QuestionJay, the pictures you sent don t match what i m seeing in my van. The sector is white plastic with the metal shaft in the middle. I don t see any springs on the outside of the sector. The spring is behind it. How do you get the upper bowl off? The manual I looked at in the library said something about pivot pins and special pivot pin removal tool. Do you know anything about this? They wouldn t provide any pictures for me to know exactly what they were talking about. I have already taken out the multifunction switch and the turn signal switch. I don t know how to get the upper bowl off. Sorry to keep bothering you. I appreciate your help! sincerely, kevin
AnswerHello Kevin,
I'm sorry all I have is generic pictures to provide links to. And now that I think of it, the vans had the long flat rack on the front end side of the column, correct?
The upper bowl should come up and out by releasing the tilt mechanism. The pivot pins are located next to the lower bowl. The pictures I'm providing, again, are typical GM installations. This tool is not easy to find. I made one out of
a.) a nut with a hole slightly larger than the pivot pin
b.) a hardened bolt to fit the threaded hole in the pivot pin.
c.) a nut to fit the bolt
d.) a washer that fits the large and small nuts.
I think after you see the pictures you'll have the capacity to make one yourself also. Just make sure of your tool alignment while tightening the small nut. Also while installing the bolt into the pivot pin do not bottom out and overtighten. Either one of these can cause you to break the bolt off in the pivot pin and then you're basically out of luck for an hour or two.
The URL to those pictures are here:
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/9094/pivottool1ct.jpg
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/5597/pivottool20rj.jpg
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/9448/pivottool36ze.jpg
And then finally, here is how to reinstall them:
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/6636/pivottool47el.jpg
I hope that helps.
Have a great day!
-Jay
