Steering issue.

**ausgolfer** · 24-08-2007, 03:34 PM

Does anyone else have a problem with play in their steering shaft?
ie Up and down or side to side, not in and out......

For as long as I can remember I can literally push the bottom of the steering wheel upwards and the whole steering wheel along with the shaft will move by about 1-2mm.
Am wondering if there's a bearing in the steering column somewhere that might be knackered as I remember seeing that the shafts are solidly rivetted inplace.
This doesn't really effect the steering but just seems to detract a little from the experience when you can feel it flexing.

**moto** · 25-08-2007, 12:02 AM

Yes mate, theres a ballrace at the top of the shaft. From memory it is pressed into an aluminium housing and it should be a very snug fit on the shaft. If you remove the wheel, the stalks and the plastic covers around the stalks you should be able to spot any play in the bearing. I'd be surprised if there's a problem there though. Its a big bearing and it doesn't have a lot of work to do.

There are two other possibilities:
The Aluminium bearing housing is secured to the outer tube of the shaft by an allen screw. That could be loose or missing.

Or, the A shaped bracket that locates the column to the body under the dash may not secured properly. From the factory it is bolted to the body with two smooth headed anti-theft bolts. To remove the bracket from the body these have to be drilled out and later replaced for reassembly. If you have hex-headed bolts or similar securing that A bracket then someone has had it all out before and things may not have been reassembled properly.

**Dan** · 25-08-2007, 05:24 PM

MK1 has plastic sleeve things on both the top and bottom (and the bearing you talk about) when they are stuffed a similar thing happens, not sure about the mk2s...... soon as you take it apart (undo at the universal joint end and pull the shaft out you will find out), on the mk1s the plastic sleeves usually fall to pieces during this process.

**ausgolfer** · 26-08-2007, 11:13 AM

Cheers guys great advice there.

Another problem has sprung up over night, driving along the freeway late last night I "assume" a fuse has blown since all the interior cluster lights(including the heater panel and hazzards) have gone out and I couldn't see the clocks to see how fast I was going.

**Golf Loon** · 26-08-2007, 01:35 PM

Another possibility for the in and out movement could be that down by the pedals where the steering shaft goes through the firewall there should be a spring on the shaft where it enters the bottom of the housing. If thats missing it could cause the symptoms you describe.

**Golf Loon** · 26-08-2007, 01:36 PM

If the lights thing is not a fuse, it could be the dimmer control on the light switch. Try jiggling the dimmer up and down as you adjust it, lights may flicker.

**sukebe** · 16-09-2007, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by moto

There are two other possibilities:
The Aluminium bearing housing is secured to the outer tube of the shaft by an allen screw. That could be loose or missing.

My steering had the same issue and the above seems to be the problem. There is one tamper-proof screw present, but there is another hole that is missing a screw! Now to find a replacement......

**ausgolfer** · 17-09-2007, 02:40 PM

well I got the allen key set out and found out that the allen bolt was a little loose. The steering shaft still moves a little inside the tube, but I don't think there's much I can do about it.

But alsoI discovered why the plastic shroud around the column was creaking......The two screws that locate the lower half were missing and it was just held in by the little plactis clips...... So now I need to find some little screws for that.