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kirk knighton
Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2005
Posts: 282
Location: Seattle
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 Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:21 pm Post subject: Steering column loose - missing a bearing? |
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My steering wheel has a decent loose jiggle to it. The wheel is on tight; the entire column has a lot of play in it.
On my '85 Cabriolet the same problem happened; I noticed a bearing pack had slid out of its housing down on the column. The quick repair was to push it back in place and put a hose clamp around the column to keep it there. It worked!
But on my 412 it looks like there's a place for a similar bearing pack, but there's no bearing in there. It's about halfway down the column from the wheel.
Is there a bearing I can buy and put in there? |
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raygreenwood
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21520
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:30 pm Post subject: Re: Steering column loose - missing a bearing? |
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| kirk knighton wrote: |
My steering wheel has a decent loose jiggle to it. The wheel is on tight; the entire column has a lot of play in it.
On my '85 Cabriolet the same problem happened; I noticed a bearing pack had slid out of its housing down on the column. The quick repair was to push it back in place and put a hose clamp around the column to keep it there. It worked!
But on my 412 it looks like there's a place for a similar bearing pack, but there's no bearing in there. It's about halfway down the column from the wheel.
Is there a bearing I can buy and put in there? |
Ok…there are two different possible questions/problems here.
1. Is the steering column outer HOUSING moving around?
2. Is the housing secure and the column itself is moving around…meaning when you look down at the gap between the steering wheel and the housing just above where the key goes in….can you move the steering wheel around in any direction…misaligning it with the lower housing bolted to the dash? If so…that’s steering SHAFT movement.
So the first one….lets look at this diagram set. Starting from down low by your knees:
There are two bolts on part # 23 (called “thrust ring-Steering column tube). The rubber mounting/centering bushing which is part #24 …fits into part # 23.
So you could be missing the bushing (#24) or you could be missing the bracket (#23) or the bracket could be loose and usually is because it’s a pain to get the bolts in and out without a very thin wall socket and thin ratchet and if someone had the steering column out before they may have left them loose.
Next…..on part #18 which is the outer housing bracket assembly…there are two vertical mounted screws….each with a washer and wavy washer …parts #19, #20 and #21….that bolt the entire upper tube assembly into the lip of the dash (actually they screw into the pedal cluster steel mount).
These are Allen wrench screws- 8mm and there are two hex heads that hold the pedal cluster assembly into the dash.
If any of these are loose the whole thing can move around.
Ok ….the second one. …and this is very common. In this diagram set….virtually all US cars except for “maybe” gray market and a few 1971 models….have the windscreen washers “lever mounted”….so diagram #3 is for your car.
Part #14 is the ball bearing. That is usually in place. What is usually missing is the corrugated steel packing that makes up the gap between the steering shaft and the bearing. That is part #10. It is VW part # 111 953 535 D- “contact ring-turn signal”…..which is a STUPID name for it. It a tension bushing. Maybe it isn’t….they may assume its also a ground….but most people do not recognize it by that name.
This is what it looks like and this one IS the one you want:
https://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D111%2D953%2D535%2DD
This one….is NOT what you want. It may work just fine….but it’s not the same. The other one is.
https://airheadparts.com/vw-part/steering-shaft-contact-thrust-ring-111-953-535-d/
This should fix it.
Ray |
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kirk knighton
Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2005
Posts: 282
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 8:13 pm Post subject: Re: Steering column loose - missing a bearing? |
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Whew! Thank you for that thorough reply Ray!
My preliminary take on it is....my car is missing that rubber bushing ( part #24 ) that fits into part #23. 23 is there but there is nothing inside of it. And I am embarrassed to say I don't know how long this has been the case! Years probably. There are so many little quirks with our old cars, and you just get used to them over time.
I think my similar situation with my Cabriolet may have awakened me to this on my 412. It JUST happened last week on the Cabi; it was instantly noticeable. I actually went to the Water Cooled forum here for help on it.
And now I notice a similar problem on the 412.
I'm guessing that rubber bushing is "unobtanium"; but perhaps a suitable substitute can work? |
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