blackbeauty

Hi everyone,
I've just tightened up the steering wheel bolts to get rid of the sloppiness and I'm reassembling. Straight forward enough except there's a washer that I can't recall where it goes. It's circled in the picture below:


Now I've put the washer where I *think* it went, but can't be 100% sure. It's not the lock retraining ring because you can see that just forward of the washer. I've looked in my factory manuals and the exploded diagram makes no mention of the washer at all.
So the question is, does this ring go where the picture implies (in front of the shaft lock), or on the back side of it? If in front, I can't seem to get my lock plate compressor tool tight enough to get the washer and the retaining lock ring in the correct place!

TIA,

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

Look for thread titled, Whereby Mountain Man rebuilds a steering column. It should be a sticky.

blackbeauty

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately that thread makes no mention of the washer in question.

cardo0

Try a few U-tube videos on GM steering columns. They maybe bad quality videos but you get a good look at how things come apart and go back together.

blackbeauty

Thanks for the thought, but in after all the 20 videos I watched none of them featured the mysterious washer.

I ended up just putting it back together with the washer on the other side of the locking plate and everything appears to work normally. Having the washer on the front side of the locking plate (as implied by my picture above), caused the plastic cap to rub as the steering wheel was turned.