Lower steering column bearing or bush.

[e31gixxxer]

Gave up searching after an hour or so, but can anyone say whether the lower steering column bearing is infect a bearing or a bush?


I had the occasional creak from behind the steering wheel and put it down to the slip ring, a "to do job".
Well yesterday that list nearly became irrelevant, when the steering locked up whilst driving. It took quite a lot of effort to force the wheel to where I wanted it.
Limped it the 1/2 mile back home with a tight, notchy feel to the wheel.

I pulled it down today and it's the lower bearing in the firewall, the creaking sound I heard, that appeared to be just behind the steering wheel, is in fact from this bearing/spring, and transferring up the column.


The reason I ask is if it's a bush and can be lubed up that’s one thing. If it's a sealed ball bearing then I want it gone.


I haven’t removed the column yet so I can't check myself.

Thanks in advance.

[Randy Forbes]

Well I haven't been there yet, nor can I recall it ever brought up on here; might try searching the E-36 / 3-Series forum to see if it's ever been mentioned there.

[gmushial]

The lower half of the steering column - that piece which goes from basically the firewall to the steering rack - has a pair of u-joints in it; but no "bearing" or bushing.



(and no, the shaft isn't bent: artifact of too wide of a lens in too small of a space... files are 12"x12" as reference).

[e31gixxxer]

The lower half of the steering column - that piece which goes from basically the firewall to the steering rack - has a pair of u-joints in it; but no "bearing" or bushing. I'll upload a pic shortly.

No not those rods and UJs. The steering column, the straight part from the steering wheel to the firewall.

Well I haven't been there yet, nor can I recall it ever brought up on here; might try searching the E-36 / 3-Series [COLOR=red !important][COLOR=red !important]forum[/COLOR][/COLOR] to see if it's ever been mentioned there.

I assumed this would be a common problem, oh well, will rip it all down next week. If anyone is experiancing the simptoms I mentioned, I would advise you check this ASAP. Like I said It took TWO hands to move the wheel.

[Vintage42]

This has some info...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...Writeup-w-pics

[Wres157]

Sure it wasn't the power steering that went?

[e31gixxxer]

This has some info...
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...Writeup-w-pics

Thanks vintage, thats' what I needed, you are the man.


It is a bearing, there are various lube methods described, from drilling a hole in the column, to spraying from the engine bay using tubes.


I will be doing none of the above. I am not lubricating a roller bearing with penetrating oil.

Column out, new bearing for me.

[Vintage42]

Motorcycle chain lube in the lower bearing sounds good to me. It comes with a spray wand, is very viscous and clings without dripping, and should be good for roller bearings that need to turn only a little.

[e31gixxxer]

Motorcycle chain lube in the lower bearing sounds good to me. It comes with a spray wand, is very viscous and clings without dripping, and should be good for roller bearings that need to turn only a little.

Good stuff I know, useful for rust proofing those hard to access places where Waxoyl is too thick to run in to, won't block drain holes either.

BUT...My steering locked up, I was doing about 30mph with the wheel at approx. 1/4 turn, and tried to exit, requiring approx. 1/4 turn the other direction. Not a nice feeling when it won't move. Earlier that day I had done 30 miles ragging the a** of it!


Point being if a roller bearing does that, damage done IMO. Either the cage has disintegrated, or there are some solids in there. Either way, I will be waiting for it to fail catastrophically with may be worse consequences.


Also, any notchy or tightness in the steering will likely not help with straight line stability. If the head bearings on a bike are like that it is almost impossible to keep it in a straight line, not that the Z was particularly bad, except the staggered tramlining, but I may get a bonus on that perhaps?

[gmushial]

Will be interesting to see what you find in there... seems somewhat unusual for a bearing to fail so catastrophically so quickly... wonder if something didn't manage to get into the bearing - though I'm not sure where it would come from to do such.

W/re tramlining - generally on these cars that's a question of LCABs, lower steering column guibo or the ujoins... presuming the rod ends are healthy.

[Vintage42]

... BUT...My steering locked up... Point being if a roller bearing does that, damage done IMO. Either the cage has disintegrated, or there are some solids in there. Either way, I will be waiting for it to fail catastrophically with may be worse consequences. Also, any notchy or tightness in the steering will likely not help with straight line stability. If the head bearings on a bike are like that it is almost impossible to keep it in a straight line, not that the Z was particularly bad, except the staggered tramlining, but I may get a bonus on that perhaps?

Of course. If the bearings are damaged, notchy, disintegrating, they must be replaced. I just meant to say that if they are only squeaking, the chain lube might be the best choice of injectable lubes to extend their life.
But what car mfr designs a steering column with bearings that fail with age? No other car in history has such a thing.
And how odd that a roller bearing would fail in this application. They carry the crankshafts of vintage BMW motorcycles, and the wheels of every conveyance known to man. A steering column just turns back and forth slowly.

[gmushial]

Of course. If the bearings are damaged, notchy, disintegrating, they must be replaced. I just meant to say that if they are only squeaking, the chain lube might be the best choice of injectable lubes to extend their life.
But what car mfr designs a steering column with bearings that fail with age? No other car in history has such a thing.
And how odd that a roller bearing would fail in this application. They carry the crankshafts of vintage BMW motorcycles, and the wheels of every conveyance known to man. A steering column just turns back and forth slowly.

Have to agree with the gist of your comment... hence my thought that something might have gotten into the bearing jamming it up vs the bearing itself failing - as you say: they're so overdesigned that to see a failure - think I'd be more inclined to see a pink leprechaun, or an international orange dragon first.

[e31gixxxer]

Ok, I almost can't contain my impatience to know the truth. It will be Friday before I can get back on to the big failure mystery. Bearing or not bearing, that is the question.


Thanks for all the comments guys; I do take them on board.


I have developed my current theory, and presently feel quite confident that I could be on to something.

Here it is then; I originally said bottom bearing. This was because the tightness was mechanical, notchyness, not just loss of assist, as in pump/belt failure. That would still include the possibility of rack or other steering/suspension component tightness.

There is one more clue; think of the creaking noise that accompanied the stiffness. Like I said it appeared to come from just behind the steering wheel when sat in the car, but when my assistant moved the steering wheel I could hear it was coming from the bottom of the column, where it enters the engine bay.


When I think of the sound it is almost like the noise a broken strut spring can make when it has buried it’s self up in the turret, and you turn the steering, but in miniature.

I think that the retaining spring for the inner column rod, may be somehow catching on the outer as I turn the wheel. My money is on this for now.

[e31gixxxer]

All sorted, feels better than it has since I bought the car, smooth, quiet...

The bottom bearing was indeed seized. There is a cover plate for the bearing that is split and as the retaining spring puts pressure on it, it is pushed down in to a bevel on the bearing inner race. This effectively locks the inner race to the column inner rod.
When the steering is turned the cover plate turns with the inner bearing race and the retain spring. On mine the cover plate was seized to the inner race, which was also seized and didn't move, so the retaining spring was scraping on the plate.

Here are a few pics.

Remove shear bolts on column, after unplugging cables, removing steering wheel and removing pinch bolt from the clamp on the bottom of the column. Cut a slot with a Dremmel or a 4 1/2" angle grinder, if you are careful.



Turn lower retaining clamp anticlockwise to release.



Column retaining spring.



Spring, cover plate washer and C clip.



Note clean face on spring and plate where they have been scraping.



Seized bearing. Note bevel on inner race that locks cover plate.



Top view of bearing. Does it look like condensation may have caused the problem, running down the inside of the column, rather than entering from the engine bay? Column packed with grease before fitting new bearing.



New bearing and plate.



Cleaned up inner rod.



Shear bolts replaced with M8 capheads. Everything greased and copper slipped.



For anyone wanting to go the " drilling a hole and lubing" method, there is already a hole half way up the column, so drilling is not necessary. That may be a quick fix, but I can't see it fixing that bearing.

[gmushial]

First: congrats on getting this sorted out - and have to agree: the squirt some lube in there clearly wouldn't have helped.

But having said that: I'm bothered/surprised by the amount of rust in there - and I find it hard to believe that such would simply be caused by condensation... are you the first owner of the Z? Is it possible that it had been flooded in the past? Yes, anything is possible, but that amount of corrosion from condensation - I wouldn't expect to see that much even in a unvented bathroom after a couple decades.

[e31gixxxer]

^
I have only had it about a year, so yes it's possible it was flooded.

However; I have to laugh, nothing personal, but if you think that is rust, "you ain't seen nothing", my location is not renowned for its temperate clime. Most people here have to buy a new BBQ every year.

On a serious note, the column is positioned right where the heater blows on it, hot, cold, hot, etc.
I bet many of the folks with creaky sliprings may be surprised. If it creaks, listen under the hood, and then tell me it’s the slipring.

[gmushial]

I'll let others chime in here... but we have places here in the states which get 10m of rainfall each and every year and one doesn't see that type of rust buildup... so, I'm wondering if the car didn't get flooded where the lower part of the column was filled with water and retained it for a long time; or maybe you have a windshield seal that's leaking and letting the rain that you mention in on an ongoing basis [did you find the carpet wet under the steering column, or maybe evidence of such on the engine side of the firewall... though the rust I see seems uphill of there]. My concern is: if the car was flooded and repaired, then that's past; but if you have a windshield gasket leak, you'll be doing this same dance over again down the road... and not being able to turn the steering wheel while in motions, mustn't be one of life's more pleasant sensations, ie, been there, done that, don't want to do that again.]

[Vintage42]

... we have places here in the states which get 10m of rainfall each and every year...

If that's a typo, what's the right amount?

[e31gixxxer]

or maybe you have a windshield seal that's leaking and letting the rain that you mention in on an ongoing basis [did you find the carpet wet under the steering column, or maybe evidence of such on the engine side of the firewall... though the rust I see seems uphill of there]. My concern is: if the car was flooded and repaired, then that's past; but if you have a windshield [COLOR=red !important][COLOR=red !important]gasket[/COLOR][/COLOR] leak, you'll be doing this same dance over again down the road...

Good point, it did have seal issues when I got it, the rubber plug in the screen seal was leaking, carpet out to dry it out.

Out of interest I pulled the column out of the parts car.
It was free, but had a slightly rough feel to it, like a dry, lack of grease feel. There doesn't seem to be much grease in these, so perhaps if any moisture gets in, for any reason, then they would be prone to seizure?

[gmushial]

If that's a typo, what's the right amount?

Correct number... thinking the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula (WA) and the "down south east" of AK.

- - - Updated - - -

Good point, it did have seal issues when I got it, the rubber plug in the screen seal was leaking, carpet out to dry it out.

Out of interest I pulled the column out of the parts car.
It was free, but had a slightly rough feel to it, like a dry, lack of grease feel. There doesn't seem to be much grease in these, so perhaps if any moisture gets in, for any reason, then they would be prone to seizure?

;-) ;-( VW vans from the '68-71 era have a similar problem - but instead of the steering rusting, all the electrics short out leaving one with fried wiring and typically stranded somewhere... but again, it's a $35 windshield seal gasket.

W/re the lack of grease in there: my impression is that bimmer didn't expect these Z's to still be on the road this many years later - my guess is they built them with a 120k (mi) and 8yr nominal lifetime, so were able to rationalize cutting corners here and there to save a few $'s... [unlike a 6, 7, or 8-series which look like they were built for 300k mi and 20 yrs].