I was trying to shake the steering wheel and see where this looseness was coming from. I researched on here and found that some people have had luck tightening up the steering by retightening the bolts. Well the two 12mm that are right underneath the gauge cluster one on each side, the one on the left i was tightening with my wrench and snapped the bolt. I pull the gauge cluster and trim and can see the top of the studs. There is a raised piece of metal that looks like it covers the studs. Are these studs just screwed in like studs on an engine or are the bolts that go down through the top and i just have to remove more stuff from the dash? I appreciate any help as I am trying to get my girls car going and was planning on just putting a new used rack in it tomorrow and noticed that the column had a loose feeling to it and i got side tracked into trying to fix that and now im screwed.

 

no idea, but your prolly gonna have to pull the dash to fix it, so just pull it out and have a grinder ready to cut off that cover and see if you can grab the bolt with a pair of vicegrips and get it out. good luck

 

I appreciate the advice! I have an idea or two try as well before i go pulling the dash. Any advice as to why the column would be loose when you grasp the wheel at 9 and 3 and push/pull on it? You can actually watch the metal that is underneath the two bolts i was trying to tighten down slide back and forth. The ujoints are tight on the shaft of the column. Would a loose feeling column cause random pulling and erratic steering?

 

there are little plastic "bushings" in between the column mounts and the column itself, i would drop the column and see if those are all worn out or broken. its number 3 in the pic. also see if bolts numbers 10 and 11 are tight and all the way in. get under there and have a friend push and pull on it, and start looking from the bottom all the way to the top and see exactly where is starts moving.

 

Awesome diagram i appreciate it! The two ears that #12 gets bolted to is the plate that is moving around when wiggling the wheel. This is also where the stud got broke off. I really appreciate it and any suggestions as to whether this would be the cause of steering wander and all around erratic steering?

 

its prolly not causing the erraditc steering, but if anything in there is messed up i would just get a new column, theres too much **** in there, thats not meant to come apart, to try and fix it. things that are pressed in and welded on and ****. if the steering is erratic it could be the tie rods or control arm bushings. what exactly do you mean by erratic?

diagram courtesy of honda

 

By erratic I mean that when you are driving the car will pull left one second then pull right the next. Then the wheel wont come back to center. I have pryed and pulled on the tires and can not find any looseness in any of the joints. Vehicle has new inner and outer tie rods and all check out good. Not too easy to move and move smoothly. When i take the steering wheel and turn it rapidly back and forth about 3-4in I hear a distinct knocking sound coming from the rack while stopped. This sounds appears to be coming from the pinion going into the rack right by the drivers side inner tie rod. I was planning on getting a used rack today but if you dont think that is it I will put it off. Ball joints arent great but not totally shot. No noticeable play when prying on the tire, and no noticeable play when prying on the LCA's. Any hints or advice are greatly appreciated.

 

yeah that sounds like the pinion is worn out, ive seen it alot, never on a honda though. but hey anythings possible. get the whole rack and pinion all the way up to the top where it bolts to the column. when you get it out if your curious take the top part of it off, the part where the lines go, and you can see the pinion and the teeth on the rack. im sure you will see exactly what the problem was. its scary somtimes, my moms geo was totally ****ed when we got it, it had like 1/2 the teeth broken off of the pinion.

 

It's numbered in the parts diagram, so it's replaceable.

 

Come on @deschlong ! You HAD to have been duped into replying to this ancient thread by scrolling too far down at the bottom of another thread you were reading. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

 

@DaX Nope, buddy deleted his post after I responded, no reason given. Well, due to my God-given powers, I have undeleted said post and can continue my journey onward to a higher mental plane.