Steering column broken! Can shift gears by turning wheel!!

[CombatComProg]

My steering column has gradually become a mess. I had to wiggle the hell out of it every day to get my key to turn and start the car. The wheel is super loose and has several inches of play all around. Within in the past week, the column actually rotates every time I move the console shifter down a gear. In drive, this puts the key and ignition facing down to the ground. I can actually shift gears by grabbing the console and turning it either way to up or downshift! Something very bad happened today on the road. The column shifted as it now always does when I put the car into drive. While turning through an intersection, the wheel locked and force me to turn the column as I attempted to turn left. This caused the transmission to shift a couple of clicks to neutral I believe and cut the ignition as well. The car's ignition is completely disconnected from the column it seems at this time, and there is even more play now. Do I need to buy a new column? Where do I get one? I was told that this is a commonn problem with GM columns and that all you have to do is take the wheel and ignition off and tighten some bolts up. Anyone else have this problem?? Advice?? Thanks!!!

 

[441120]

column

You have to pull the wheel, T/S switch etc. down to the base of that collar. Under all that stuff there are inverted torx bolts that have come out. Reinstall the bolts with loctite, your ignition switch and high beam switch rods are probably bent up you'll have to straighten them and get everything lined back up. Alot easier to fix when only loose, not completely spun.
Good luck