2006 Sirion 1.0 manual - knocking/rattling steering

Forum: 

New to the forum, so please be gentle.

I've recently purchased the above car which I'm finding quite fun to drive except for an annoying knocking coming from just below the steering wheel when going over poor road surfaces (i.e. most of the time!). I've had the lower plastic shroud off below the steering wheel, and by groping around (ooh-er, missus) in the nether regions of the steering column, I can feel a very small amount of play in a joint towards the top of the column. Not investigated this thoroughly yet, but it's presumably either a universal or a splined joint.

I'm wondering:
a) if anyone else has come across this problem?
b) is it easy for a reasonably competent home mechanic to fix?
c) if so... what needs to be done/replaced?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Also, is there a workshop manual of any sort available for my car?

Thanks,
Ashley

Hello Newbie :)

There is a manual available. From the sounds of it you have the EJ-VE engine in your car (1.0 litre).
As for the steering, it maybe worth giving your local (If there is one anymore?) Daihatsu dealership a call to enquire on any recalls/known issues with the steering. I seem to recall a couple of years back (When my local parts/servicing garage was still around), that there were some known faults being reported by New Shape Sirion owners. Not sure if one of them was to do with steering, but worth a ask.
As for a manual, I have been harking on about this for a while (I know your new, so will let you off Smile ) that thesew can be bought off forum member BobF for around £10 and covers off all you need for your car.
Unfortunately BobF has had issues getting on the forum as of late, so if your on Facebook, do a look up for 'Daihatsu Enthusiasts' and enquire with him.
Good Luck Wink

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'12' Plate Mazda MX-5 2.0 litre NC 3.5 Venture Roadster 160BHP
'15' Plate SEAT LEON 184 FR TDI. 240BHP/500nm Torque.
Past: '53' Plate Yellow YRV Turbo Approx. 150BHP

Thanks for your reply. I did

Thanks for your reply. I did call a - relatively - local dealer, but he confirmed that there are no recalls of that nature, although he did say that it might need a new steering rack! As I'm pretty sure that it's the joint behind the steering wheel which is the cause of the knocking, and I mentioned this to him, I wasn't particularly impressed.

I don't do FB, so I wonder if there's any other way of contacting BobF? I've pm'd him, but I guess that if he's having trouble getting on to the forum, that probably won't do me much good.

If I get anywhere with this, I'll post back with my solution.

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2006 Sirion 1.0 SE manual in blue

To finish this off, I appear

To finish this off, I appear to have fixed the problem - in the short-term at least. For anyone else who experiences this, I'll describe what I did.

Problem:
Rattling/knocking in the steering column. Especially evident when driving over rough surfaces. the noise appearing to come from just under the steering wheel.

Diagnosis:
When the car was stationary there was very slight play in the steering wheel, which made a little clonking noise on shimmying the steering wheel. Feeling around underneath the steering wheel, there was found to be a small amount of play in a joint about 30cm below the wheel.

Resolution:
Separate the joint and apply thread locker to it.
Tools required, medium Phillips screwdriver (not posidrive), 10 & 12mm sockets, ratchet and extensions, flat-bladed screwdriver or small tyre lever; a mirror is useful; Loctite 243 medium strength thread lock.
1. Remove the small rectangular plastic "tray" just above the pedals: 3 x cross-head screws.
2. Remove the bolt holding the lower end of the intermediate shaft down in the foot well: remove the one or two plastic trim clips and pull back the carpet; remove the 3 bolts holding the horseshoe-shaped metal plate; remove the plate and the plastic housing, which are both split to fit over the steering column; turn the steering wheel to an appropriate position to gain access to the bolt head; remove the bolt securing the splined shaft.
3. Remove the bolt holding the upper end of the intermediate shaft: you'll need to partially lie on your back to do this, but it is clearly visible; turn the steering wheel to an appropriate position to gain access to the bolt head; remove the bolt.
4. Separate the joint at the top: the intermediate shaft should slide downwards enough to separate the top splined joint; if necessary, persuade it with a small tyre lever or large flat screwdriver. Be careful not to move the steering wheel while the joint is separated.
5. Inspect the splined joint and clean up both male and female surfaces thoroughly. I wiped with a rag, then used a toothbrush and cellulose thinners to ensure that the splines were really clean.
6. Refit the upper joint: use liberal amounts of Loctite 243 on both male and female surfaces of the joint, then refit the spline, then the bolt (I used some normal Loctite 2400 thread locker on the bolt). It's OK to move the steering wheel now.
7. Refit the bolt to the lower joint (again, I used Loctite 2400 on that bolt), then replace the plastic cover, the metal plate, the carpet, and then the plastic tray.
8. Leave the Loctite to cure for a few hours.

The steering on the car now has no play at all, and test-driving showed that the knocking had gone away; the only real downside is that all the other minor rattles seem much louder Smile

With any luck this will be a good, long-term fix. I did talk to the Technical Department at Loctite, who were very helpful, and advised that I use 243 "medium strength", rather than the full strength variety (don't know the number of that), as they were concerned that the joint might be part of the collapsible steering column structure, and that should obviously not be locked solid. In practice, the joint is not part of the collapsible bit, so I could have used the more permanent full strength variety. If the rattling comes back again at some point, then I will redo the job with a more permanent locking fluid.

I'd like to add the photos I took during the repair, but there doesn't seem to be any way to make them part of this thread; if anyone can advise me how to do this, I'd be grateful.

Ashley

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2006 Sirion 1.0 SE manual in blue

Great write up ashley

Hi Ashley great write up, my wife's 2008 sirion has exactly the same noise, as you say the rattle comes just below the steering wheel which is annoying, pity you could not upload pictures as it completes the how too, but thanks for the info, Regards David.

Job done - steering column pinch bolts

Hi Ashley/all, did the steering column pinch bolts today, very easy job after following ashleys instructions, loosened pinch bolts (12mm socket) and retightened, did not use any threadlock, and all rattle's/knocking/play has gone, wonder how many people have changed steering racks when really it is the pinch bolts need retightening on the steering column, took 20 minutes max, very satisfying job done, Thanks Ashley for info.

Another one fixed!

A family member just bought a 2007 1.3 Toyota Passo (Sirion) that had a steering clonk. In fact it was so bad, that heaving left and right on either of the front wheels would produce quite a loud noise. This was in spite of having a newly issued WOF - the NZ equivalent of an MOT.
I actually thought I had it narrowed down to a rack-end balljoint, but after a sanity check before mucking up the wheel alignment, I changed my mind - and discovered all about the Daihatsu steering rack issues, oh f@#$!
Fortunately I came across this thread, and subsequently found that one of the bottom steering column pinchbolts was nowhere near as tight as all the others - problem solved thanks.

Pete

Worked for mine too.

Thank you for posting this.

My 2008 Sirion was making a loud knock when steering at slow speed. Turned out it was just the lower bolt loose. I didnot pull the joint apart just tightened the bolt. If it starts again I might pull it apart.

I must have a different lower plastic plate, as mine is held on by 5 bolts and several pins and it stretchs acroos the width of the car. Removing it was by far the trickiest part of the repair.

Another one fixed!

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread. Since buying my used 2006 Sirion 1.0 SE I have had the most annoying knocking noise from just beneath the steeering wheel, I was convinced it was something serious until reading this thread.

Turns out it was just a 12mm bolt that needed tightened. It was deceiving as it was very tight already, but was still causing the intermediate shaft to rattle, so I removed it, put 243 threadlocker on and tightened it as hard as I could and now the knocking is totally gone, the car feels great now.

I have attached a pic of the 12mm bolt that I had to tighten.

https://imgur.com/a/zasZG

Ignore the cable in the pic, it is a speaker cable.

Thanks again guys!

Simple to do

Just done this and now no more knocking. Thank's for the info.