Wobbly straight steering column-non tilt

[kcrowe]

Just replaced the wiper switch on my 92 s-10 pickup. Of course you have to disassemble the upper portion of the steering column to get to it. I also had to drop the column in order to get to and disconnect the ignition/dimmer switch actuator rods so that the top part of the column which houses the wiper switch could be removed. I reassembled, and torqed everything back to specs. But now the entire upper potion of the steering column is extremely wobbly, its like the whole thing turns slightly as your turn the wheel. This is a straight column, not tilt. And the ignition switch is out of sync(want turn all the way to start; stops at the run possition) plus I cant get the key out. I know I must have missed something along the way. But what? When I attached the ignition switch back to the steering column I noticed there is the possibility for some adjustment so I may just have to readjust the switch location in order to get the actuator rod in the right place with the key lock mechanism. But I cant figure why the thing is so wobbly. Please help! Is there something I am missing?

[kcrowe]

Okay I figured it out. After tearing the steering column back down. There where these suspicious looking holes that looked like bolts had been mounted in before, 4 to be exact. I looked up on the dash and there layed 3 of the 4 bolts that I had taken out. Were the 4th one went I have no clue, I think I heard it flopping around somewhere in the dash on the way to work this morning. I didnt leave one out though, I found one that worked in my assorted bolt and nut stash. These bolts are what holds the whole assembly to the steering column, no wonder it was so wobbly.
The rack and pinion that actuate's the rod to the ignition switch had jumped a couple of teeth. I realigned that with the key lock position and ran through a few test before I start reinstalling. The trick I found was to keep the key lock in the lock position to keep it in place while reassembling. Plus this told me which position the ignition switch needed to be in for the actuator rod. Then I just mounted the ignition switch to the steering column and knew it was in the right position, no adjustment needed.