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Steering cowl shroud twisted


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Hi everybody,

when i bought my defender, the cowl was cracked on the lower part (next to the  single screw ) and it looked twisted. 

Then i realised That the indicator switch was loose and the plastic clamp on the steering Column was broken.

 

so i figured that was the cause of this twisted look of the steering cowl. 

So i bought a New indicator switch, so now its Nice and tight.

but still... the cowl is wayyy off !

it appears that the ignition switch do not align with the hole on the lower part of the cowl.

any thoughts on this ?

D1CBCFE7-475A-45B3-8617-ED5173D8DBF9.jpeg

EDCA1C06-62DA-403C-9C65-1E2835B08DA5.jpeg

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If the indicator bracket's spline is sitting correctly in the column's groove, then the column must have rotated in its clamps.  You'll need to slacken the clamps on the engine side of the bulkhead and look for distortion and adjustment on the clamp at the bottom of the column (above the toe of the foot well).

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57 minutes ago, Snagger said:

If the indicator bracket's spline is sitting correctly in the column's groove 

What groove are you talking about ?

i pushed the bracket on the column as far as is can go.

do you mean the « outer sleeve »of the column could have rotate at some point?

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The position of the ignition switch is determined by the slot in the steering column into which the steering lock locates. Therefore the switch can only go onto the column in this one position. It can't be moved because of this and anyway it is in two pieces and the two bolts that join these pieces together should be "shear" bolts. These are ones where the head breaks off when they are tight. (security).

The steering column is aligned by a bracket joining the top of the column with the top of the bulkhead (dashboard side). 

So I doubt that the column is rotated.

Start at the bottom and remove the lower cowl. This is the one that has a single central screw as well as the four that screw up into the top cowl. Then you can move the inidcator, lights, wiper switch assembly  up the column and off if necessary. You don't need to disconnect any harnesses. Be careful as there might be the immobiliser coil mounted around the ignition switch. You can pull this away from it if you want, again no need to disconnect.

Then you can check alignment as you re-fit. and make sure that the bottom cowl is correctly fixed. It should be horizontal. This is done by that single central screw.

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1 hour ago, Peaklander said:

The position of the ignition switch is determined by the slot in the steering column into which the steering lock locates. Therefore the switch can only go onto the column in this one position. It can't be moved because of this and anyway it is in two pieces and the two bolts that join these pieces together should be "shear" bolts. These are ones where the head breaks off when they are tight. (security).

The steering column is aligned by a bracket joining the top of the column with the top of the bulkhead (dashboard side). 

So I doubt that the column is rotated.

Start at the bottom and remove the lower cowl. This is the one that has a single central screw as well as the four that screw up into the top cowl. Then you can move the inidcator, lights, wiper switch assembly  up the column and off if necessary. You don't need to disconnect any harnesses. Be careful as there might be the immobiliser coil mounted around the ignition switch. You can pull this away from it if you want, again no need to disconnect.

Then you can check alignment as you re-fit. and make sure that the bottom cowl is correctly fixed. It should be horizontal. This is done by that single central screw.

Done that, and still the ignition barrel doesn’t line up, so i guess i’ll Check the clamp un the engine side.

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Peaklander's point about the ignition switch mounting and steering lock is a good one - if you put the cowl screw into the bottom of the lock clamp, is the screw 90 degrees to the dash or is it pointing towards the door sill?  It should be vertical from the driving seat perspective, and if it is pointing to the side, the column must have rotated but if vertical the column must be correct.

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I've had a look at mine. The assembly that has the switch levers on it has a locator on the clamp part that mates with the column and ensures it is square. It's at the 9 o'clock position. Final adjustment of the clamp to fix this will allow a bit of alignment. That's where the rest of the cowl (top and bottom) gets it's "squareness" from.

I'll take a photo for you.

C2B25B59-B209-4940-B054-0631D9F99B3B.thumb.jpeg.48c7dcf6ff7354b6bbf38e8ba1083d69.jpeg

5CE7A7A9-B6F6-440F-923E-D6DE7E59D8F2.thumb.jpeg.8a861d06219532bc263c5d0ea8b507fd.jpeg

Edited by Peaklander
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1 hour ago, Peaklander said:

I've had a look at mine. The assembly that has the switch levers on it has a locator on the clamp part that mates with the column and ensures it is square. It's at the 9 o'clock position. Final adjustment of the clamp to fix this will allow a bit of alignment. That's where the rest of the cowl (top and bottom) gets it's "squareness" from.

I'll take a photo for you.

C2B25B59-B209-4940-B054-0631D9F99B3B.thumb.jpeg.48c7dcf6ff7354b6bbf38e8ba1083d69.jpeg

5CE7A7A9-B6F6-440F-923E-D6DE7E59D8F2.thumb.jpeg.8a861d06219532bc263c5d0ea8b507fd.jpeg

Hum... really doesn't look like that on my car...

i'll take pictures

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Ok so... i have the groove but the Column bush Shown in your picture is deeper inside the column sleeve...

 

The cowl screw on the lock clamp is pointing down so it’s perpendicular ish 

So now the cowl is only holding by this botton screw so it’s now parallel with the lower dash part...

 

but at the top end it’s another story...

 

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E17EAE92-C209-417F-9709-CD0B0903AB23.jpeg

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Have a look at the ign switch and check that the lower clamp is tight to the main part with no gaps. If so then check that the steering can be locked. If it can be then I’d agree that the column is twisted. For that to happen something has gone wrong at the anti-twist stay at the top. From your pics it does look a bit odd. It is cranked at both ends but even so...

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21 minutes ago, Peaklander said:

Have a look at the ign switch and check that the lower clamp is tight to the main part with no gaps. If so then check that the steering can be locked. If it can be then I’d agree that the column is twisted. For that to happen something has gone wrong at the anti-twist stay at the top. From your pics it does look a bit odd. It is cranked at both ends but even so...

The lower clamp is real tight, no gaps noticeable, the steering can easily be locked and does its job...

So my guess would be the anti-twist stay then ! i removed it once, while trying to align all of the components, but it required extremely brute force to level it so it lignes up again with the anti-twist brackets hole...

You said the anti-twist looks a bit odd ? 

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1 hour ago, Peaklander said:

Have a look at the ign switch and check that the lower clamp is tight to the main part with no gaps. If so then check that the steering can be locked. If it can be then I’d agree that the column is twisted. For that to happen something has gone wrong at the anti-twist stay at the top. From your pics it does look a bit odd. It is cranked at both ends but even so...

Lock clamp looks fine

E69875FF-A4C0-431D-B87F-A0EE92ED58FA.jpeg

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At the bottom where it clamps to the column, it doesn't look vertical. It seems to be holding the column a little twisted. Maybe that's it. You will need to slacken the clamps on the engine bay side as in Western's pic and that "anti-twist" stay would need to be released and corrected.

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24 minutes ago, Peaklander said:

At the bottom where it clamps to the column, it doesn't look vertical. It seems to be holding the column a little twisted. Maybe that's it. You will need to slacken the clamps on the engine bay side as in Western's pic and that "anti-twist" stay would need to be released and corrected.

alright i'll try that

thanks

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On 5/6/2019 at 3:47 PM, western said:

Have a look at the engine bay end of column the column & mounting should look like this if correctly fitted 

IMG_20181117_125101.jpg

So i checked and everything is bolted where it should be.

i unscrewed the clamp so i can rotate the steering Column but it doesn’t move yet so  maybe it requires a bit more force to make it move.

should i release the upper clamp too?

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Ok, so the shroud fits better now that i have slacken the column clamp. 

The steering shaft is almost centered with the cowl steering wheel aperture.

i did that by shimming between the anti twist and the column. 

I need to Shim the anti twist upper bolt so the steering Shaft can Turin a bit more.

the ignition barrel does not lines up with the shroud hole, but i can fit it by forcing gently

 

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