Hi all,
Have I been having fun with the steering column of my 78 Daimler DD
Like almost every problem I have addressed so far what I'm actually doing is going over and rectifying mistakes of some previous owner or mechanic. Disassembling and reassembling correctly things that were wrongly put together is so much harder than normal repairs.
When I took delivery of the non going 'barn find' one of it many problems was it had the steering column universal joint disconnected near the brake pedal, a seemingly easy fix of putting it back on the spline and tightening the pinch bolt.
I recently achieved the milestone of getting the car going. Low and behold within a km the steering wheel is flopping around in my hand. Inspection showed the bottom bearing of the steering column out of the housing. No matter what I did I could not stop this from reoccurring. The manual had no information as the it indicated the column was non serviceable.
With all the steering components on the bench there was much head scratching.
I believe a rough mechanic had broken some plastic 'plugs that keeps the steering column from telescoping together in a crash. Obviously the car hasn't been crashed so it was the only explanation.
I was able to pin the column back together and much more head scratching reassembling it. Jaguar certainly made an event out of the steering gear with steering shaft like a dog's hind leg.
Much problems were encountered with broken plastics and hazard warning switch.
If only Jag had spent a little more money on quality on an otherwise superb car.
I notice the bushes that mount the rack to the cross member have totally disintegrated allowing the rack to move sideways about 15mm when the wheel is turned. I was wondering what all the red crumbly stuff was under the car after I drove it. Turned out to be disintergrated bush material. I've never seen that before.
My next task is to face up to the unbelievably massive air conditioner. The compressor must weigh near 15 kg
No doubt about it, it is all a challenge and nothing comes easily.
Al

 

the rack bushings are nowadays replaced with a kit of polyurethane bushings. Typical problem easily resolved. The best engineered rack kit in my opinion is sold by John's Cars in Dallas Texas. Inexpensive.
Not sure what the problem with the steering column can be.
What does the Hazard Switch look like in a 1978 Daimler? do you have a picture?

 

Hi Jose,
The hazard warning switch is a very cheap plastic toggle on the left hand side of the steering column (RH drive car) just behind the indicators. As it was already broken when I disassembled the steering column it took me a little while to get my head around what was going on. The switch pivots or rocks on the fulcrum trunnions , being two very small plastic bumps and the switch clipping over them with only a couple of mm of brittle plastic retaining it. In the past I owned several Rover 3500 VDP cars. Absolutely brilliant driving cars ruined by a cabin full of similar switch gear that fell apart in your hand

The actual problem with the steering column was interesting and very confusing ( for me), made worse by the fact the parts manual shows the entire upper steering column as a non serviceable item.
The column is designed to collapse in the event of a crash. The outer case deforms and crumples in a pre determined fashion via a 'mesh' built into it. The actual steering shaft is in two pieces, a male and female, which telescopes together. In normal operation the the inner and outer shaft are prevented from sliding together or apart by nylon buttons that somehow lock the two pieces together but yield in a crash. Normal steering torque is transmitted from the upper to lower shaft as it is a square section ( think along the lines of being splined).
On my car theses buttons had failed so the whole lower part of the shaft could fall out. The nature of the universal joints on the lower steering column shaft onto the rack allows this. In practice what this meant was the bottom bearing would move out of the casing by about 10mm meaning the bottom part was unsupported so the steering wheel would flop around in your hand, activating the horn as an aside as the shaft earthed against the casing.
As a non official fix I pinned the two shafts together with a small roll pin. Of course the pin does not turn the bottom shaft, that is achieved by the fact that the male and female shafts are roughly square in section, the pin just stops the shaft from telescoping apart. The question is, in a serious crash whether it would still close up as the outer crumples.
Hope this makes sense, rather hard to describe
Al

 

Al, the description of the Hazard switch sounds identical to the Hazard switch of the Series 3 XJ.

they might be the same switch. I took a broken one and added metal nail sections and metal washers to stop it from falling apart again.

I discovered the problem was in the upper and lower column covers or "nacelles"switch cutout. .
There seemed to be an "error" in the cutout so that when the nacelles were fitted tightly, they would press against one side of the switch, literally distorting it out of its pins causing the plastic "ears" to fail.
I ground off about 1/16th of the cutout front side and the switch has not broken again.

 

Exactly correct Jose,
Having owned a series III, it is identical. The poorly designed covers do put load on it and cause it to fail.
Oh, but just for a bit more quality in the ancillary components, what a car they would have been, almost like they committed suicide with components like that.
I must say working on a derelict 12 cylinder is a hell of a learning curve. I know a lot more now than I did when I got it.
Having said that, it is starting to come together
Al

 

Thanks, Alan.

I was not aware that our cars had the collapsible steering post feature.. Perhaps that is why it is not designed to be serviced. For our well being , should we be so unfortunate to crash !!! !!!

 

don't know if it is collapsible but it definitely is "compressible".

there is a "mesh" section down past the two upper bolts covered by a nylon tube. If you force this tube down you can see the "compressible" mesh.

it would take some force to compress it, it is steel.

 

That is it. Mesh Big hit to do it. Absorbs energy and not transmit it to the driver.

As known, a really solid whack in the chest is fatal!!!!

Carl

 

Yes, that is correct about an impact to the chest. The upper steering column is not serviceable.
The Haynes manual is very clear about being careful when removing or working on the column as if too much force is used it will shear the nylons buttons that attach the upper and lower shaft together.
This is what had happened to my vehicle as obviously it has not been crashed and the 'birds cage' mesh on the outer casing is not deformed. I imagine a new steering column would be very expensive.
It's been quite a learning curve.
regards Al

 

I don't think it would be very expensive.

contact David at Everyday XJ for a used one and price.

He dismantles these cars and he surely has a decent undamaged column.

 

If you're not concerned about Crash Worthiness of a 30 or 40 something year old steering column, you *could* just put a 1/4 inch bolt through the holes and call it good.

My copy of the ROM aka Blue Book, mentions that the plastic stud is 1/4 inch diameter. I can't speak to that fact with any authority however, because I was very careful not to break mine. I'm sorry someone broke yours.
(';')

 

Hi LnrB
That is basically exactly what I did. I drilled and the column and pressed a small roll pin into it.
I am confident that at that is one problem that is fixed.
Am I paranoid about a chest injury should I crash the car and the steering column does not perform a controlled definition? Frankly, no
regards Al

 

Just another possible option: nylon 1/4" bolts are available at most hardware stores or 1/4" nylon (Delron, UHMW, etc.) rods are available from many retailers that custom build boat, aircraft, recreation vehicle accessories. There are also aluminum rod, solid or tube, available from hobby shops. Even a hardwood dowel would work, I would think. All of these options would break/shear more easily than a steel bolt or roll pin.
Dave

 

Good thinking!