Steering Column issues

Topics relating to Lift Kits, Suspension, Steering...

Moderator: volvite

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Steering Column issues

Postby shaneb75 » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:04 pm

I also posted this question in the Steering and Suspension section in an older thread. I thought I would ask it here since it appears to be year specific to this group as well.

I have a 2006 Pathfinder. About a month ago we noticed a grinding sound coming from the steering column area when we turn the wheel. Well now the steering wheel is beginning to wobble side to side & up and down.

I have done a bit of research to find this is a pretty common problem in which Nissan hasn't taken ownership of..... That being said what I have read is that the Column needs to be replaced. My question is, does JUST the column need to be replaced or does a portion of the steering shaft require replacement as well?

Also has anybody here on this site attempted this job? My only concern is the steering wheel/air bag!!

TIA

Shane,


User avatar
smj999smj
Site Admin
Posts: 6054
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:13 pm
Location: Prospect, VA

Postby smj999smj » Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:01 pm

Nissan has released an upper steering column service part per TSB#NTB07-014A. Part number for 05-08 Pathfinders is #48811-EA260. MSRP is around $450. 1stAAANissanParts.com shows is for $343.60.

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Postby shaneb75 » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:54 am

Thanks for the response. I actually ordered that very part today as well as 48071-EA260 coupler. The final price shipped was 560.00. Still a chunk of change, but better than the 700+ from the local dealership.

johnny82
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:18 am

Postby johnny82 » Thu Feb 09, 2012 12:22 am

I recently had the same issue and researched it on the web and we are NOT alone. Shouldn't Nissan have to pay for the repair since there is a service bulletin posted by them????? I could understand if there were just a few with the issue, but there are many. Obviously, Nissan had a part supplier issue and should be accountable for any repair cost.

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Postby shaneb75 » Thu Feb 09, 2012 7:58 am

Well I feel that they should own up this one, because it is a huge safety issue. Some have complained that the steering wheel wouldn't return to center or would be hard to turn causing them to jump curbs and what not... Since the wheel is beginng to wobble I would think at some point it will fail completely...

I am just glad I can turn a wrench, because these parts a pretty pricey. I will try to take notes and pics to help others get this done without paying all the labor.. The parts were ordered from courtesyparts.com so I saved some money there, 560.00 shipped.

User avatar
smj999smj
Site Admin
Posts: 6054
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:13 pm
Location: Prospect, VA

Postby smj999smj » Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:16 pm

A TSB is primarily to provide information to Nissan parts and service personnel. TSB's are issued by manufacturers all the time, but don't usually call for recall or reimbursement provisions, even though some think they should. If enough of these steering column incidents occur, there may very well be a recall at some point, so I would recommend holding on to your receipts just in case.

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Postby shaneb75 » Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:45 pm

Ok, I was able to finally make time to get the steering column and coupler replaced. I would have to say that it was not that bad to do. Below is a step by step procedure from memory. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything… I will also try and post some pictures to my profile..

1. Park with the steering wheel at center. (Note) you will notice at the end of the steering shaft is a mark, it will be at the top center. I made sure that the new column went back in with this mark straight up just like it was when I started…
2. Disconnect negative side of battery, wait 10 minutes.
3. On the backside of the steering wheel is a hole. You are looking for a wire slightly bigger than a close hanger. Stick a small standard screwdriver in the hole; it will be almost verticle. Push the wire upward to release the airbag.
4. Carefully remove the airbag straight off of the steering wheel.
5. Remove the yellow and orange wires from the airbag by gently lifting up on the black tabs then unplugging the connector. Then unplug the green ground wire.
6. Loosen but don’t remove the 19mm nut holding the steering wheel. The grab the steering wheel and pull from side to side until it pops off. Then finish removing the 19mm nut.
7. Unplug the connector to the lower left of the steering wheel. Take note of where the wires are fed through the steering wheel.
8. Remove the steering wheel.
9. You will now have to remove the blinker assembly housing by removing the (3) screws on the bottom side. Then pry the top from the bottom.
10. Using masking tape, tape the Clock Spring in place so that it does not rotate. (Note) If this rotates, I understand that it can break the wires internally.
11. Remove the (4) connectors on the blinker assembly. (1) top right, (2) bottom right, and (1) bottom left.
12. Remove the 2 screws holding the blinker assembly, then push in the clip at the top center to remove the assembly.
13. Now it is time to remove the lower dash panel. This is held by (2) screws, (1) at the bottom right, and (1) hidden behind the door jam cover. Then pull to unclip from the dash.
14. You now have access to the column. Remove the steering coupler. (1) bolt at the top, and a bolt and nut at the bottom.
15. Unplug the 3 connectors from the ignition switch, as well as the white plastic clip on the bottom held on by a tiny screw.
16. Remove the ignition bezel.
17. Remove the (3) nuts and (1) bolt holding the steering column on.
18. Remove the steering column and ignition as one unit.
19. You will now have to remove the ignition from the steering column. This a pain because the bolts do not have a head of any kind. I had to use a chisel and punch to back the bolts out. I then ran to Home Depot and purchased 2 black machine allen head bolts to replace them with.
20. Install in reverse order…

User avatar
disallow
Site Admin
Posts: 2820
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:02 am
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Postby disallow » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:43 am

Nice work instruction! Glad it worked out for you.

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Postby shaneb75 » Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:55 am

Thanks disallow!

The more I think about this failure, I feel like a person should be able to pull the old bearings out (before it fails) go have it matched up and replact it to avoid this whole problem. Once the failure has occurred, the bearings are toast and falls down between the column and steering shaft. I think it can still be replaced, it would just take some additional effort to clean all the shrapnel out from inside the column...

Just a thought....

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Postby shaneb75 » Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:28 am

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

leanit
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:01 pm

Steering column bearing failure

Postby leanit » Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:27 pm

I did this replacement last week. Thanks much for the above guidance. Summary of info that may be of interest:

2006 Frontier Nismo
Upper steering bearing failed well over a year ago with about 60k miles on it. Did not make a *bang* when it failed. Just began wobbling.
Bad play in steering wheel and somewhat increased turning effort at times, but I still drove it for 18k miles without any major issues.

Contacted Nissan USA, citing their service bulletin, the superseded part number, and anecdotal evidence from this and other forums that this is a widespread defect that should probably be a recall. I suggested that in my case, I would do the labor and would be happy if they'd buy the parts or even go 50/50. They told me to pound sand. This may have soured me for life on Nissan. We shall see.

Ordered the parts from Courtesy at a far better price than my local stealer. Love Courtesy. Great service.

The replacement took about 3 hours at a leisurely pace. Now that I know what goes where and how to undo the airbag retainer, I could probably do the whole thing in an hour.

Getting the headless ignition bolts out was actually quite easy with a screw extractor. The metal is just the right hardness and they're not too tight. Replaced with 8x20mm 1.25 allen bolts from the hardware store. Easy.

It steers like new.

The service bulletin calls for a new coupler at the bottom of the steering shaft. Even discounted, it's over $200 for that part alone, and I honestly can't see that it's any different than the original. It's possible that you could do this repair without changing that piece, but can't promise it to be true.

There is some talk that the bearing may be a serviceable part. I removed the circle clip but wasn't able to get anything inside the assembly to move. I think it's staked together in a couple spots. At any rate I scrapped my plan to recoup some of the cost by rebuilding/reselling the original.

shaneb75
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:38 pm

Re: Steering column bearing failure

Postby shaneb75 » Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:11 pm

Leanit,

I am glad that someone was able to use the procedures I documented! It really isn't that bad of a job, just expensive!!
leanit wrote:I did this replacement last week. Thanks much for the above guidance. Summary of info that may be of interest:

2006 Frontier Nismo
Upper steering bearing failed well over a year ago with about 60k miles on it. Did not make a *bang* when it failed. Just began wobbling.
Bad play in steering wheel and somewhat increased turning effort at times, but I still drove it for 18k miles without any major issues.

Contacted Nissan USA, citing their service bulletin, the superseded part number, and anecdotal evidence from this and other forums that this is a widespread defect that should probably be a recall. I suggested that in my case, I would do the labor and would be happy if they'd buy the parts or even go 50/50. They told me to pound sand. This may have soured me for life on Nissan. We shall see.

Ordered the parts from Courtesy at a far better price than my local stealer. Love Courtesy. Great service.

The replacement took about 3 hours at a leisurely pace. Now that I know what goes where and how to undo the airbag retainer, I could probably do the whole thing in an hour.

Getting the headless ignition bolts out was actually quite easy with a screw extractor. The metal is just the right hardness and they're not too tight. Replaced with 8x20mm 1.25 allen bolts from the hardware store. Easy.

It steers like new.

The service bulletin calls for a new coupler at the bottom of the steering shaft. Even discounted, it's over $200 for that part alone, and I honestly can't see that it's any different than the original. It's possible that you could do this repair without changing that piece, but can't promise it to be true.

There is some talk that the bearing may be a serviceable part. I removed the circle clip but wasn't able to get anything inside the assembly to move. I think it's staked together in a couple spots. At any rate I scrapped my plan to recoup some of the cost by rebuilding/reselling the original.

merrion13
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:08 am
Location: Denver

Postby merrion13 » Sat Feb 07, 2015 3:40 pm

We just had the steering column replaced on our '08 with 75K.
Bought the car almost a year ago from Carmax and I sprung for an extended warranty for $1500 for 3yrs. Between the steering column, tie rod end and alignment, I've already made $900 of my $1500 back.

Still, I've never had steering column issues with any vehicle I've ever owned, and that even includes 2 Land Rovers!

Path-Less
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 8:08 pm
Location: Raleigh, NC

Postby Path-Less » Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:42 pm

merrion13 wrote:We just had the steering column replaced on our '08 with 75K.
Bought the car almost a year ago from Carmax and I sprung for an extended warranty for $1500 for 3yrs. Between the steering column, tie rod end and alignment, I've already made $900 of my $1500 back.

Still, I've never had steering column issues with any vehicle I've ever owned, and that even includes 2 Land Rovers!
Was your steering column replaced due to the bad bearing and free play? I was under the impression that the 2008+ models didn't have this issue. What kind of problems were you experiencing?

merrion13
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:08 am
Location: Denver

Postby merrion13 » Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:50 pm

Pathless, the steering started making some very rough sound and you could feel friction when you went turn-to-turn with the wheel. Once up to speed, the friction became much less noticeable but the noise was there even moving the wheel in the slightest way.


Return to “R51 Suspension and Steering”