AW55 up and down movement at spline inner CV joint?

[Willber]

Good evening everyone.

I have a 2002 2.4t with AW55 gearbox. I was servicing the car today and checked the passenger side (UK passenger) inner CV joint for play. There is some movement in the inner CV but what was more concerning was some up and down play in the actual spline which goes into the gearbox.

Is it normal to have any movement on the spline of the driveshaft which is inserted into the gearbox (the spline with the clip on and can be tricky to remove)?

I tried the other side with the longer driveshaft but no movement on the spline going into gearbox on that side.

Thanks!