2005 FIXING The Loose Steering Play, At-Times

OK as my 2005 Prius nears 260,000 miles several items have been in need of replacement, to include a $7 replacement intermediate drive shaft that I retrieved from a local junkyard. Symptoms were primarily loose intermittent steering that would only show up every other day; wheels were fine with straight handling. Over the past year I had already replaced many steering system items that I knew were not involved: shock struts, wheel bearings, new tires, brake & rotors, sway bar links, control arm, etc. In investigating the problem, I started at the top with the steering wheel and went down to the upper/intermediate/lower steering shaft. That’s when I discovered the loose play in the intermediate steering shaft.

1. DISCONNECT BATTERY. First disconnect neg terminal to 12V battery. This will hedge off any inadvertent airbag deployments while playing around the steering column.


2. ACCESS SIDE STEERING COLUMN AREA. With pry tool I popped off plastic pieces to driver side lower dash. Also the hood latch release lever needed to be released. Removing the underside dash gave me access and visibility to the bolts for both the upper and intermediate steering shafts. The picture shows I took apart the steering wheel, but you would not need it off for this procedure. Also while opened I wiped clean the driver side vent.

3. INTERMEDIATE/LOWER STEERING ELBOW SHAFTS. I removed both the intermediate and lower shafts via 2 hexnuts screws each, and immediately felt the loose play from the intermediate. Where poss i lubricated joints with white lithium grease.

- intermediate steering shaft pics

- lower steering elbow


4. SWAP OUT. Replace the old with the new. Replaced the 2 hexnut screws.

5. BUTTON UP IN REVERSE.

6. Whoala.

7. *** COMPARISON. Big difference between the old and newer-replacement. The $7 junkyard replacement piece was damaged in an old Prius. As you can see its was ~2 inches shorter; I had to punch it out with a steel rod against the street, aided by white lithium grease. In fact the whole driver side door collapsed into the driver seat that was pushed down and shoved into the passenger area. I hope the car was empty when hit, because I can only imagine the condition of the driver after an impact like that. But the accident gave me great immediate access to the underside of the dash.

 

ty ETF5

 

Erik,
I have never pursued a safety recall before. Since i already addressed it on my own & i discarded the piece, i can only imagine the issue is moot.

 

Sezy,
No fear on the project. Its pretty straight forward from the tear down to problem identification.

First you need to identify the problem. The loose play may sound similar, but your issue may not be the similar to mine.
That steering column has 3 elbow joints that may reflect that LOOSE PLAY you are feeling.
1- So first you need to open up the steering column and check the joints.
2- clearly identify the loose joint ( it may be 1 or all 3 joints)
3- order/get the parts online/junkyard

hope this helps

 

Sezy,
OK saw your vid. Without opening up you dashboard, it sounds & looks like your intermediate shaft is defective. There is a noticeable lag before the shaft catches. The upper shaft is real close to the steering wheel.

Also you shouldnt need to tamper with the steering wheel/air bag. But do uncouple the neg cable to 12V battery.

Gl
; )