Steering column adjustment advice please

[Rigid]

Whilst it is off the road I thought I'd try to 'repair' my steering column so that it can be moved in and out.
Eventually I've needed to dismantle it down to the component parts - squirting PlusGas and Silicone spray down the pipes didn't make much difference.
I've now taken the 2 'rubber' o-rings out and given everything a clean etc.
I've even trimmed the flash off of the o-rings but on reassembly the 2 pipes still need a lot of force to slide them up and down.
Liberal amounts of silicone spray help but there is still too much stickiness.

The o-rings are obviously non-original and I would assume that buying new will just deliver 2 similar parts.

Anyone got any tips on how to fix this?
My first thought is to cut some of the o-ring off, to reduce the width and thus the surface area of the sliding bit.

Thanks
Richard

[jbuckl]

There’s two moulded pvc sleeves each with 2 cylindrical locators. 153040.
the sliding spline usually needs cleaning & lubing too.
top & bottom bearings usually need attending to & add a preload collar instead of the star washer.
if it’s all done it will be as good as new.
there are guides in the technical section.

[Rigid]

Yes, its those PVC sleeves that are causing the problem.
The 2 in my car seem to be made of silicone, not sure how to tell one plastic from another.

[flying farmer]

My Mk2 failed the MOT on excessive play the first time I took it for an MOT (no way should it have passed the previous one done by the previous owner)
I ordered the rubber rings but they were slow coming so I wrapped insulating tape around the column where the rings should be to a sufficient thickness to get rid of the play for the retest.
10 years later the rubber rings are still in the drawer and the tape is still doing its job.

Neil

[Rigid]

Thanks Neil.
Makes sense that they are really only there to stop any wobble, with enough resistance to keep the column stable.
I’ll try a few options.

[stag8manod]

Hi. Rather than Silicone spray use Silicone grease, much longer lasting.
Cheers Ian A.

[Rigid]

Thanks all.
Just to close the thread I ended up swapping to old school grease rather than using the spray.
I also trimmed both bushes to reduce the surface area - made it a bugger to fit the inside bush but I got there in the end, using a slotted wooded stick to keep the bush aligned whilst feeding it in.