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!