jazbo123

The well documented steering wheel telescoping groan and shake is also in my car. I have "lubed" the trim-column interface to no effect so I thought I'd go a bit further.

- I removed all the trim from the moving area of the column including the knee bolster and column top cap. The noise was still present when moving in/out, so no trim was involved.

- With the trim removed there is some [but limited] access to the steel tube that slides into the receiver. I was able to lube the steel tube using Mobil 1 red grease. The noise got much better, almost disappearing!

- I reinstalled the trim and the noise is back! D@mn!

Here's my theory:

The moving column is heavily cantilevered, with a vast majority of the weight on the steering wheel end and almost no weight on the internal end.

This causes excessive wear on the interface between the telescoping tube and the receiver at the point where the tube enters the receiver. There is some kind of material gasket at this interface.

The wear allows chatter/resonance due to incresing tolerance between the tube and receiver, especially due to the large weight imbalance of the system. The pressure of the trim exacebates the resonance

Without rebuilding or replacing the column the problem will get worse with age although lubing may give a short-term improvement.

Any successes in addressing this problem, short of R&R?

jazbo123
98A8 Tip
T-code 00011
K&N

ex-a8drifter

I rarely use it because of the noise. Its very embarassing in a high end luxury car to have that kind of nuisance. The first time I had passengers in my car when it made that noise, they all asked what was wrong with it!

dingofarmer

yeah, I simply turn mine off if someone is in the car with me.

ryoung

I'd like to try some lube.

jazbo123

There is a small plastic lower half ring that unclips from the knee bolster.

The Knee bolster is attached by 5 allen-head screws, three of which are hidden underneath 2 pop out vinyl filler plates (2 under the long one and one under the short "plate").

The top cap is secured by 2 phillips screws (holes are on the underside of the column cover).

I think that's it, but be careful, I'm doing this by memory

Buzz1138

My few friends that have heard it all laugh, and now they refer to it as the elephant I have stuck in the car. Sad.