Rob Edwards

D'oh, I need to work on my reading comprehension I didn't catch your thread title referring to the UPPER U-joint. Sorry 'bout that .

GerritD

No problem, it was my fault I was not clear with the correct tech terms :-)

By dismantling the steering shaft, I also wanted to repair my ignition keylock.
Any idea what can cause the cilindre ignition keylock not to flip back after starting ?
Normally the EURO cars have 2 positions on the ignition keylock :
position 1 : contact for powering radio and windows....
position 2 : start

After putting the key to position 2 for starting the car, the key remains in position 2 and I can even pull out the key while the car remains running ????

Mrmerlin

your ignition switch is not working correctly
i am talking about the electrical portion thats screwed onto the rear side of the ignition cylinder,
this has a spring in it to move the key back to the run position

GerritD

Thanks Mr Merlin ! That narrows down my issues.

Just one question : do you have an idea why I can pull my key out of the lock
when position of lock is 1 (contact,radio) or 2 (start) ?

justin-in-athens

I am going to revive this old thread and see if anyone is still sub'd. The steering shaft of the '81 928 I just bought is sheared off just below the joint coming out of the firewall.

How do I tackle this repair? Do I need to approach from both engine side and interior?
The previous owner attempted to tack weld it, you can see what a stellar job he did. It broke free right away apparently.

Any part numbers you can share or previous experiences regarding this type of failure are appreciated.

Rob Edwards

That there belongs in a Darwin award competition, somewhere. Yikes.

That's going to be a bit of a pain, at a minimum that's going to require removing the pod, undoing everything attached to the steering column, pulling the steering column and swapping good guts into it. Can't imagine how you'd R&R the steering shaft with the column (and engine) in place.

Imo000

At least it's not a common faliure so cheap used parts will be plenty.

justin-in-athens

Do you guys know if I can use a 944 intermediate shaft? I have one of those immediately available.

Landseer

No, very few 944 parts cross over.

Imo000

Did the PO tried to weld aluminium with mild steel?

justin-in-athens

So here is the offending part removed.
I thought the shaft had actually broken inside the coupling, but as you can see in the second picture, the knuckle actually cracked allowing the splined shaft to spin around freely--resulting in no steering!

Anybody have an extra knuckle joint?

ammonman

Get a used shaft assembly from 928 Intl. I suspect that joint broke from an impact with something. I struggle to believe that happened any other way.

Mike

justin-in-athens

Can I use one out of an '85 model year in my '81? Anyone know what years would be compatible? I see several on ebay.

ammonman

The broken part in your picture was never offered as an individual spare by Porsche, only as part of the shaft assembly. Is it the same as the removable joint on the end of the steering shaft? I don't know. Buying the correct part from 928 Intl. will get an exact fit and a 1 year warranty on the part. Plus, they sponsor and support the 928 community exclusively. Buy from eBay and you take your chances IMHO.

Mike