Potentiometer -- Is This Right?

Rene

Rene

Lincoln Lady
Does this look right to you guys? I bought this complete column, but it looks like a part is broken off the end of the potentiometer. Is this broken, or is this the way it should look??
 

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I've never taken a column apart, but that circuit board looks like it's missing something, what with the 4 traces ending up nowhere.
 
That One Guy said:
I've never taken a column apart, but that circuit board looks like it's missing something, what with the 4 traces ending up nowhere.
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That's what I thought, but wanted to check here before making a fuss with the place I bought it from.

Maybe Jamie or Jeremi will see this post? I know they've seen plenty of columns :p
 
yeah for sure rene, broken, the missing part is where the plug off the clock spring is supposed to plug into that spot, its snapped off clean rendering that column useless..
 
Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the replies. I'll have to see about returning or exchanging it.

Stinks, because it's a relatively low-mileage unit (78K) :(
 
Honestly, I don't remember. We were so disappointed that the potentiometer looked broken, we figured we'd be returning the whole unit anyway :frown:

I wasn't planning to have it installed right away, just wanted to get my hands on a low-mileage unit for when I was ready. I don't have any slop in the original steering column at this point; it's over-extended, though.
 
That plug seems to be prone to breakage once out of the car. I bought a column on ebay a while back and it had the exact same thing. Luckily I had a potentiometer that I'd ordered over a year ago and never replaced. I ended up swapping parts from the ebay column with mine (with Jeremy's help) so I didn't need the spare pot anyway. I'm kind of glad I held onto it. Anyone know if the pots are still available from Ford?
 
not available, been discontinued for some time now, absolutely obsolete, isnt that great to know! i agree they are subject to easy breakage once the column is out of the car, there is nothing to protect that little plug extention when the column isnt hiding under the dash.
 
Damn, that sucks. I'll have to put that in the "save for retirement" box along with my midnight black ignition switch bezel and virgin HID bulb. :D

I found that on my column, as long as the potentiometer isn't broken in some way, it can be "fixed" by opening up the column body, reaching in there with your fingers and moving the two sliders back and forth several times. It doesn't require disassembling the column any further than removing the cover. I bet that volume control cleaner stuff from Radio Shack would help too. Mine worked for a couple years by doing that, after getting stuck before.
 
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