I have looseness in the Steering Wheel. It has a noticeable vertical wobble. I believe that the steering wheel will need to be removed to diagnose what is worn or loose to take the appropriate corrective actions.
I am at a loss as to the steps in removing the steering wheel. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

If there is a air bag in the steering wheel, not following an exact procedure is dangerous! Any loosness would be coming from the steering gear at the bottom end and/or other steering components.

 

Yes, I understand about the airbag and I know where the electrical connector is for it.
I have unplugged that and removed the top part of the steering column casing. From here I am at a loss. Not a simple screw removal for the wheel cover. There is a hex head adjustor (6 or 7 MM) beside the electrical connector, this does seem to remove the wobble but does not hold.
This is not appearing to be steering linkage problem. It seems to be steering wheel or column problem.

 

The workshop manual for Removal/Installation lists that as the pinion shaft with the following sentence.

Turn the pinion shaft to release the steering wheel from the column shaft

There's nothing mentioned about any adjustment(s) at all!

 

I am looking to remove the steering wheel from the column. Unless I am mistaken you are referring to the pinion of the "Rack and Pinion" assembly which would stand to reason if I need to remove the column. Is there another pinion shaft specifically for the steering wheel and if so, where do I find it?

From what I can tell the Air Bag and the Steering Wheel are integral to each other. Are there any instructions to removing the Air Bag?

 

The hex head shown right near the air bag connector is called the pinion shaft and I quoted what it says. Not much but that's all that's stated.

I'll look again for anything on the air bag.

 

Thank you, I will try that this evening and see where it takes me.

 

Thank you Bill,

This was successful.

The pinion (hex) shaft did the job. Word to the wise it takes about 40 to 50 full turns (lost count) counter clockwise to remove the steering wheel. Looking at the steering wheel once off, the pinion shaft appears to be a worm to the steering column shaft nut. This would stand to reason why it called a pinion shaft and why so many turns to remove or replace.

In your manual is there a torque specification for turning it back on to lock down the steering wheel?

I can easily duplicate the wobble when it is tightened by nut driver but when tightened by ratchet it snugs down nicely. Torque specifications would come in handy so not to come loose again while stressing the threads on an over tightening.

 

What great instructions, hey??

To answer your other question, the air bag isn't servicable or it's part of the steering wheel assembly.

Yep, 10Nm or 9 ft.lbs. So, it was just loose?

 

Yes, it was just a loose screw.

I thank you for the assistance in helping me through this dilemma.

 

Glad to help.

 

I know this is kind of old, but Thank you for the information. I was trying to remove the steering wheel on my 2002 Escape yesterday. Manual says loosen the pinion shaft, but it doesn't say how many turns. I think I turned it maybe 35 turns or so. but those were really just half-turns with a ratchet. I was thinking the steering wheel would move some away from the steering column with each few turns, but there didn't seem to be much movement. I'll try again today but turn it more times & keep count of how many full revolutions. wish me luck.

 

2002 Escape XLS 2.0L 5Mt. Steering wheel removal. as part of heater core replacement.

I ended up turning the pinion shaft 80 times. 80 full turns of the ratchet wrench handle. I counted the number of full turns up to 50, then tried to pull off the steering wheel: it would wiggle, but wouldn't come off. So I turned it 10 more times. then 10 more times. still wouldn't come off. Then when I got to 80 full turns of the ratchet handle, the steering wheel came off. easy. You don't need to pull hard, it comes off easy. Don't pull too hard because there is an electrical connector with a short wiring pigtail. Disconnect the elec connector, then place the steering wheel in a secure location, airbag side facing up. Be aware of the clock spring plate or whatever you call it. align the arrows & tape it in place so that it remains aligned. Anyway, thanks again. I couldn't figure it out yesterday. doh.

I replaced the radiator last month. This month it's the heater core. I've been putting it off for a while now. I had bypassed the heater core quite a while ago by installing a high temp heater elbow between the heater core hoses.