Volkswagen Polo (1981 - 1991) - 88 1.3 inner cv joint. How to know when its worn?

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Tue 15 Jul 2008 16:49
88 1.3 inner cv joint. How to know when its worn? - steveo3002
got a mk2 polo that makes a woo woo noise very similar to a worn out wheel beaing( it has new w bearings)

ive traced the noise to the driveshaft area on the passenger side by running the car up on stands

the gearbox output flanges have some movment( ive held a bar againt the case while it was running in gear.sounded sweet enough) but the inner c.v joint has the most slop out of all the joints

so my question is...what sort of noises /symtoms would a inner c.v give and how to do i detect if its worn out?

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 15/07/2008 at 20:00

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Tue 15 Jul 2008 22:36
88 1.3 inner cv joint. How to know when its worn? - 659FBE
Inner joint wear is sometimes difficult to detect. In advanced stages, a worn joint will cause a cyclic lurching vibration of the vehicle under acceleration - not usually felt through the steering but through the whole car itself. This is probably caused by the shaft running out of centre but they don't usually knock due to their limited articulation.

If a needle roller has seized in a "tripode" type of joint, the car will often pull slightly under acceleration - in the same direction as the defective joint. A faulty RH joint will cause a pull to the right.

Inner joint failure is very rare if the boots are intact - the last one I repaired was on a SAAB (a proper one) which had not been packed with sufficient grease on initial assembly. The outer 3 lobed "cup" was wrecked, but the polished rollers were all reclaimable - there were 96 needle rollers in each joint. Wonderful materials - no wonder GM scuppered the quaility when they moved in.

659.
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Tue 15 Jul 2008 22:57
88 1.3 inner cv joint. How to know when its worn? - TurboD
I suppose the only way is to take them part and measure the balls and compare to new. I had a VW van , after 150K I changed the inners out of feeling sorry for them and not wantng to be let down the other side of Europe.
The outers only lasted 70K though- and would knock
The inners seem to have a long life - what miles have you done, if over 150K surely they deserve a change?
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Wed 16 Jul 2008 00:38
88 1.3 inner cv joint. How to know when its worn? - steveo3002
its done 170k so yeah they probably are past their best

sinse its a cheap run about id just like to narrow down what the problem is before lashing out money on it

i think i'll whip it off and grease it up for now..see how it goes
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