Steering related problems (have done my searching!)

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Hi all,

I'm having a spot of bother with my steering related components!
When I took my car for an MOT, the tester mentioned abit of play in the steering - with the engine off, you can wabble/turn the steering wheel right to left a good 5mm (or a couple of degrees, however you look at it) which he diagnosed as a possible UJ bearing worn.
Also, very recently my powered steering is giving off a whine from the time you turn the engine on, to the time you turn it off. Hand on heart, I can't say I've heard it still whining once I'm up to speed, but obviously this could be because engine/environment/radio is drowning it out.

I've done a little searching round on here and found that the steering components can get a little rusty and creaky, so I'm going to try greasing whatever steering related moving parts I can find to see if that stops the whining.
With regards to the worn UJ however, I couldn't find any definitive answers. Has anyone experienced the same symptoms as mine and replaced the UJ by themselves? Or is this a garage jobby? ....or is there something else I can try before going as drastic as to replace parts?

Thanks in advance

[ChrisHumes]

mine was getting a litle heavy and 'odd' so i fully greased the uv joint under the front cover and since then its been fine. im no mechanic as you can tell, but it worked!

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Mine's definitely NOT any heavier, it's just the noise and play in the steering wheel

[cclarke99]

There are some posts re replacing the joint - someone had managed to do it with a lot less bother than the official method.

[drbailey]

I had a similar amount of play but mine turned out to be the slider in the upper column. I don't know the history of my car but at some point I think it has had some front corner damage maybe hiting a curb or something... Anyway as a result I think the column got a bit damaged. I have replaced it and problem solved. Hold the bottom of the column and wobble the wheel to see if the play is in one of the UJ's or the upper column.

Dave B