I would replace, as there appears to be wear past the very thin layer of
hardened metal. Also one of the ball areas looks to have a metal
fragment missing. No sense in worrying about premature failure.
Jon

On 2/27/2015 1:44 AM, Dick Wong wrote:
> Hello Vanapeeps,
>
> Took off one of the rear axles on my '87 Syncro to replace the inner CV
> boot.  Inspected the outer CV joint and found that it has one pit mark on
> one of the races.  No other pits.  There is no rotational play that I can
> detect, but the ball cage moves freely.  I did not detect any noise when it
> was in the vehicle.  All the balls look fine.  I have no idea how many miles
> are on the joint.  It is an OEM Lobro joint (VW Audi markings).  Serviceable
> joint or should I replace it?
>
> Here are some pics.  The "pit" pictures are of the same "pit", just from
> both sides. http://tinyurl.com/ndsz9xr  The other pictures are just to show
> the wear marks.
>
> Thanks.
>
> -Dick Wong-
> 78 Scirocco
> Original Owner
> 87 Vanagon Syncro 2.5 (Blaze)
> Third Owner
> 12 Golf TDI
> Original Co-Owner