If you know nothing about front ends, you need to get the vehicle checked out ASAP by either a friend that knows about cars, or a good shop. Excessively worn tie rod ends & centerlinks have been known to come apart when you least expect them to.
If you have excessive play you probably have worn front end parts. Such as tie rods, ball joints, or steering rack.
Have you ensured front end is tight?
Could be worn ball joints, worn steering linkages, worn/out of adjustment steering box and or worn/out of adjustment wheel bearings.
That much play is usually a bad steering gear box. Best bet would be to get a new one. It could also be some extremely worn tie rod ends.
Yes. There are 2 ways you can just use the wii remote without the wheel and tilt it or you can use a gamecube controller.
Some play in the steering, the inside or outside edge of the tire may be worn down more. Jack the wheel off the ground, grab the top and bottom edge and see if it has play in it. This means the ball joints are worn. Grabbing the sides and wiggling means the tie rods or steering linkage is worn. Front wheel drive only have a lower ball joint, the top is attached to the strut. Rear wheel drive have upper and lower ball joints and one or both may need replacing.
have someone move the steering wheel to the left and right a few inches repeatedly while you watch each joint in motion, they should be firm and snug in the joint, there should not be any play in the joint, if so the joint is bad.
If the gearbox is causing freeplay in the steering wheel, then the gearbox needs to be replaced.
You can't. You need to replace the faulty and worn parts.
how do you fix play in a 1997 mercury mountainer steering wheel
It could be worn tie rod ends, if not then you need to check the steering box. The worm gear could be worn and you can adjust it with the nut on the steering box.
You can adjust the steering box some. Or possible ball joint problems. If the problem is lurches and surges in the steering (can feel like loose idler arm, loose ball joints, etc.), one common cause is a faulty steering position sensor. This $60 sensor at the base of the steering column (inside the vehicle) tells the variable assist power steering how fast you are turning the steering wheel.
If the steering wheel is loose while driving the steering rack may be going bad. A bad steering rack leads to a lot of play on the actual wheel.
You will have alot of play in the steering wheel.
I just looked this up online and found a pretty good website. Although I havnt tried to do it yet on my own corvette I probably will within the hour http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/ar_1962_corvette/article/0,,DIY_13704_2278440,00.HTML this is the URL as well as some of the directions from the sitethe next step in this restoration is to adjust the Corvette's steering using the steering-box located underneath the hood. An earlier test-drive revealed that the steering wheel exhibited some play during driving. Since the other steering components have been checked and found to be in good shape, the play may be due to wear in the gears inside the steering box.The Corvette's steering box permits adjustment of these gears, which may well solve the steering problem. Adjustment of the steering requires two people, but the job can be done in just a few minutes.The steering box is unlocked using an open-end wrench and a screwdriver extended through a factory hole in the fiberglass body. To adjust the steering, unlock the nut with about a quarter-turn, then adjust the steering using a slotted screwdriver (figure H).As one person sits in the drivers seat and turns the steering wheel in slight increments, another person can adjust the steering (figure I) until the excess play is removed.Important: Avoid over-tightening the steering-box mechanism, as this may cause binding of the steering.
Worn steering parts. Can be many things. Have your steering components inspected.
loose nuts
"Play" in steering is normally caused by worn parts, particularly the bushing bearings at the ends of tie rods. You replace them.
A worn out power steering pump, or steering box.