We are having problems getting the bearings in the right way to be put back into the steering column. we can't figure out how all the rings go to connect the bearings. Please help

Do your windshield wipers still work? There is not much mechanically in the column that would make a clicking sound. Try putting on your turn signals when going around a corner. Do they automatically click off? Is the clicking sound there all the time? I doubt it will become a major problem right now.

Fun job. I have done hundreds of those. WHY Ford put a steel pin in that cheap piece of plastic is beyond my comprehension. However, it has kept me employed :)

Anyway, did you remove the two T-30 TORX pins that go into the tilt head? They are what the tilt head pivots on.

If you have those out and it is still not coming off of the shaft. it is probably because the bearing cone is still in there.(under the spring and clip you removed) There is a stamped-steel ring that kind-of looks like a "top hat" that the spring seats on, then under that, there is a cone ring with a split that fits down into the upper bearing. (If you don't remove these, the harder you pull up on the tilt head, the tighter the cone ring will crush into the shaft and say "FORGET YOU! I AIN'T MOVIN'!!!")
These will come up and off of the shaft with a small screwdriver or pick. Then the tilt head will come off.

Then you are only halfway there. (I hope you have the column removed from the vehicle, because you will need to if you don't.) The column has to be COMPLETELY disassembled to get that !%#$ thing in there. The shaft has to ome out of the lower housing, the ignition switch, shift tube, shiftlock actuator and all that good stuff has to come off. Once all this is removed, you must fight the little pin that the lock pawl pivots on. It is pressed into the aluminum housing and can be a real bear to get out. (putting it back in is easy) Only after the lock pawl has been removed, will you be able to slide the ignition actuator up far enough to hook the little pin into the slot that it goes in. Then you have to get it all back together.

Good luck!

You can take the plastic covers off the steering column and try to spray light solvent into the steering lock area beneath the steering column to clean and lubricate the lock.
If that fails, if you have a dremel tool and some abrasive disks, and a Torx screwdriver that fits the screws behind the steering wheel, and a deep socket that fits the bolt that holds on the steering wheel, you can take the whole thing apart.
Disconnect the battery, wait a few minutes, then remove the Torx screws that hold the air bag to the steering wheel. The wire is a bit difficult to unplug from the air bag but it pulls out. Remove the bolt and mark the steering wheel so it goes back on the same tooth it came off of. As you pull it apart, take note of the location and orientation of the two spacer rings so they go back the way they belong. Snap ring pliers are handy for removing the snap ring, but any sharp tool will work.
With the dremel tool, cut straight slots in the the two security bolts in the top of the lock housing. Then use a short straight blade screwdriver bit to unscrew the bolts. The electrical part of the ignition is held on with a set screw that you have to loosen.
Once you get the lock housing apart, you can see what the problem is with the steering lock, or you can just pull out the lock bar and toss it and put the whole thing back together. Your steering wheel won't lock any more. but it will work.
Grease the upper steering column bearing in the lock housing while you have it apart. The best way to put that snap ring back on the steering column is to cut a short piece of 3/4" PVC pipe and use the steering wheel bolt and the PVC pipe to press the snap ring down the shaft until it snaps into its groove.
Eventually, your key and your lock cylinder will fail. Old lock cylinders almost never come out with a stiff wire the way they are designed to, so you have to replace the whole housing along with the lock cylinder. After you do this job, you will know exactly how to take care of that problem.

Hi, been there, done that--the likely cause is the bearing slipping out the other end of the column. Go in the engine compartment and push it back in and have someone hold it in while you compress the plate spring.

It sounds like the shift tube bushings are worn out. There are usually 2 u shaped clamps that have nylon bushings that hold the shift tube to the steering clumn. If loose, that throws off the shift position, could be btween 2 gears at once, and throws off the park - neutral safety switch. Fix that first.


Item Part Number Description 1 14A664 Air Bag Sliding Contact 2 3530 Upper Steering Column Shroud 3 3518 Steering Column Bearing Sleeve 4 3517 Steering Column Bearing 5 3511 Steering Column Lock Cylinder Housing 6 13K359 Multi-Function Switch 7 N808114 Pin 8 N805857 Steering Column Release Lever Pin 9 3D544 Steering Column Release Lever 10 3F609 Tilt Wheel Handle and Shank 11 7361 Column Shift Selector Lever Plunger 12 7210 Gearshift Lever 13 3D657 Steering Column Shaft 14 7B071 Transmission Control Selector Lever Plunger Spring 15 7G357 Gearshift Lever Pin 16 7212 Transmission Column Shift Selector Tube 17 N806582 Tilt Column Pivot Screw 18 7C464 Transmission Control Selector Lever Spring Clip 19 7E400 Gearshift Tube Bushing Clamp 20 - Spacer (Fixed Column) 21 3E729 Steering Shaft (Fixed Column) 22 3F527 Lever Assembly (Manual Transmission) 23 3F530 Pin (Manual Transmission) 24 3F752 Brake Shift Interlock Solenoid 25 7335 Gearshift Lever Socket Bushing 26 7A216 Transmission Shift Selector Position Insert 27 7302 Transmission Selector Lever Arm and Support 28 7E395 Shift Cable and Bracket 29 7210 Gearshift Lever 30 3E691 Steering Column Shift Lock Pawl 31 7W441 Gearshift Lever Pin 32 3676 Steering Column Instrument Panel Bracket 33 3D681 Steering Column Lower Bearing Retainer 34 3517 Steering Column Bearing Sleeve 35 3L539 Steering Column Bearing Tolerance Ring 36 3C674 Steering Column Lower Bearing Spring 37 3C131 Sensor Ring 38 3518 Steering Column Bearing 39 N806423-S56 Steering Column Retaining Nuts 40 14A163 Wiring Harness Retainer 41 3F723 Steering Actuator Housing 42 3B663 Steering Column Lock Lever Pin 43 11572 Ignition Switch 44 3D655 Steering Column Position Spring 45 3D653 Steering Column Locking Lever (LH) 46 3B768 Steering Column Position Lock Spring 47 3B662 Steering Column Locking Lever (RH) 48 3E715 Lower Steering Column Lock Actuator 49 3E696 Steering Column Lock Spring 50 3E691 Steering Column Shaft Lock Pawl 51 3E723 Upper Steering Column Lock Lever Actuator 52 3E695 Steering Column Lock Cam 53 3D656 Steering Column Tilt Flange Bumper 54 14A163 Wiring Harness Retainer 55 391727-S304 Shroud Screws 56 3530 Steering Column Shroud 57 3E717 Steering Column Lock Gear 58 3E700 Steering Column Lock Housing Bearing 59 3C610 Bearing Retainer 60 11582 Ignition Switch Lock Cylinder 61 3L539 Steering Column Tolerance Ring 62 3520 Steering Column Upper Bearing Spring 63 3C610 Snap Ring

You missed something putting the column back together. IDK the design of the wheel, but if all the wires to the column are good, I'd look at the switch itself in the column. Probably not making contact.

Do you mean you had new bearings put in the top of the steering wheel column ? Do you have a tilt feature or a tilt / travel feature? Regardless, yes, the wire could have been cut, but I would suspect a poor connection in the slip ring or the horn pad connector was just not connected to the connector at the slip ring when it was put back together. Do you have cruise control switches on your steering wheel ? If so , I would pull steering wheel and check the slip ring connections first.

The metal plate in reference above has small copper contacts. If they do not meet the horn will not work. We used a dremel on ALL of the contact point and it made no difference, the horn still only works about 5% of the time. After a whole lot of testing (I have the same issue with my 2000 Toyota Sienna) we found that the ground is weak, too weak for the relay most times. At this point I am going to run an alternate ground by "borrowing" the wire for the mute button for audio controls through the clock spring. The existing ground connects to the steering column. Before we discovered this I spent $285 on a new clock spring :(

If it is the tilt steering wheel, then you have two bolts near the tilt part of it that have backed out. You need some special tools to get to the bolts, but not too hard if you can get the tool to remove the snap ring that holds the plate on. If you don't have tilt, most likely the bearings in the steering column are bad, and you would need a new steering column.

did you see a wire wound ring around the back of the steering lock ??and the old one as well ?? no doubt the chip has been taken out of the key and taped up this ring .When you changed the column you didnt swop this chip over to new column .See if old column has this tiny thing taped to it just below the barrel of the steering lock .If iam right then tape it to the new column like it was on the old one and remove the chip out of the new key.