2005 Ford Focus ZX4 SES 2.0 with a Loose Steering Wheel

This 2005 Ford Focus, 2.0 ZX4 SES, came into the shop with a customer concern of a severely loose steering wheel. We confirmed the customer's concern. It was apparent the issue was the steering wheel bolt itself and not an issue in the column.

First, we had to remove the Driver's Air Bag from the steering wheel. We always remove power to the Air Bag when we do this, to avoid the air bag deploying.

First, here is a look at the steering wheel with the air bag still in place. Again, it is vitally important that we always remove power from the air bag circuit, before we attempt to remove it, so as not to have a deployment of the air bag. After we removed power and made sure the circuit had no power, we removed the air bag.

There are two small bolts on the back of the steering wheel that hold the air bag in place. We removed these two bolts with a ratchet and socket. We had to position the steering wheel, so that we were able to remove these two bolts.

Below is a look at the heads of the two bolts (they remained in the steering wheel assembly).

And another:

And one more:

Next, we gently removed the air bag assembly from the steering wheel. We also unclipped the electrical connector for the air bag (again, making sure there was no power on the air bag circuit beforehand!).

Below is a look at the clip.

Below we used a pocket screwdriver to detach the connector.

Below, is a picture of the connector disconnected.

With the air bag assembly disconnected (mechanically and electrically) from the steering wheel, we laid it out of the way.

Next, it was time to check the bolt itself to see how loose it was.

Below is a picture of the bolt and steering wheel with the air bag assembly safely removed.

Below, we placed a pocket screwdriver behind the bolt head to show it was loose. It was actually loose by several turns and was barely holding it on at this point.

We used a 1/2 inch ratchet and socket and tightened the bolt back down to spec.

Once the bolt was tightened, we affirmed the steering wheel was tight with no more play in it. Once we did that, it was simply a matter of reversing the steps and reinstalling everything.

Once reassmebled, we tested it one more time and it was good and tight. All the play in the steering wheel was now completely gone.

We shipped the vehicle back to the customer!

2004 Cadillac Deville 4.6, Fuel Door and Trunk Switch Inoperative

This 2004 Cadillac Deville came into the shop with a customer complaint that neither the fuel door or the trunk would open with the switch on the dash. The customer had checked and switched fuses, but was still having the same issue.

I confirmed the concern and started investigating the possible causes.

Below is a picture of where the two buttons are located on this Cadillac.

Below, the fuel door remained closed when the button on the dash (the headlamp switch) was pressed.

Below, the trunk also remained closed with the button pressed for it.

I connected my Scan tool and while looking at the Pids for both the fuel door and trunk, I pressed each button separately. When I did, the Pid for each one registered, showing that the switch was good, along with the fuses.

Below, you can see it showing "On" and "Off" for both functions. (Sorry for the glare in the pics.)

Fuel Door switch "On" (finger pressing button):

Fuel Door switch "Off" (finger off of button):

Trunk Release switch "On" (finger pressing button):

Trunk Release switch "Off" (finger off of button):

Again, the above screen shots proved that the system was operating normally, as far as the switch and command was concerned. Now the only question was, why were the components not working?

As I investigated more, I discovered the problem. It was inside the glove box. This model has a "Valet Lock" in the glove box. This allows the owner to turn the button to the "On" position, which means a valet would be unable to access the fuel filler neck or the trunk, if the owner gave the valet the valet key and locked the glove box with the regular key (i.e. the valet key will not unlock the glove box).

Below is the "Valet Lock." As you can see, the button is pressed "On", thus not allowing the fuel door or trunk to be opened with the switch on the dash.

I simply switched the "Valet Lock" to "Off" and when I did everything was back to working properly.
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Sometimes it is the little or simple things that are causing the problem. Probably, the "Valet Lock" was accidentally switched to the "On" position by the customer when cleaning the vehicle or reaching in to grab something from the glove box.

I confirmed everything worked properly a couple of times and shipped the vehicle!