Can one of the better informed members tell me what this may be related to?

My steering wheel has its own vibration when I go over small bumps on the road. There is no play, and the steering is still accurate. Also the vibration is not a left/right movement. It sounds like something inside the steering column that makes small up and down movement responding to small irregularities on the road, and makes low tapping noise whenever it does. Any idea what I may be dealing with?

 

a quick update on this. My steering wheel does not actually vibrate at all. It's actually noise coming from inside the steering column. On perfectly paved space, I hear nothing. But on random undulations or pavement breaks will cause something inside to make rattle noise. This is the best I can explain the situation.

 

This issue has been reported by several forum members during the past couple of years. I believe the fix was to replace the bulk of the steering column itself, which is both expensive and somewhat difficult. There may be other approaches. Hopefully others who have dealt with this issue will provide more detailed advice to you.

 

Any good search terms you can recommend? I searched under steering noise and vibration but not getting anything directly related.

 

How about "steering column replacement due to noise".

 

found it. I'm going to live with it. way too complex for me. Let's just say, I can replace the air conditioner filter by myself. that's about it. this really blows. My 2001 RX with 260K miles don't make this noise.