them in a temporary manner that I can remove.

So close. . . I'm having Fleetwood withdrawal after almost two weeks of this . . .
 
#8 · (Edited)
I have the plate off the Fleetwood, too, now. A grey plastic support for the base for the shifter this time.

I think I see the edge of the tort at the tip of the green arrow, but it's obstructed.
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what is the least invasive way to get at it and the wires?

I just measured it, at 1860 ohms it's a #7, so a 500 ohm in serious will make it look like a #8.
 
#9 ·
You got it.
The part your talking about is the turn signal switch.
It does not unplug were you're at.
Just pull it out of the way.
All the wires in the column fish thru to the bottom near the under dash column mounting bracket.
Except some cruise control switches / turn levers pluged in near the lever.
While others were fished.

The security vats orange cable is fished thru the colomn too.
Tie mechanics wire, mig wire, small copper wire, or even string onto the old switch cable before pulling it out.
Use the same pull wire / string to pull the new one in.
 
#11 ·
#12 · (Edited)
grr . . . there go more small pieces of flesh . . .

On the Deville, I have a connecter like this:

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I assume that if I keep trying, I'll find a way to disconnect that button?

edit: No, slip something tiny and lift it over the nub, which is part of the casing my fingers are holding.
On the Eldorado, it's part of a bigger block:

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I've already released two sets of latches. Is the blue tab by the blue arrow another release? Or is it possible to pull that blue block into which the wires enter (green arrow)?

But unless it actually has its own connector similar to the '97, it seems there's no reason not to snip the wires at the plug on the donor . . .

I thought of simply unsoldering at the cylinders, but that doesn't seem to be an option, either . . .
 
#15 ·
When these steering columns 1st came out about 50 years ago they had more steel to them.
Harder to crack open.
Cost & weight cutting by the later 70's they were more plastic & aluminum.
A medium screwdriver to crack open the left and access the lock rod was all that was needed to steel the car.
For a time GM's suffered as being the #1 stolen car. Most every GM car from later 70's till when they changed the column design or installed VATS. Depending on model late 80's to mid 90's.

The VATS was not high tech, but it did deter the low tech car criminals.
It's a PITA now getting a key. But still I would keep it to protect the car from being stolen.

In the picture it can be hit or miss getting terninals in & out of those connectors & reusing.
A bad connection & the car wont start. If your sure those are the wires you may want to just soder & heat shrink.
 
#16 ·
I don't have enough slack up top to take a chance.

I clipped under the console to leave a couple of inches left on the connector to work with--and then had trouble reaching and manipulating the remainder.

My usual pull-through method is electrical tape connecting the old to the new. I haven't been able to get the angle to do this, though--I keep ending up with huge gobs of tape. I then tried stripping the outer orange off the white wires to tie a knot, so I could knot twice through that, and failed again. If I were four feet tall with tiny hands, maybe.

So I took a try at poking through from the passenger compartment with stiff wire (light fencing wire I have for my grapes), and by the length going in, it seems to get all of the way to the wall (?) before stopping.

I suspect that If I can remove this white thing:

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that I could poke the wire through--but is it a connector that removes (then how?), or just a guide.

I don't think I have enough orange wire left (orange arrow) for my next attempt to fail.

I'm toying with superglue and epoxy. Unless someone knows better, I've rejected soldering, as that white wire is so frail it's likely to break if it catches; the orange outer casing is far stronger.

I suppose I could could mangle an inch or so of stiff wire into the orange casing under the console, and push that a I tug the orange out . . .

I don't seem to have any good ideas, and am now looking for the least bad.

The only bright side here is that I've figured out that a pair of 4.7k resistors in parallel are only 20 ohms off of the nominal rating for a #8 key (and I have a couple of #8 arriving late this week, so can cut them from the #7). [naturally, they day after I do that, I'll get a message from a locksmith offering to cut from the key codes I have at a reasonable price, followed by finding my keys the next day . . ]

but for the moment, this is still dead in the water in my driveway, and I'm waiting elsewhere for an explanation of how to get the fuel hoses off the barbed nipples on the fuel injection rails on the mustang, leaving us with only my wife's van available . . . good thing I work from home . . .)
 
#17 ·
Didn't want to get into explaining the wire mold on the column.
You could pull those loose to fish the wires thru.
Different styles in different years.
Sometimes you had to compleatly remove the column bracket to remove the plastic wire mold.

From someone that has fished tens of 1000s of wires & cables this is what you need here.
#16 or #18 mechanics wire or solid copper wire.
Tightly wrap the pull wire around the end of the cable pulling.
Cover with a tight wrap of electrical tape only to make aerodynamic.
Pull the pull wire up.
Change to your new lock wire, & pull down.

Another option is small string.
Tie a half hitch (look it up if you don't know) or two on the end of the old wire. Wrap in tape too keep it smooth.

Don't expect electrical tape to hold the 2 wires together.
Braiding these small wires together under the dash is a waist of time, and probibly wont hold.
Can't tell if you still have plastic on the end of the old wires but you could also tie onto that.
Not as strong as the terminals can pull out.

Worst case you pull out the old wire without the old wire.
Just use the mechanics wire or solid copper to fish to the other side.
It's only a few feet. If the old wire is too short to work with then just pull it out with nothing attached.

Make the tilt on the steering straight so it pulls better.
Fence wire is too thick for tieing onto these wires.

You did all the hard parts. Fishing the new wire soundn't be that difficult or take very long.

Don't know what you're talking about with super glue / epoxy. Attaching the old wire to new?
Will not work.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I've tied plenty of half-hitches over the years, but I can't reach enough to manipulate it the problem.

I'll try again today with a fresh back and a couple of pair of tweezers.

I think I have a spool of 16 copper out there . . .

I haven't had luck applying the streamlining electrical tape from the angles I can reach. I'm thinking of heat shrink tubing to accomplish that. (I think I have some of that somewhere, but if I don't, it's fairly cheap . . .)

Hmm, these may fit the bill:

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soft galvanized 19 (probably bought for under the hood on something on the '72), and the little red connectors are supposed to work from 22 to 18 gauge . . .
 
#19 ·
Another swing and a miss.

The orange is too big to fit, so I crimped on to a white with its own copper wrapped around it. It didn't make it through, and . . .

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But I was able to retrieve it with needle nose and my newly created yoga position (head under console, butt against back of bench seat, legs over back of seat! Do I get royalties for it?)

And the white thing does indeed appear to be a molex connector--but I would have, at least, to remove the clamp holding it under the steering column. I couldn't get the phone in position, but I could see the clip on the other side of it. (hmm, maybe taking that off would make sense, as I could actually get at the hole . . .
 
#20 ·
to get that section off, I had to take off the interior panel--easy, a couple of 7mm and it slid out.

Then a brace that appears to have no purpose other than blocking access to those bolts, so 4x10mm.

Then those two 15mm on the brace (and several whacks in the face with the ratchet!), and I get to here:

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I've never seen a clip like that silver one with the yellow brackets. One of the on each side appears to be holding the two pieces, upper and lower, of that black brace together. I haven't managed to get the molex free with it there, so I need to figure out how to get them off.

If it was just the silvery clips (steel? aluminum?), I'd think they slid towards the passenger compartment (left here). But those little yellow bits are giving me pause . . .

With that molex open, I'll have a few inches of the orange line to work with.
 
#21 ·
I took another look today (and another couple of pictures).

I had initially thought that the yellow on these clips was some kind of release, but it looks more and more to me like it's some kind of buddy or adhesive.

But it also looks like this harness is welded on--I had thought that it was two pieces, but it doesn't pass over the top of the steering column:

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which gets me back to wondering about a way to spring/release that molex . . .
 
#22 · (Edited)
Almost there.

I was finally ready to take my chances today.

I tugged enough out of the steering hub to try to connect and pull through and . . . lost the tail at the other end. :mad:

I went on yet another search for wire, and a flash of inspiration hit: the Philco factory authorized repairs toolbox from my childhood. I first pulled out an ancient project with some speaker wire, but then notices a coil (well, fold, really) of perhaps 24 gauge . Maybe that could poke through from hub to dash . . . nope.

And I started thinking some more--it had gotten fairly far in. I just needed something stiffer.

Rebar is too think.

Perhaps a strand of Rome.

And it hit me.

Coat hanger.

I found one in the closet, and straightened one side. Straightening the twisty part broke it in two, which was the right length.

My first attempt came out at the molex, so I put it on top of the others . . . and out it came the other end.

I tried tying the orange casing to it, but the result was huge.

So I put a small loop on the end with my needle nose, and pulled the 19 gauge through, making sure I had an extra couple of feed.

Then a loop in the other end of that, once it was through, and with the help of pliers, a two half hitches with the orange.

Through it went, and, (you must have seen this coming) . . .

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And it wouldn't come back through.

But by now it was a science.

Clip the 19g from the coat hanger, pull it out, run through the hole for the cylinder this time, and do it again.

So I'm just about there.

My last remaining problem is seems to be that I've made the white wires too fat by wrapping electrical tape around exposed wire (this is the cylinder from the 95 Eldorado parts car).

Is there any trick to sliding these in?

I have appointments at the DMV for tomorrow to get a movement permit, which will let me smog it before another appointment the next day, in time to take it on the road trip on thanksgiving . . . if I can get it in.

so close, but still not there . . .
 
#23 ·
And it' done.

All back together, and I drove it to return the tools.

But when I turn near the extremes, it feels like the plastic is rubbing.

Might I have tightened the T30s on the back of the wheel to much, or differently from one another, or . . .
 
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