Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega General Help => Topic started by: omega3000 on 14 March 2012, 17:33:52
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Hello , i need to take my steering wheel off and center it as its currently off center .. Any advice as to what i should be disconnecting , worried about setting off the air bag for starters presuming that has to come off to gain access to the nut holding it on :-\
tia :y
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Hello , i need to take my steering wheel off and center it as its currently off center .. Any advice as to what i should be disconnecting , worried about setting off the air bag for starters presuming that has to come off to gain access to the nut holding it on :-\
tia :y
Why is it off centre is the first question ... it cannot get there on it's own .. something has made it go there ... and there are only 2 options ...
1) It has been previously moved to the wrong setting - for some stupid reason
2) It is in the right place and some other adjustments have made it appear "wrong"
If you have never moved it, and know of no reason why it was moved .. then get it to a proper wheel alignement place ... WIM comes to mind .. and have it set up properly. make no mistake ... it needs a PROPER alignement .. not a pseudo "4 wheel alignement" ... which achieves the square root of ...... :(
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Fitted new droplinks and track rods a couple of days ago ...measured the track rods so they were spot on to the ones i took off , the steering wheel was off center slightly before i started . The car drives and steers spot on , just need the steering wheel re aligned .
There was excessive play in the old trackrods and droplinks and thats putting it lightly so im presuming fitting the new parts has set the steering wheel in its correct position , just needs centering .
WIM
Sorry whats WIM :-\
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WIM
Sorry whats WIM :-\
Wheels In Motion. The only people I'd trust to do any alignment work on my Omega, despite the 400 mile round trip...
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Fitted new droplinks and track rods a couple of days ago ...measured the track rods so they were spot on to the ones i took off , the steering wheel was off center slightly before i started . The car drives and steers spot on , just need the steering wheel re aligned .
The first thing to check, then is:
With the wheels pointing dead ahead, is the steering linkage (the one that dangles from the steering box) pointing straight downward/forward. If it isn't then you don't want to move the wheel - you need to get the track rods set to that the wheels are straight ahead when that is straight down.
The reason being that the steering box has a load of 'damping' built into it around that position which is there to stop the car 'wandering' when driving in a straight line - if you set it up otherwise you end up with a flighty floaty car.
If you check that and the linkage is pointing straight down when the wheels are straight ahead then yes, you'd need to move the wheel - because someone has previously done it to cover up a bad alignment.
If that makes sense :)
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Fitted new droplinks and track rods a couple of days ago ...measured the track rods so they were spot on to the ones i took off , the steering wheel was off center slightly before i started . The car drives and steers spot on , just need the steering wheel re aligned .
There was excessive play in the old trackrods and droplinks and thats putting it lightly so im presuming fitting the new parts has set the steering wheel in its correct position , just needs centering .
WIM
Sorry whats WIM :-\
Mate if you change steering components such as track rod ends you need your steering checking/realigning properly - just because you used a tape measure, bit of string, or counted the number of turns, doesn't guarantee nothng!!
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Fitted new droplinks and track rods a couple of days ago ...measured the track rods so they were spot on to the ones i took off , the steering wheel was off center slightly before i started . The car drives and steers spot on , just need the steering wheel re aligned .
The first thing to check, then is:
With the wheels pointing dead ahead, is the steering linkage (the one that dangles from the steering box) pointing straight downward/forward. If it isn't then you don't want to move the wheel - you need to get the track rods set to that the wheels are straight ahead when that is straight down.
The reason being that the steering box has a load of 'damping' built into it around that position which is there to stop the car 'wandering' when driving in a straight line - if you set it up otherwise you end up with a flighty floaty car.
If you check that and the linkage is pointing straight down when the wheels are straight ahead then yes, you'd need to move the wheel - because someone has previously done it to cover up a bad alignment.
If that makes sense :)
Perfect sense aaronjb ;) A quick check on that i will do :y
Fitted new droplinks and track rods a couple of days ago ...measured the track rods so they were spot on to the ones i took off , the steering wheel was off center slightly before i started . The car drives and steers spot on , just need the steering wheel re aligned .
There was excessive play in the old trackrods and droplinks and thats putting it lightly so im presuming fitting the new parts has set the steering wheel in its correct position , just needs centering .
WIM
Sorry whats WIM :-\
Mate if you change steering components such as track rod ends you need your steering checking/realigning properly - just because you used a tape measure, bit of string, or counted the number of turns, doesn't guarantee nothng!!
Okeydokey ;)
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Get the car set up correctly. Do not remove the steering wheel to achieve this or the steering box will be off centre. Splines are too course anyway.
See wheels in motion web site for full geo set up. But also see the guides and FAQ sections on fault finding first.
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
Why? :-\
he's not removing the steering wheel now, but even if he was...
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Get the car set up correctly. Do not remove the steering wheel to achieve this or the steering box will be off centre. Splines are too course anyway.
See wheels in motion web site for full geo set up. But also see the guides and FAQ sections on fault finding first.
Going to check the steering box alignment at the weekend ;)
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
Why? :-\
he's not removing the steering wheel now, but even if he was...
Dont you have to unplug the airbag when you take the wheel off??
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
Why? :-\
he's not removing the steering wheel now, but even if he was...
Dont you have to unplug the airbag when you take the wheel off??
You do, but you don't turn the ignition on with it unplugged. :y
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
Why? :-\
he's not removing the steering wheel now, but even if he was...
Dont you have to unplug the airbag when you take the wheel off??
You do, but you don't turn the ignition on with it unplugged. :y
cool i'll remember that next time I take the steering wheel off.......
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... And when playing with air bags, the first thing you do is unplug the battery anyway.
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... And when playing with air bags, the first thing you do is unplug the battery anyway.
"Don't do as I do, do as I tell you", as my dear old farther used to say. You are, of course, absolutely 100% correct in disconnectiong battery... ...it just takes too long, so I never do, as you know ;D
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
Why? :-\
he's not removing the steering wheel now, but even if he was...
Dont you have to unplug the airbag when you take the wheel off??
You do, but you don't turn the ignition on with it unplugged. :y
As Andy B rightly points out, keep the ign off, the light should stay out.
Although as gayboygixer points out, you should really disconnect battery, and let the system discharge for 2 or 3 minutes...
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Plus your airbag light will stay on and need to be turned off.......
Why? :-\
he's not removing the steering wheel now, but even if he was...
Dont you have to unplug the airbag when you take the wheel off??
You do, but you don't turn the ignition on with it unplugged. :y
As Andy B rightly points out, keep the ign off, the light should stay out.
Although as gayboygixer points out, you should really disconnect battery, and let the system discharge for 2 or 3 minutes...
MUUUM , HE'S GROOMING ME AGAIN...! :'(
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the only time I disconnect the battery is to change the battery :y
I will prolly regret it one day though.....
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the only time I disconnect the battery is to change the battery :y
I will prolly regret it one day though.....
Obviously a good idea to disconnect it when doing anything to do with airbags ................ even if it's only to save the hassle &/or cost of resetting the light if you forget & turn the ignition on part way through. ;) ;)
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Andy just noticed you got a TDM.....I got two, need to start a thread a talk tdm,s
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Andy just noticed you got a TDM.....I got two, need to start a thread a talk tdm,s
I do indeed, it doesn't get the use that it deserves really. :(
(http://img3011.photobox.co.uk/9020566572037680a842202aa5042cb37a724f06e5ba99c950395765.jpg)
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Nice.... looks like a '98 ...love TDM's
This is my '91
(http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae120/DrXX/PA133910.jpg)
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Nice.... looks like a '98 ...love TDM's
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Close ;) P reg 97 :y :y :y I'm sure it's a far more capable bike than I am rider. :-[
A good looking bike.