Noise directly behind steering wheel - like sandpaper

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Well, 1st off, apologies for kind of going AWOL. My dad was sick for a while but he died. We figured he would but not so soon. Everything else sort of gets put on hold when that happens because life's like that I guess. Trying to get back into projects is taking a little bit more out of me than I thought. But here I am.

Tonight going to the store the steering wheel makes a noise, it's in the cab seemingly right between where the steering wheel attaches to ?whatever that's called? that holds the blinker arm and the wiper control arm.

I'll check the power steering fluid in the morning just to be sure, but this is not that infamous low power steering fluid sound.

This sound is like someone dumped a bunch of sand in the steering column right behind the steering wheel. I guess I can try to get a video of it if needed to record the sound, but that's if I can't figure it out maybe... unless someone is curious...

Figure tomorrow I'll try to pull the steering wheel off and see what's inside behind it. Never pulled one off before so I've got zero idea what to expect or how to do it, so I went searching.

Found this: http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/1473-Backtobasics-1987-D50?p=13220&viewfull=1#post13220 that makes it seem the steering wheel comes off without a steering wheel puller, does it? Is it really as simple as taking off a bolt?

Can I re-attach the steering wheel so it's straight and level and not turned a little when the truck tires are heading straight? (or does that require more work like messing with the steering gear box?)

Since I'm in there, if I get that far, I'll look into why the wiper delay isn't working, the windshield wiper control arm's 1st position doesn't do a dang thing. Maybe i Need a new unit? Unsure until I can get in there and take some pics ~ I'll share :) Maybe I'll get that far, maybe not. We'll see.

Please any tips are seriously appreciated, as it's my first time & all for this. Thank you :)

[ragragtimetime]

truly sorry for your loss.

i am guessing the scraping noise is the "horn tab" making contact. difficult to see but if you get in the correct contortion position & look between the column & wheel you will see it.....maybe just a spritz of wd-40 http://www.amazon.com/WD-40-Specialist-Electrical-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B00CMT9TFY or electrical contact spray of choice will fix without any disassembly.

i have never run into the wiper delay issue...can't be a fuse or the unit would not work at all in the other 2 positions...must be a connection, ground, relay itself....verify 12vdc electrical readout with a multitester @ unit when delay is on....if all fails:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/3674-Wiper-motor-MB262431

& should we have a welcome back party for you?:))

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Thanks & I'm sorry too, it's so strange.

I'll do as you say & see if I can see anything and I had no idea wd40 made that product thanks for the link!!!

I'll check the connections, too, for that wiper. It wasn't a priority before with the other problems being bigger, but now, sure! There was some odd wiring going on I thought before I'll just have to remember where I saw it...

Any reason for a party = yes!

[lush90]

Very sorry for your loss, that's a difficult time only made better by time. Pulling the steering wheel is quite simple, only caution I would give is once you have the big retaining nut loose, leave it on by a few threads. You will need to "pop" up the steering wheel by hitting it from below with your hands. The nut keeps it from flying off. My wheel was off center when I got the truck, previous owner had everything apart, and it was easy to re center the wheel once it was off. As for delayed wiper, I'm envious. I missed an opportunity to pick up an assembly with delay a few years ago and have never come across another. With the light rain we have so frequently, I would love to find one. Be careful with yours! If anyone ever comes across one, I'd be more than interested.

[ragragtimetime]

http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/3953-wiper-timer-delay-controller

[pennyman1]

if it is the wiper for the horn making the noise, use silicone dielectric grease like you use on spark plug boots for a permanent fix - wd40 is only a temp solution. The way to center the wheel on the 1st gen trucks is to pull the steering wheel and put it on straight after the truck is aligned. 1st gen trucks only have 1 adjustable tie rod so the wheel has to be pulled to center it.

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The truck actually doesn't need an alignment that I can tell, luckily. It barely seems to slowly want to drift to the right but I'm still unsure if that's the road tilt or the truck. If I can't figure out how to replace the brake pads myself then I'll ask if the brake shop guys can align it too - and how much they want to charge me for it for when it does. But that's for another day haha!

Always I forget about that dielectric grease! I've got at least 2 tubes of it, will put it to good use, thank you for mentioning it!!!

Oh, and Lush ~ I'm presuming it's a delayed wiper, I should have said it that way since it doesn't work I'm not sure what it is supposed to do! the first position after 'off' doesn't do anything at all, the next positions do. I'll have to grab pics of it to share! My eyes don't work very well anymore darn it. Though everybody looks pretty to me it's hard to see the small writing. I won't take the nut off all the way if I can help it.

[BradMph]

Hope she doesn't squirt 2 tubes of grease on that horn plate inside the steering wheel housing. :lmao: Just kidding!

Not sure, but I don't think we have a delayed wiper. My '86 is a 2 speed wiper and sure wish I had delayed for those days that just drop enough water on windshield to have to hit the switch every time.
Drift to the right sounds like roadway. They make them slanted down to right for rain drain off.
We use to joke about the slight pull to the right with cars and if we ever fell asleep at the wheel it would always go right and not into a head on. Though we never figured anyone walking down the sidewalk at the time.


Sorry about your father. That is a big hit, at least for us it was. My father died the day before he was to retire, which also was the day before his birthday. †

[pennyman1]

My 85 ram 50 royal had intermitant wipers, but it was a loaded top of the line 2wd model. I am sorry about the loss of your Dad - it's always tough to lose a loved one, regardless of the situation.

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Thank you so much for the condolences, it's been weird trying to make my mom feel better and stuff while I'm learning how to deal with it myself. Death is the hardest thing ever!!!

LOL and ha ha haaa omg and squeezing tubes of stuff back there. I could just stick a tube in there with the nozzel pointed the right way & every time I refill it with gasoline, just roll up the end of the tube a bit like toothpaste, too.

I think I accidentally may have found why the wipers are acting funky, but I'm in the middle of something else at the moment so will attend to it later. There's a terrible bare wire-to-wire wrap job going on behind the firewall... that grounds or maybe doesn't ground what I'm guessing is the wiper motor, and a seriously random short somewhere behind the gauge cluster that makes the gas gauge stay reading on empty, the Charge light be dimly lit & the right blinker not work all at the same time -- unless I get lucky and hit the top of the dash just right like an old TV set and it goes back to reading everything & working correctly. OMG I hate electronicallistic stuff so much, too. But will get to that shortly. No pun intended. Ugh. Soon, very soon.