Hi all

 

My car failed its MOT and one of the reasons is apparently due to “Steering column has excessive movement up and down poss top bearing or steering wheel loose”.

 

Having done some investigation on this I have tightened up the clamp located above the pedals to try and minimise the amount of play. I’ve also taken the steering wheel off and tightened the 24mm nut to the torque setting described in the Haynes manual. However, the problem persists and I know the car will fail its MOT again.
 

I’ve been told that it may possibly be the upper column bearing. I’m not sure what this is though? I would be really grateful if someone could confirm it’s location and which is the correct component to replace it with. 

 

someone has also suggested that I may have the wrong size steering wheel on the spline. Currently, it is the wheel with the wide horizontal horn button with the VW logo in the middle. Could this wheel be for a big spline and my car has the small spline? How can I check this theory? I don’t have any other wheels to use. The car did come with an aftermarket wheel but that also had play in it.

 

Lastly, what positions do the indicator and wiper stalks need to be in before removal? I want to avoid damage as much as possible as I think they may need to be removed. I have already had someone look at the column to replace the two rubber bushings on the column. I noticed that the wiper stalk now sits at one level above flat (I bought the car with the stalks in the flat horizontal position). If I move it down to the horizontal position, the wipers move every six seconds or so. I’ve also noticed that the rear washer jet no longer operates. I’m concerned about damage that may have been caused and wish to avoid any more should I need to remove them in order to replace the upper column bearing.

 

I apologise profusely for the essay, the fact that these answers may be easily harvested from the internet but I’ve been searching for this information for ages as the car failed a month ago and I just don’t know what I need to do. I appreciate the fountain of knowledge on this site. I am desperate to get the car back on the road as soon as I can fix this problem.

 

Thank you

with the steering wheel nut off...does the wheel steer the car , theres several mm difference so id be surprised if a big spline wheel was on a small spline car ....the big one will simply rattle about on the splines with the nut off

36 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

with the steering wheel nut off...does the wheel steer the car , theres several mm difference so id be surprised if a big spline wheel was on a small spline car ....the big one will simply rattle about on the splines with the nut off

I’m not at the car currently as it is stored at a different address, but I will go back and check this. The car has had the VW steering wheel on it and I have driven it without any issue relating to the steering wheel rattling. I personally thought the fitment was ok. It had an aftermarket wheel on it with adaptor and boss kit fitted and it also suffered the same vertical play issue. I will check this again though. Thank you.

think it just needs a top bearing , you can buy them in the housing so not too bad to fit 

 

never had an issue with talking the stalks off

17 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

think it just needs a top bearing , you can buy them in the housing so not too bad to fit 

 

never had an issue with talking the stalks off

Ok that’s good to hear that I can still get the required components. 
 

Do you know where these are available from? If you could give me a link to it that would be amazing 

random 1st link...https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/183934935648?fits=Model%3AGolf&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item2ad3606260:g:aO0AAOSwlOdgp0ni&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsS7UXID%2BRPOSNsnm8kYPghtIL8GqX5IC7Ix9muAmztfARKiUGVwu05LNUrGWnxwZZ%2FMfn4hGy60JIZpHwthKlo4wpibnMB3bAU%2BYnA4jGbiA6EeWPoz%2FIBbhyk15GXOrXR8ww5ir0K6jZJnjbJh4Ap2y3I%2BuNqSKsLc00nOk%2FFrBCabSh%2Fs85kEmPjqzYHQn06u4ge3Vht6RharKyaORyxh1a33FybUIjOIX4s4nLVBeRQzNivlytkYzj6uBiQitsr71JCqZ1F7a4dVanM3Lpl0p947qlsipuztKRFQm3Fv2HFvXQ%2BgQ6nRbVGEuXEMqixWoho%2BAz428HWVlDp9sQeaSsRyYyPKhQNXTu0v9kRryomULcfHUG6h9fB5K3EaXHaVWCcxjy3GVH8tegh%2FkLQdBoqhx2aS93oYhmwnqaesh4O1uYDnKHC7SeZrGRb%2FhBo8UMrG9GvDZR98wch5Tu8uopydOOf4LXFF%2BEeogQyNxy%2Fl25wsF96FkQ9ERrUpf7R63Pj2fxrn%2BkhvJw4UE4pU2Pl9onZZ%2BBjW2vYnfjOU4s0yB2B66pmOdpuSSlR0X826XsHwMf2eu5h7mxzGwmyZd03G3PmMcINqjdRJlEehw7ghSj8Pghgp1mn8JlnIiRi%2FjdNCUV4VPOJ8CsnVdZfhpL6AJGeCoaBmw8uDLF6Qutb2PLvy4r7FaM3VC1r77ip4aZCtSvdgcjj9ONTVwJx%2FfBYHKeNBe5p8Cu6Qrx5icG7%2FnSQRfGNPGG3K%2BMElitQkDO4VuRjBBZyNwihcnkLI5BfcYjp5UkP9ubrIl8qEa9Rz50xt3mZs5rNc619dFZ0|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524