Steering wheel height adjustment

Hi All Possibly the Dumbest question of the day! The lever below the steering wheel to adjust the height has stuck solid. I've been the only driver for 15 years and I cant ever remember using it, so I guess it has just seized up? I've applied a reasonable amount of force, but before I break something, thought I would check whether its a smart idea just to keep increasing force? or should I be trying to get at the mechanism and apply some penetrating oil etc? Thanks in advance.

You do actually mean the lever wont move down so you can then adjust it .. not that it does but the column wont move ? If its the lever then ive never actually seen this before .. i wouldn,t force it though .. i would be more inclined to remove the cover panels , have a look then plenty of lubrication and see if it will free off . Off to do a bit of research here .. i need a picture of the mechanism EDIT .. added pictures .. Lubricate it at 1 and 2 .. im hoping its more at no.1 that it has stuck . Plenty of spray , let it soak in then gently try and move the lever up and down .

Yes I did mean the actual lever wont budge. Great Pics.. will get the WD40 out tomorrow and give a good soaking. The lever is plastic and feels like it would snap if forced too much. Will lube it up and keep wiggling until it moves. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow. Thanks

Unfortunately still no joy. You can see the two positions without needing to remove any trim, so they have been soaked with wd40. The lever barely moves and is probably only the plastic flexing that gives any feel of movement. will leave it to soak overnight and try again tomorrow

I need to have a look at one and see if there are any obvious places it might be stuck. Should have some in at work this week so ill report back .

Mine did the same. Disconnect the battery and at the same time give the steering wheel a serious shove and pull thr lever down. After months of soaking and trying everything else it worked on my Boxster.

Hi Blanc... thanks for your comments. Interesting solution... I didn't think the mechanism had any electrical connections? I thought it was just a lever on a cam that held the column in place by friction. I will give it a go as got nothing to lose... can you remember which direction you shoved the steering wheel? inwards/outwards/up/down... or all of them?! Its raining hard here at the mo... will give it a go when the weather eases. cheers

Was going to say it could be like when the bonnet and boot released lock up when the car hasn't been used much. Maybe just need to unlock car with fob, lock it again with fob and unlock again, then try the lever?

Are you pulling/pushing on it in the right directions...? i.e. this does not enable a tilt adjust, the 996 wheel can only be pulled towards you or pushed away from you..... the fact it has a slight incline gives you a little bit of height adjust of sorts ....point being, if people have been yanking "up" and "down" on it for a long time..... even pulling it in the right direction is likely to be a little bit "fun"

Demon... yes I'm aware it moves in-out. My problem is I cant get the lever to move, so not getting to the stage where I am expecting the wheel to move yet. blanc seems to have had a similar problem so i've been trying his solution of disconnect battery and give it a few whacks while pulling lever, but no luck yet. I can feel the shaft that runs under the steering column trying to twist when i pull the lever, but it barely moves even 1 degree so it must be stuck solid at the lower point No2 in the pics above. More spray, more wiggling and more whacking me thinks! Also will study wiring diagrams and see if there is any electrical interlocks etc.

There is an electrical connection to the base of the steering adjustment lever. Nothing shows on the set of wiring diagrams i have (unfortunately they are the 996 1999-2001) which are prior to the Targa coming out so maybe something was added on the series 2's as a safety feature? Think I'd better stop the physical abuse until I find out what this does.....pics below

aha..... add me to the list of those who don't read things properly first time... If lubing doesn't help, the heat approach or "whacking" are still options e.g. a discrete hard tab directly to the metal housing the shaft runs though with a 'blunt' chisel might achieve something.... I wouldn't want to go near my steering column with a torch, but there are a few cold "shock/unlock" products that (might!) give a different outcome to Plusgas... don't envy you, mind! one thing doing these things to underbody fixings, quite another "in the cabin", even if its been taken off and sat on a bench

Are your boot and bonnet releases working as normal?

Yes.. no prob with boot/bonnet/rear window releases either on fob or on push buttons. Are you saying there is an electrical latch for the steering adjustment lever that engages/disengages with the locking systems?

There is no electrical anything for the steering adjustment .. the black box at the base of the column is the steering wheel angle sensor .. not fitted on a car with TC . As it stands you cant adjust the wheel but the position is fine so dont break anything just yet remind me at the weekend for a wiring diagram for your car and ill sort it .