Hi, I'm a newbee here just signed up. I just bought my son a 96 RS Auto with a 3.8 V6 in it. It has a few problems lol. He is only 14 so we have a little time to fix it up. I have been doing all kinds of research on different things. We have fixed a few of them already but it has the loose steering column. I found articles and a vid on youtube for tightning up the loose 4 screws in there. We rented the tools and tore into it today. The screws were a bit loose but I knew that was not going to fix it. The swivel pins were not tight at all..in fact I bought the little puller thing and didn't need it. I would pull them out with my fingers. I assume this is the actual problem? I can't find much about it or what to replace to fix it. Can someone help me with that? We put it back together and it is better. I tapped the pins back in solid but it does still move down and to the left a bit.
I'm sorry for the long post. We have lots of little things to fix...major one is the crunch on the front from someone hitting a deer. But we will work on that later.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Rob (dad) and Dalton (son)

 

search the forums, this problem is common, and Welcome to the forums

 

The loose column at the base is common and that is the 4 screws that need to be tightened. This issue is simply wear on the tilt head. There is not alot you can do about it aside from replacing the tilt head. They are at last time I checked still available from GM or you can get a whole column for about the same price from a wrecking yard. There is not alot of difference between years of these cars and their columns. 2000 got a slight change but will still fit into a 96.

Massey

 

So is a replacement column the best way to fix it? Wonder if I can find one that is not worn out too! lol Anyone know what part in there would need replaced? I assume the part with the tilt gears and such in it?
Rob

 

The part is called the tilt head. It is the main or upper part of the tilt mech and it does the most work. It has the most stress put on it as well especally if some one uses the wheel to pull them into the car. You can buy just the tilt head but it will cost as much as an entire column. Also if your car is a 93-99 you can use the tilt head from just about any GM air bag column (saginaw designed column) including trucks. So you may be able to get the part you need out of a wrecking yard for cheap. Most yards will not let you dismantle a good column but will let you strip a broken one. Just ask and look around that column was used for years. (some non airbag columns may work as well but I cant remember off the top of my head if they modified the tilt head or not.)

Massey