Series 3 Problems with Britpart inner steering column...

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Harrris303

Active Member
Posts
181
Hi everyone, I'm in the process of overhauling the steering box on my lightweight and bought a new Britpart 'inner steering column' (the shaft with the worm drive and nut at the bottom). Yesterday I finally got round to opening up the box and putting in the new parts, which took ages and is definitely the most fiddly and irritating job I've ever done on the landy! Once I had it all reassembled I found that the shaft was sticking when I turned it, so I opened up the front of the box and found that the nut was occasionally getting jammed on the worm drive.

The new shaft and nut came all assembled in the box with bearings included so I thought maybe there was some grit in there or something so I've just taken it all apart, cleaned it all down, regreased, and reassembled, and it's still doing it!!!!!

My question is, has anyone else ever brought one of these new inner columns from Britpart and had any problems? I bought it from my local dealer a couple of weeks ago so I can hopefully get it replaced but thought I'd see what landyzone had to say first. Cheers.
 
I've not bought one but personally I wouldn't trust britpart with a component as vital as steering. I'd take it back and buy better quality or a second hand box with decent parts.
Not the most useful unfortunately
 
Hi thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I did wonder before I bought it but couldn't find any other new ones so thought I'd just go for it. I've actually already done this before and the parts in there were already from a 2nd hand box. They're not too easy to come by from what I remember, and could be difficult to know how good the parts are if I did find one online...

I guess I could try the original nut on the new shaft with new bearings and cross my fingers that will fix the play. The Britpart shaft should be ok as there are no moving parts at least! If it still has loads of play I will probably cry though after all this hassle!
 
Yes had a similar problem with mine. Did you find you had to use all the shims and then some extras? The bottom plate on mine wouldn't seal almost as if the new shafts was a mm or 2 longer than the old one. Got it all together with extra gasket added but it's not what you would call slick. I also took mine apart and regressed but still a but notch. ****ing Bridport. Oh and I believe they are the only suppliers of this part!
 
Sorry I've been away for a while and trying not to think about steering columns! (Not really sure what happens if it fails the MOT and the only part available in the world is Britpart.....)

Thanks Blackburn that's handy to know. I would've assumed the S2 part would be the same so lucky I wasn't too hasty!


LordOWar said:
Yes had a similar problem with mine. Did you find you had to use all the shims and then some extras? The bottom plate on mine wouldn't seal almost as if the new shafts was a mm or 2 longer than the old one. Got it all together with extra gasket added but it's not what you would call slick. I also took mine apart and regressed but still a but notch. ****ing Bridport. Oh and I believe they are the only suppliers of this part!
Click to expand...

As far as I could tell it all went back together fairly smoothly to be fair. I did use all the shims in the end and things were a bit confused because the service kit was missing two gaskets but it all seemed to work fine apart from the nut catching on the worm drive. I think the problem must be in the nut itself (as it has the moving parts) so my next plan is to reuse the old nut on the new worm drive and cross my fingers that removes enough play. If not then I'm running out of ideas! Bloody annoying that I spent £115 on the new bits and I'm only using half of it!!!
 
Harrris303 said:
Hi everyone, I'm in the process of overhauling the steering box on my lightweight and bought a new Britpart 'inner steering column' (the shaft with the worm drive and nut at the bottom). Yesterday I finally got round to opening up the box and putting in the new parts, which took ages and is definitely the most fiddly and irritating job I've ever done on the landy! Once I had it all reassembled I found that the shaft was sticking when I turned it, so I opened up the front of the box and found that the nut was occasionally getting jammed on the worm drive.

The new shaft and nut came all assembled in the box with bearings included so I thought maybe there was some grit in there or something so I've just taken it all apart, cleaned it all down, regreased, and reassembled, and it's still doing it!!!!!

My question is, has anyone else ever brought one of these new inner columns from Britpart and had any problems? I bought it from my local dealer a couple of weeks ago so I can hopefully get it replaced but thought I'd see what landyzone had to say first. Cheers.
Click to expand...
does nut move freely along the worm if its not assembled in the box
 
Yep column and nut but used the old idler arm as it was ok. Don't replace the bronze bush though as it will need reaming to the correct size. It's not fitted yet it is in the loft with all the other done pieces. I am, optimistically, hoping that when fitted and set up correctly it is ok.
 
Haha a bit of optimism is always helpful with landies. Have to say though that the whole reason I started working on the steering was because the amount of play in the wheel was weighing on my mind a bit, and taking away from the enjoyment of driving. I'm not sure I'll be able to relax knowing that there's a chance that nut will catch on the worm drive while I'm driving. Doesn't bear thinking about!!! Really not sure what to do now.
 
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