On my 96 jeep cherokee the tilt steering lever all of a sudden stopped working and it's stuck in one position. I am wondering if it can be fixed without having to replace the entire assembly.

 

the arm probably came disconnected - take it apart and find out...or not...your choice

 

i don't even use my tilt, mine is adjusted to stick strait out like i don't even have tilt, but you will have to pull the steering wheel and open up the steering column, good luck

 

mine broke, and the steering wheel was very sloppy, i swapped out the whole column, it was easy and cheep.

 

Bringing this thread back from the dead. I found this write up doing some searches www.chevyasylum.com/column/tiltcol.html My question is how do I pull the steering wheel off to take a look inside?

In the write up he says it can be done with out removing the steering column. If it is easier to just remove the steering column then I'll just do that so I can work on it inside. Any tips on how to pull either?

 

use that article to repair. If you go to AutoZone to either rent or buy
that tool, also get a steering wheel puller. It makes removal easy.
Take your time and watch where you remove what, so you replace it.
I had my Chevy truck done by a friend, because he had the tools already.
I watched as he worked, didn't take him 20 min. start to finish.
There's 3 torx screws that have to be tightened (didn't read that for on that link).

side note: I now have those tools just in case ----

 

Did you friend remove the whole column from the car or did he work on it from with in the cab? and I'll go out there to see if i can see how the wheel comes off.

 

It looks as though I can get the steering wheel off with just a phillips head, but the rest of the components look as though they require a torx like screw driver that has a hole in the center? I'm going to look into it more.

 

If you need to remove the torx with a center pin you can always go to autozone/advance and pick up a socket torx kit with the safety pin. The zone had one with. Worked fairly well.

 

Should be a nut holding the steering wheel on. Also mark it
so you can put it back in the correct position (hub of wheel to shaft -it's splined,
which is why you need a puller). And yes we did it on the truck, no need to remove it.
PM me if you need, I keep forgetting to check back here.

 

Thanks for the help, But I reported back in another thread (forgot to reply to this one). I removed my airbag and as I was about to dig further into the wheel but then something just told me to try one more time. And sure enough after I spent all that time taking it apart it went back into its normal position. If it happens again maybe I'll take a better look at it and PM you if I need help. Thanks!

 

Thats the one part where you want to follow the instructions exactly. If it were to detonate while you are holding it , or near it, it can be really bad news.

 

Sorry, I missed the part about it having an airbag. My 88 doesn't.
The ones I've worked on with an airbag, Ive always disconnected
the battery first, then very carefully removed the airbag, especially
the first time, but always be careful.