1966 Bonneville Steering

[GrandpaDave]

Hi fellow Pontiac lovers - here's a problem I hope someone can help me with. I have a 66 Bonneville 2 door hardtop, 389 4bbl, power steering, 3-speed automatic. When I turn the wheel, I can hear a grinding sound somewhere within the steering column (seems to be coming from within the car). I made a right turn a few days ago and the gear shifter pulled down from drive into low. I am wondering if something has broken inside the column and is jamming against the shifter rod. I am going to try and pull it apart this weekend to have a look but I appreciate any help as I am totally clueless as to what can be causing it. I am not driving the car until I find out what it is.

Thanks for any help you can give me - I love this web site.
Dave

[Larry]

Dave,

Are you sure you don't have the "downshifts on turn" option package? Kidding! Actually it sounds like there is something that has broken or at least come apart inside the column.

As for pulling it into low gear, there are levers at the bottom of the column that could be getting snagged too. However, since the noice sounds to be topside, I would start there.

Check in our On-Line Pontiac Shop Manual Reference Library. We have an entire 1966 Shop Manual up and it has a big section called "Steering." It has a lot of detailed information, procedures, and drawings of the steering column and a its pieces. Just look undr "MEMBERS" and then click on "Reference Library" to enter. It will ask you to log in again because the library is so big we have it located on a different server than the main site.

Thanks for the kind words about PontiacRegistry.com. It is a huge project, and is growing every day. Our goal is simply to build "the single largest source of Pontiac information, services, and entertainment in the world." No small goal, but why aim low! With your help and support it will be an easy goal to accomplish.

Thanks,
Larry

[GrandpaDave]

Thanks for the sense of humor about the downshifting Larry, and also for a response within 3 hours WOW. I sent you a separate email regarding printing a couple of pages from the shop manual. I really do appreciate the work you have done on this website, it is enormously helpful for old guys like us that want to keep the vintage cars on the road. My 7 grandchldren are in love with the old Bonneville and it gives them a great deal of pleasure to go to car shows with me.
Dave

[GrandpaDave]

[GrandpaDave]

Larry - The shop manual was extremely helpful, I pulled the steering column and found that the bearing at the bottom end had disintegrated and the steering shaft was flopping around. If it is helpful to our fellow Pontiac lovers, I found a guy on ebay (hotrodded39-52) that has all kinds of aftermarket steering column bearings. It took me 20 minutes to install the bearing and, of course, a whole lot longer to reinstall the column (we won't get into that). Keep up the good work, this website is most helpful.

Dave