Hi everyone, I'm writing from under the dashboard so please forgive any typos or grammar errors.

Have had a grinding noise coming from under the dashboard for a few weeks now anytime I turn the steering wheel. I finally crawled down there to see what it was.

I always suspected that it was coming from the black plastic cover which connect to the firewall. I was right, there is a white plastic bushing with a ribbed end, (please see the attached picture) that slid down and worked its way to the center of the cover and cause the grinding noises. I was able to fish it upwards to the top of the cover, but I cannot seem to get it to fit anywhere.

I'm hoping that by chance somebody has a parts car pretty well taken apart or maybe an extra steering column in their basement that they can photograph and show me what it is I'm trying to do. I have gone through the factory manual, but this part is just called a steering cover assembly, no further description.

Thank you all very much in advance, I hope somebody reads this tonight and can help me out





That white ribbed part of thr bushing/collar seems like it should when up into the middle part of the steering column but it just won't go

 

Believe it or not, I answered my own question by going to a parts dealer website and trying to narrow it down that way.
I'm putting the answer here in case somebody else has this frustrating problem. It looks like the plastic part does snap and where I was trying to do it, but I had it 90 degrees off...





If you look about 1/3 of the way down (at the bottom of the cover), you can see that white plastic thing attached ever so nicely

 

Your steering column bushing sounds shot, I had a noise there to, I changed bushing from redlion with a 1 piece aluminum bushing, my steering is ever more responsive and took away the noise I had