Play in steering wheel

The steering wheel in my 88 has some play in it. If you grab the wheel with both hands and push/pull on it, it will wiggle back and forth. Last night I pulled all the steering column plastic off to investigate. There's a die cast housing that goes around the top end of the steering column that has all the electrical connectors on it, the tilt wheel mechanism, ignition switch, the stalks etc. As I moved the wheel around you can see the whole housing moving around. I couldn't find any attaching hardware or such. For now, I made a shim to go between the die-cast piece and the outside of the steering column which took most of the wiggle out but there must be some kind of bolt or clamp that holds this on? My shop manual is rather vague about this area so I was wondering if anyone here has experienced a similar condition?
Thanks,
Rick

There's 2 hex-head bolts holding it on. They back out (and sometimes off) over time. I have re-tighten mine every 10,000 miles.

Mike: Where are these bolts located? I pulled three of the connectors off thinking any hardware could be hidden from view by them and I still didn't see anything. Are they facing the dash or towards the wheel or to the side or behind the tilt mechanism?
Thanks,
Rick

Side-to-side. IIRC it's looking towards the passenger side you see the heads. Mine loosened up so I need to do this again. If you're still having troubles I'll probably do mine on Saturday.

OK Mike thanks. Please post the location (maybe even a picture if possible)after you do yours. I probably won't be able to look at mine again for about a week.
Thanks,
Rick

Rick,
It's pretty obvious when you get the column cover off. There's two bolts at the the steering wheel end of the shaft, heads are on the driver door side, one upper and one lower. This is above, or towards the steering wheel, the multi-function switch.

http://natomessageboard.com/uploads/0000...010015.JPG

I believe this is what you're looking for? I can't recall if I needed to fool with this to get the column out though. So if so.... Removing the column plastic won't reveal it. Go look around where your pedals are. There probably is a plastic guard with sound insulation on the top of it there. That's what the extra nut and long screws is for...but I haven't used mine in years.

Thanks Matt but my problem is up at the steering wheel end. I haven't had time to look at it again but I believe Mike & Bob have hit it on the head for me. When I looked at this the first time I missed it.
Thanks,
Rick

Last night I finally got around to fixing my shaky steering wheel. The bolts mentioned above are hidden behind the multi-function switch. To get the switch out you need a T-15 torx bit. The bolts are 13MM head size.
Bolts are in the dark center section of the picture. The bright portion is the die cast part that was moving around. Threaded holes are for the torx screws.
Thanks for the help eveyone.
Rick

http://natomessageboard.com/uploads/00000506/steer.jpg