Pulled the steering shaft out of the firewall?!!

[blackstangt]

I was changing my steering rack and tried to pull the rack out by just removing the bolt from the splined connection to the rack. It wouldn't come out after much effort, so I removed the steering column bolts and got it out.

When I got everything back together, I was wondering why my steering column was still so far down. The top part of the shaft came through the firewall boot a little (1 inch or so). I obviously need to fix this...

How should I get it back into place? As of now, the method will be a hammer tomorrow morning (5hrs).

HELP!!!!

 

[blackstangt]

Also, less important, what is the 7th wire in the O2 sensor harness supposed to connect to? I have 3 per O2 sensor and an extra wire...

 

[blackstangt]

hammer it is... hopefully I don't break anything.

 

[stykthyn]

did you bolt the steering column back up to the brace under the dash?

 

[blackstangt]

Nothing under the dash was touched, I managed to push it back into place. Apparently this is part of what makes the steering column collapsable. The car is aligned and driving great.

Note to those replacing their steering rack:

Remove the steering shaft bolts that connect to the splined piece of the rack, so pulling the rack out doesn't put force on the shaft going through the firewall.

If the shaft is pulled too far, it can be hammered back into place.
I put a phillips head screwdriver through the bolt hole by the firewall, placed a piece of wood where the screwdriver met the hole and hammered ittoward the firewall. It slowly moved back into place.

Maybe not pro, but I made it go.