Worn steering coupling

So my 88 Cabrio just failed its MOT on a worn out steering coupling. They reckoned the Aluminium could sheer at any time. So when it's worn out and needs replacing what parts do I need?

And is it a straight forward job or does it involve  removing exhaust parts to get at it and a lot of faffing? I'm not messing with any steering jobs myself I'll leave that to someone who knows their business but I'd rather give them the job with the parts in hand and an idea of what I'm asking them to do.

Any advice on what's the usual way of these things would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

Worn out steering coupling aluminum?  At least on the 3 Cabriolets that I owned, and the Diesel Golf and 89 Cabriolet all the couplings were u-joints of Steel as far as the upper or lower one goes. So I don't know if I trust a guy that says the major part is aluminum…..

So I suspect it may be loose as needs to have the bolt tightened.

The usual culprits are the lower steering shaft bushing that falls out of place. 

theCrowe said

So my 88 Cabrio just failed its MOT on a worn out steering coupling. They reckoned the Aluminium could sheer at any time. So when it's worn out and needs replacing what parts do I need?

What part is he on about?
The only thing I can think of that is alloy is the steering lock housing?

Like this..
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK1-MK2-GTI-STEERING-LOCK-HOUSING-C346/190314313560?hash=item2c4f9df758:g:utcAAMXQ-KRRhf05


Is there play in the steering wheel when you grab hold of it and pull it up and down and side to side?

90% of the time play in the steering wheel is the plastic bearing at the bottom of the steering column.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK1-GOLF-Lower-Steering-Column-Bearing-171419517B/391807910043?epid=11017011083&hash=item5b3992409b:g:MgoAAOSwGGlap8XY

If you look at this picture of a steering column of the car at the bottom end is where the plastic bearing lives and as you can see there is nothing alloy…. fitted to the spline end is a UJ joint which fits directly to the steering rack….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK1-STEERING-COLUMN-WITH-STEERING-LOCK/133173165827?hash=item1f01bd3f03:g:thkAAOSwKENdf1m8


Here is a picture of a UJ joint…..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-MK1-STEERING-COLUMN-UJ-KNUCKLE-JOINT/133172746935?hash=item1f01b6dab7:g:uI4AAOSwjPFdfreS



May be take your car to another trusted garage and have them to an MOT and avoid the garage you took it to???


Link to a good site for part numbers and exploded views..
https://volkswagen.7zap.com/en/rdw/golf+cabriolet/goc/1988-44/4/419-104000/


 

I can't work out what part has worn out/become weak either, but the whole steering column is not too bad to unbolt and replace. Not sure on prices now, breakers might take the mickey with the price etc.

Yeah, I had a look around it when i got it home and reckoned it was the U joint they were talking about but I couldn't see any worn looking aluminium myself. Thought maybe I was looking at the wrong part.
Problem with the Northern Ireland MOT system is if the blokes at the test centre reckon it's dodgey then you have to sort it. His mate was backing him up and all, like The chuckle brothers they were.
Oh it's very worn. 
Very very worn.
Very very very worn.
I'll likely get more sense out of my own mechanic.
 Well it's off the road for the winter anyway. I'll maybe see if I can source a new u joint and I'll have to get a new rubber boot for it too. Plenty of time before spring comes around again I suppose. 

To check for play in the steering column or UJ get your hand down at the bottom of the column where the pedals are and grab hold of the UJ and give it a wobble, then wobble the steering rod coming out of the steering tube (that's where the plastic bearing is ) and if movement it's a simple job to replace the plastic bearing compared to replacing the UJ complete.

If it’s all rock solid and you can’t find any play in the UJ then the MOT guys must just be using there eyes to check for the condition of the universal joint…  

If you genuinely think its okay, just clean it (brake cleaner), clean the bolts and put a spanner on them a few times. They'll think its been replaced and pass it (if its okay………)

I've had a car fail the MoT because the tester didn't know where the rear fog lamp switch was. I pointed it out but he couldn't reverse it, he needed to do a re-test on it to do the pass.

no aluminium on this column