Mitsubishi axial nut steering wheel spacer installation
Valid for:
This installation write-up has been made for Mitsubishi cars with steering wheel fitted to the steering column thanks to an axial nut, which is the most common fitment for all cars. Other type of Mitsubishi steering wheel spacer, fitted on the car by a radial bolt, has it own specific installation guide.
Cars to which this guide refers:
Despite the steering wheel looking different from the outside, they have been all made on the same metal frame, which is hidden, and share the same spline pattern and clockspring matching: this made possible to design and machine the steering wheel spacer in a way that fit all these cars.
NOTES BEFORE INSTALLATION:
1) Park the car with the wheels straight before installation, otherwise you risk “missing a tooth” during assembly and find yourself with the steering wheel slightly off centre while driving straight.
2) Disconnect the battery before starting, thus avoiding the illumination of lights at the end. Wait 30 min to let remaining electric power discharge from the car.
3) Be careful when handling the cables coming out from the clockspring behind the steering wheel, do not pull them even accidentally and unlock the connector clip(s) before disconnecting, otherwise you risk to damage or rotate too much the steering angle sensor and hear an annoying “click” while driving, and you have to do the whole procedure again. Don’t worry, this problem comes if you really pull the wires hard, you can’t generate this problem while just handling the wires.
INSTALLATION
Check the videos on the internet that show how to disassemble the steering wheel of the Mitsubishi. Watching one or two before starting helps to do everything more comfortably and without doing damage. We not yet made our own tutorial, we’ll update one as soon as possible. In any case, we’ll summarize the main points here.
1) Remove the airbag from the steering wheel by unscrewing the two torx screws on the sides of the steering wheel. It may be necessary to remove rubber plugs that hide them from view. When the airbag unit is in your hands, disconnect the connectors behind it, do not just pull them: unlock the mini-safety clips first.
2) Leave the airbag safely, badge towards the sky and away from children.
3) Unscrew the center nut without removing it, first make sure that the steering wheel slides along the steering column. In fact, after years, the steering wheel and the column tend to stick together and if you pull hard to unlock, the steering wheel can suddenly come out hitting your face and tearing the wires. The steering wheel can be so hard to pull out that you may need to use a puller, which simplifies everything considerably. Insert 2 screws into the holes provided on the steering wheel and screw in the central pin of the extractor. It only takes half a turn to unlock the steering wheel (with a nice “knock”).
4) When you are sure that the steering wheel comes out, fully unscrew the nut and remove it.
5) Now you can see the clockspring (rotating contact with pending wires) and the steering column on the car.
6) Insert the aluminium part of the spacer into the column, respecting the orientation of the slots. The spacer reproduces the grooves of the steering wheel. The wiring must be routed through the bottom slot. Tighten the center nut that previously held the steering wheel. Have someone help hold the spacer (and column) in place while tightening the nut. CLEAN HANDS AND NO FINGER RINGS, otherwise you’ll scratch the cover’s anodization.
NOTE: the Mitsubishi spacer is the only one with the slot left open at it’s bottom, because the connector from the clockspring is too much on its external edge and there was no other way to design the spacer to accomodate this: wires come from that connector radially, and would be too difficult to re-connect one of them with full closed design spacer.
7) Screw the steel part of the spacer to the aluminum part, using the allen bolts.
8) Extend the wire: there is a black connector coming from the steering wheel which is not yet longer possible reconnect to its socket coming from the clockspring. You have to extend it by “unlocking” some “hidden” lenght it already have. Now it is forced through a route inside the steering wheel decided by Mitsubishi at factory. By unlocking the little bolts in the picture, loosen the plastic frame a bit, and re-route the connector behind the aluminium frame of the steering wheel. This will let you gain those few centimeters to reach the clockspring.
First 2 pics belongs to a Lancer X, the last to a Colt. Little details change due to different steering wheel shape, but solution is the same: re-route the wire
9) Slide the steering wheel onto the steel part of the spacer, which is a copy of the steering column. Tighten the central nut and gently pass the wires through the slot provided, leave the yellow connector pending.
10) Be careful when putting the airbag back inside the steering wheel : the wire behind it must not be pressed, otherwise the horn may keep running when you reconnect the battery: re-attach the connector to the airbag and push the exceeding wires in the room inside the spacer’s black cover. Re-tighten airbag bolts, don’t tight too strong.
11) Reconnect the battery and don’t let anybody seat on the car in while. Do a test drive.
12) Everything must work as before:
- steering wheel rotation effort does not change
- no warning lights
- stalk lever still return automatically
- horn pressure feel does not changes
- all steering wheel buttons must work as before, if present
- existing steering wheel adjustment still works, if available
- you should not hear clicks or rubbing noises behind the wheel
END.
