14 replies to this topic

[Fangio]

Can anyone confirm whether the Steering Universal Joints Kit 3 listed on EliseParts will fit a 2002 VX220 NA? This is the link - http://www.elisepart...iversal-joints/

This is the response I got from an email I sent EliseParts - "The truth is I do not know as I have never fitted one to a VX, I do appreciate 90% of the VX/ Elise steering column parts are Vauxhall anyway.".

Appreciate if anyone can confirm for sure.

Thanks.

[techieboy]

Yes they do. I fitted the full 3 piece kit without any problem (other than spending too long upside down in the footwell).

[Fangio]

Thanks techieboy, I know what you mean by the upside down bit. I got stuck under the steering wheel seeing if I could tighten up the bolts to get rid of the knocking noise that has just recently emerged. I couldn't get to the very top one, so when I do replace the 2 UJs and bar I'm going to remove the steering wheel. I note the workshop guide recommends disconnecting the battery before removing the airbag, any downsides to this besides loosing the radio presets?

[Vespa]

I fitted the 3 piece kit last weekend and it was a bit of a scene to be honest. That said, now I've done it once I reckon it wouldn't take me longer than a couple of hours start to finish to be honest I wouldn't bother taking the steering wheel off or any of the column shrouds. You will need to remove the dash though and you can do this without removing the airbag, steering wheel, shrouds or instrument cluster one point to note before you start.... Mark on the bulkhead where the straight ahead position is as once u disconnect the UJs you risk putting it back together and having an off centre wheel position - like I did any questions I'm happy to help!

[Fangio]

Thanks Vespa. When you say remove the dash, do you mean just the top part with the air vents in it? Does this then give easy access to the bolts of the top UJ? Also, how do you remove the "dash"? I don't see any obvious bolts or screws?

On your good recommendation on marking the straight ahead position, I read in the race.hargreaves.com service manual the following confusing instruction -"For removal of steering wheel, steering column must be in straight ahead position. In this position, remove ignition key and turn steering wheel to left or right until steering lock engages". Does this mean that you mark in straight ahead position or when steering lock is engaged? On my car the wheel is far from straight ahead when lock engages. I suspect it makes little difference except that with the lock engaged there is a solid base to remove and attach the top UJ. I'm inclined to mark the bottom UJ & shaft with lock engaged.

[Cookies220]

Thanks Vespa. When you say remove the dash, do you mean just the top part with the air vents in it? Does this then give easy access to the bolts of the top UJ? Also, how do you remove the "dash"? I don't see any obvious bolts or screws?

Yes - just the top dash. You'll need to remove the plastic silver trim plates from around the stereo and light switches to the right of the steering wheel. If they've been removed before by a previous owner, chances are they'll have stuck them back on with velcro (MUCH easier to then remove in the future), if not, they are stuck on with adhesive tape and a couple of clips. They need to be gently prised off. Then, the dash top is fixed on by 4 - 6 screws which you'll see by looking up under the dash top - one is behind the stereo so you'll need to remove that and one is behind the light swithes so you'll need to remove them - this whole unit just pops out.

My tip would be to re-fix the trim with velcro, and don't bother with the screw behind the stereo - it's overkill and is a PITA if ever you want to remove the dash top again as you'll lose all your pre-sets

[Vespa]

That's right, the top panel with the vents in it. Basically you first have o remove the dash plates (the silver face plates surrounding the light switch cluster and the stereo/heater switches). Then remove the light switch assembly and there are 2 screws holding the dash panel down. Then you will have to remove the stereo as there is a screw behind the retaining cage and you may have another one behind the rivetted-on VX220 emblem on far left. The other 2 screws u can see easy enough. If you search something like dash removal, there is a really good photo indicating where the screws actually are when removing the dash u will find it gets stuck on instrument pod. Push dash panel towards screen and pull pod forward and it will unhook. There is one 13mm headed bolt holding steering column in place where it comes up through bulkhead and another two 13mm headed bolts going down through a brass coloured bracket. Undo these and u will have enough slack in column to get to that top UJ bolt. The steering column lock didn't help me at all. Basically u have to mark the straight ahead position (not the locked position) on the bulkhead as when u are trying to get to the lower most UJ bolt u will undoubtedly rotate steerig column to remove lower UJ and then u will lose your straight ahead position (like I did). On most cars there is only one orientation u can locate and fit the UJs. On the VX there is no main key way, so it can go back in about of of 20 positions! Also, remove the driver seat, it will save your back. Mine was 2x 13mm headed bolts, 2x 6mm Allen bolts and a 17mm for seat belt bolt good luck

[Vespa]

Ah mr cookies seems to have beaten me to it

[Fangio]

Thanks guys. Really helpful. Hopefully I'll have the parts by weekend and give it a go then. Will let you know how I get on.

[Fangio]

Fitted the steering column this weekend. Absolute bitch of a job. I was always a fully qualified "right-handed" mechanic, but after this job I feel like I've just completed my "left-handed" apprenticeship! The best access approach I found was to get my head and shoulders in to the passenger foot well and go at all the nuts and bolts with the left hand. A very frustrating part of the job was removing the front dash radio and heater surround piece. One of the previous owners had broken this at some stage and decided to glue it back on. So I had to break it again to get it off and ended up having to repair, sand, spray and lacquer it. Reattached now with velcro. The looseness which caused the knocking in the steering in the first place was in the top universal joint which showed signs of greese weeping out of it when I got it off. This shouldn't be the case as they are sealed bearings. All OK now though. Thanks again for the sound advise. And as Vespa said, I reckon it will be much easier a second time round. But I doubt that I'd rush it to a repeat

[Cookies220]

Out of interest Fangio, how did the knocking noise manifest itself? Was it knocking when turning the wheel, or going over bumps? Was there any slack between turning the wheel and the wheels turning?

[Fangio]

Out of interest Fangio, how did the knocking noise manifest itself? Was it knocking when turning the wheel, or going over bumps? Was there any slack between turning the wheel and the wheels turning?

I first noticed it driving to my last track day. There was a knocking noise coming from the front of the car while driving in a straight line if the steering was unsettled by bumps or ripples. When I got to the track I got another guy to help check out the front end suspension, toe-links, etc but didn't find anything. I felt the sound of the knocking seemed high up rather than low down and while he held the road wheel I moved the steering wheel and felt there was some play which we thought might be in the steering column. There was no knocking while driving at the track day as the steering is rarely in a "relaxed state" while pushing on and any free play is eliminated. It never felt as if there was excessive play or slack. On the drive home I paid particular attention to the noise and was fairly convinced it was definately in the steering column and not lower down in the rack or toe-links and that was what it turned out to be.

[dominik]

Does this kit three fit the later produced Turbos? In a thread on the German forum was written in 2008:" it will not fit ". Or is there any differance between left and righthand versions?

Edited by dominik, 07 July 2010 - 10:27 AM.

[dominik]

TIS says only one Version for Lhd , Rhd , for NA and Turbos. Then the Elispart universial kit should fit. So the only way to sort it out is, buy and try.

Edited by dominik, 07 July 2010 - 04:38 PM.

[Vespa]

When I got my 'option 3' EliseParts UJ kit it came with one of the joints welded to the joining shaft. This does make it a little more awkward to fit as there's less slack in the system - perhaps this is what they were referring to?