Hello,
First off, I have a 2005 350Z, 35th Anny' edition.

I had a minor incident: I mistakenly drove off the plane of one parking lot onto a lower portion of it (don't ask...). As a result, the bottom of the car scraped the pavement hard directly below the two seats. Since then, my steering column tilt will not lower to the full range it once did (it's a manual tilt).

I've taken my vehicle to 3 different repair shops, one being a nissan dealer, and they have all told me similar things: The column is lowering and hitting the "end of the track" thus they believe it will not lower any farther. However, I know for a fact that it will lower about 1 inch more (not a large discrepency, I realize, but it makes a difference).

I've had all 4 wheels re-aligned since then, and they did not find any problem with the tilt mechanism at that time. Has anyone heard of an issue such as this?

Any '05 owners out there: would you be willing to measure the bottom of your steering wheel to the floor in order for me to compare measurements. Although nobody around here seems to have a clue on how to repair it.
Thanks - Mark

 

wup, I have an 05 touring and went out right quick to measure it
with the steering wheel all the down and the floor mat moved out
of the way.

 

How can you tell that the steering wheel won't go down as far as it did? Have you thought about the floor being bent upwards?

 

Agreed^^^ you may have 'oil canned' the floor pan of your Z when you went off the parking lot slab. Unfortunately, there's no easy fix for that.

 

Bfh ftw

 

I can't quite make out the measurement from the floor mat to the wheel in your picture. Would you mind measuring again and replying back in inches? Thanks!

 

Huh, i didn't consider that. The only real way I can tell it won't lower as far is when I get into the car and lower the wheel I used to be able to hit my knees with the bottom of it when fully lowered, but now there's 1-2 inch gap (my seat was not moved up or down either..I dont let anyone else drive it!).

I don't drive w/ the wheel at my knees, but just using that as an example.
This oil-can idea is interesting...I may have my local repair guy take a look.

 

Nevermind...
The pic loaded better, I can see the measurements now Thanks.

 

Is there any fix that can be done to the flooring after oil canning incidents? I'd like to consider all options. even expensive ones.

 

I've had Nissan racecars where the floor pan was damaged enough they had to be cut out and replaced with fresh sheetmetal. Not a great option for a variety of reasons. If the chassis is bent when they look at it, you may need a frame machine to get a closer look at the damage.

 

Ok thanks. What are the reasons for not wanting to replace a bent floor pan?

 

big *** hammer

 

Get the car up on a lift and have someone look at the floor pan from underneath. It should be simple enough to determine if that's the problem. Don't assume that a problem's there unless the evidence points to it.