My 2008 Buick LaCrosse telescoping steering column lock lever won't stay in the up position. Thus, every once in a while when I'm driving, the steering column collapses downward without warning. And this is usually at the most inconvenient and dangerous time. I've looked all over the internet, YouTube, my Haynes shop manual, etc. for instructions on now to tighten the lever and the clamp it actuates, but I've had no luck. Can anybody tell me where I can find instructions on how to correct this dangerous problem? Below is an image I got from my owner's manual. Thanks very much in advance for any help.

 

Is it possible to refresh retainer/gripper pad with thin piece of leather or rubber, almost diaphragm thickness. Sounds like it may be worn out from too many adjustments? What comes to mind is my free spinning mower blades just after disengaging drive. Have leather or rubber stop pads to slow down.

Even thin sheet of leather or rubber could be slid down and secured to steering column for traction, using Scotch 77. Sounds too half *** maybe? A decade old car- wouldn’t be too concerned as long as I felt it safe; after all, steering wheel isn’t going to pull off lol. Perhaps even a GM advancement. Wouldn’t spend money on that, will occur all over again- fix using a better idea. MHO here only......

 

First of all, thanks very much for replying, Rich.

The car only has 60K original miles on it and was both safely stored and carefully maintained before I got it. No, I don't believe the mechanism is worn out. I just don't buy it. I very much doubt that Buick would design such a critical part to eventually wear out.

The problem started shortly after I bought the car used. It began happening right after I took the car in to the local authorized dealership to take care of GM Recall #N140291 "Low Beam Headlamps and Daytime Running Lamps Could Fail to Illuminate". The dealers were instructed to "replace the headlamp relay (HDM) that resides in the under hood bussed electrical center (UBEC) free of charge."

In the week that followed, I notice that a screw had fallen out from under the dash onto the floor in front of the driver's seat. Then an annoying rattle (which I'm still living with) in the dash plate that goes under the steering column began. Then a week or two later, a small, white, plastic part dropped out and onto the same place where the screw had appeared. I still have both the screw and the white plastic part in a pill jar. Whether or not this problem has anything to do with the work done by the dealership on the recall notice, I can't say. All I can say is that the timing is suspicious.

If I had designed the steering column telescope lock lever, I wouldn't have made it so that it locks in the up position as it actuall is supposed to work and was designed. Common sense dictates that having it lock in the *down* position would be safer, because then gravity would assist in holding it down. As iit is now, gravity works against me and pulls the lever down a little each time I go over a bump in the road until the mechanism comes free and the steering column dangerously collapses.

I'm confused by the link you provided by clicking on the words "steering column" in your reply. My browser won't allow me to go there, says that it's not a safe destination.

Regardless, what I'm asking for is a diagram of the telescopic steering column lock lever and the mechanism it operates. Do you have a link to such an illustration? TIA

 

WELL, it seems that after weeks of searching the internet, I found what's supposed to be an exploded view parts diagram of my telescoping steering column. The website even has a parts list under the image. I hope it's okay to post a link to this website. Here's the link: https://www.wholesalegmpartsonline.c...rimLevel=25448

If, for some reason, posting this link violates some TOS rule for this forum, then I apologize profusely. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maximum culpa.

 

Apologize for ref. that went to unsafe place; I tried it and sent me to Walmart, not sure if I had something or post had an auto highlight for some reason? Glad to see buffers in place anyways.

 

You may have to bite the bullet and remove all the covering around the upper steering column and then you should be able to see what is going on in there. Just removing the covering will not damage anything if done carefully. You most likely will see where the "mysterious" parts came from.

 

Thanks for replying! Yes, I agree and have thought this from the start. However, I wanted to be able to get into the column and know what I am doing. At least I know how to temporarily disable the air bag. Also, here is an image of the part I found. After I more closely examined it a few minutes ago, I can now see that it's actually only a piece of some part that broke off and fell to the floor:

 

I would say you're hot on the trail and once you can see in there you will find where the broken part came from.
It always helps to lay the pieces out as removed so you can reinstall them in that order. I don't know for sure, but I would suspect you will need to replace that broken part and it might be a good idea to obtain that part before you disassemble everything so you can complete the job all at the same time. Also, if more has to come apart and you don't have the tools to do the job , at least you will know before you take a lot of stuff apart. That part will most likely be a "dealer item" meaning only available from a Buick dealership parts dept. You might have to get it from a salvage yard.

 

I took the piece of the broken part in to the nearest authorized Buick dealership (about 16 miles away) and had one of their parts guys try to figure out what it is. Turns out that all he was able to use was exactly the same exploded-view image that I found on the internet and he also was able to find nothing. I'm also looking into seeing if it might be something that came from my driver's seat. As for the screw I also found, here's what it looks like:

 

You may still need to remove the covering and do a careful check. While there you will most likely see why the lever won't stay put.