steering coupler update

[Johnhazen]

Got the new steering coupler installed and the steering feels tighter again. It had a knocking in the steering column when going over certain bumps and also when you would turn the wheel back and forth at a stand still. Both knocks gone. Old coupler was very much shot. It was easy to see the looseness in it by putting it up on a rack and simply observing the coupler while a helper pushed one of the wheels back and forth.
Problem is that now the steering wheel is not straight. The car tracks straight down the road if you let go of the steering wheel, but the steering wheel itself is rotated to the right so that the left side of it's center part / air bag part is at 10:00 and the right is at 4:00 instead of 9:00 and 3:00.
Did my mechanic put it back together wrong or does it just need an alignment to correct this? P.S. the turn signals do cancel properly.
If it was installed one spline off could it cause this condition?

[dugald]

I believe your mechanic reassembled the shaft in the coupler different from before.
Since your signal cancellers still work ok, you can correct the problem by removing the steering wheel and reinstalling it straight. That's a lot easier than fixing the coupler.

[meltedpanda]

I'd return and tell him to get the steering wheel back where it belongs , probably off a few teeth

[abiby]

If it cancels correctly in about the same positions, it must be simply in the steering wheel installation. It's amazing how out of postion a couple of notches makes the wheel.

It's definitely the mechanics responsiblity to correct it and I'd insist on it if your car has an airbag. If not... I could probably pull the wheel and correct it in less time than I could make the appointment to get it fixed.

Of course that's if he didn't put more loc-tite on the threads holding the steering wheel.

[abiby]

... by the way, you might consider posting the solution to your problem in your original thread so a future participant can read it.

On the original thread hey're still arguing about what's wrong.

[Johnhazen]

Mechanic took coupler back off and moved it counter clockwise 1-2 teeth and now the Steering wheel is straight, signals cancel properly. Joy. Almost. In the process the allen head stripped out on one of the coupler bolts and had to replace it. Is this bolt ok to replace with a regular bolt or is it hardened and I should get a proper replacement?

[Mike D]

Hardened bolt. Replace it with the proper allen head bolt.

[abiby]

Originally Posted by Mike D

Hardened bolt. Replace it with the proper allen head bolt.

I believe they are a torx head bolt for the replacement couplers.

[meltedpanda]

they are torx on the new ones and allen on the old, they are hardened, I would not use normal run of the mill bolt