Steering Column Universal Joint

[marc125030]

The universal joint between the rack and steering column has play in it, I've tried nipping up the bolt but the wear seems to be in the joint itself. Can these be replaced and how hard to do it?

[Ronin]

As far a I know m8 it means replacing the steering rack even though there is probably nothing wrong with the old one aprt from the noise!

Citroen had knocking problems with the U/J on early C5 models, often a nip up which you have done was enough to abate the issue. Citroen made a new design for the linkage and the only viable way to get rid of the noise is to replace the rack with the new type.

 

Now the good news, it won't affect the cars road holding and isn't dangerous the way it is at the moment. I can imagine how annoying it must be though.

 

 

I have seen owners of Vauxhall Astra mkII have a similar problem when a plastic retaing clip fails inside the steering column (it was designed to move the steering away from the driver in a collision) the whole column drops by about 1.5 cm and cause the U/J to knock. They cant get a clip seperately and have to replace the whole column.

So a quick fix came about. They seperated the column from the rack and wrapped a small amount of ptfe tape around the splines and re- fitted it. Did it work?

Yes...... but I wouldn't even recommend even trying it on a car with airbags and other safety features m8. Sorry but I have never touched a steering rack on a C5 yet bro so can't offer any further advice about the difficulty level.

Send a message to KFK who one of our brilliant citroen techs and see if he can come up with a solution m8 ok. ;)

let us know how you get on.

[coastline taxis]

hi

possible cheaper repair could be to remove steering rack and take it to local propshaft services where they could overhall the u/j hope it helps

[mlkey]

hi

possible cheaper repair could be to remove steering rack and take it to local propshaft services where they could overhall the u/j hope it helps

 

This is my challenge for today. The rattle is really annoying when on bad roads.. The rattle is caused by the section of column where it passes through a collar directly above the UJ, it is not the UJ or the rack. I can replicate the noise just but wobbling the column by hand.

 

Been told the only cure is to replace the whole column, circa £500. Think I will try putting some PTFE around the column where it passes through the collar and see if it works, will report back.

 

Mike.