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On 17 Oct 2003 at 14:51, Gamboa, Gary wrote: > >The general consensus here seems to be that you need a new > >mechanic, not a new steering gearbox. > > I wasn't sure the message got through. I did retrieve my car, > but I was hoping for some insight on whether a SB could go bad. > I mean, just cause this mechanic is a bad communicator, doesn't > mean that the SB isn't irreparable. Right, but in this case, my guess is that there's something going on here that your mechanic doesn't understand, like the fact that it is normal for this type of gearbox to have more play at the extremes. It's also possible that he has tried to adjust it, without knowing the right way to do so, and has ruined the adjusters. > Are there certain parts that can wear/break and render an SB useless? The lid bolts can come loose and this will lead to more play. The alignment can be done wrong; the SB has a "center of motion" and the car should be set up to be there when driving straight ahead. Cars after some date (70 or 71) have a ring around the input shaft that marks the center. This is an important thing to check, as it is fairly common in some circles to do the alignment and then move the steering wheel to get it level when driving straight. In general, this is NEVER the right thing to do with a type 1, 2, or 3 SB. (Even though I've been told to do this by VW dealer mechanics!) I know Russ knows better, but some dealers were obviously better than others. There's a LOT of info in the Bentley manual on the SB. Read it slowly and digest it. If you really need a new box I have good used ones from type 3s which I've parted out. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org