Steering wheel buttons not working

[Hoopie]

I recently replaced a longitudinal metal shaft for the motor vertical adjust on my steering wheel. Now the buttons and the horn stopped working. I first thought the constant contact spring in the steering wheel stopped having contact because I had to remove the steering wheel to do this job. When I put the steering wheel back in I noticed that the steering wheel was moving quite a bit (posterior) toward the rear of the when attaching the steering spindle and column back together. I had to press the 2 together rather hard. Could this cause a loss of contact with the spring?? Help with any information. I have not opened up the steering wheel to take a look.