Steering Idler problem

[Cutlass]

After complete disassembly, cleaning, new oil seal, new gasket and reassembly, my 66 BJ8 steering idler binds. The shaft seats nicely, and rotates freely until I put the cover on. Anything more than finger tight on the bolts results in the cover binding on the top of the shaft. I tried each position possible for the cover, and added an additional, home-made, thicker gasket, to no avail. There was no shim at disassembly, and none shown in the service parts manual. The top of the shaft sits proud of the idler body just enough to touch the cover. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Cutlass]

Well, as usual, I should have researched this forum first. Looks like the answer is the obvious, stacking gaskets to adjust end float.

 

[Dave Russell]

I don't know about the BJ8, but earlier cars used selective shims/gaskets to set the end play to near zero but not binding. You may be on the right track but still need more gasket thickness.
D

 

[Cutlass]

Shims would be nice, but I haven't seen them advertised or mentioned as available. I do note that in the Moss catalog, the number of gaskets required is "A/R" which leads me to beleive that the gaskets were used as shims.

 

[John Loftus]

Cutlass,

I cut several gaskets of various thickness to get the "zero" end float the workshop manual calls for. I've heard the original gaskets were layered .. you would continue to peel off layers until the fit was just right. Nice trick, eh? With any method, it's good to use Hylomar on all the gasket surfaces.

Cheers,
John

 

[Dave Russell]

Make sure that the gaskets/shims follow the outer contour of the housing & do not cut across the center bearing area of the idler top. The lid itself should be the bearing surface for the top of the idler shaft. Not the gaskets. If the gasket is between the idler top & the lid, it will quickly wear out & increase the clearance.
D

 

[anthony7777]

cutlass, believe it or not when i rebuilt mine i needed such distance i used a piece i cut out from a "dell" mouse pad, been just over a year and works just fine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

 

[Cutlass]

The funny thing is that there was only one seemingly thin gasket when I took it apart. And then it worked fine. I'll start with five of them now and work my way down.