Steering column play

[lloydy123]

Over recent years I have had gradually increasing play in my steering of my Octy VRS 191,000miles
All of the front end is tight, I replaced the inner and outer tie rods with no improvement.
I was just starting the job to replace my steering rack with a second hand one when I realised that the majority of the play is coming from the steering column!

I have 14mm of total rotational free play at the wheel
Using the vice grips I have been able to determine the level of play at each level - see photo

353AC040-9229-4C2E-BD41-EC24E536E173 by L Pat, on Flickr

level 1 - 0mm
level 2 - 9mm
level 3 - 9mm

So that means that I have 9mm of play coming from this area - The outer sheath over the inner column to enable the column to compress during an impact.

1E112420-5C45-44E4-B0DE-AFC80C184F67 by L Pat, on Flickr

So 9mm of play in the column and hence only about 5mm in the rack, so it would be much more beneficial for me to sort the column out.

Has anybody had this issue before or able to offer any advice? I cannot find any info on it through the forums.

Many thanks

[lloydy123]

Just an update in case anybody has to do this themselves.
I replaced the steering column today with a second hand one, straightforward enough job, took 3 hours. Hardest part was getting the sheer bolts removed, which bolt on the ignition module. The way to do it is to fully extend the rack then use a punch to rotate the bolts anticlockwise. I then cut a slot in the head of the bolts with a grinder and reused the bolts, inserting them with a slotted screwdriver.
Good news is that the play in the column has been eliminated and the car steers like new again.
There are bound to be many cars with this issue but I haven't come across it online.

CA1E6077-1449-498E-8178-75837A92F240 by L Pat, on Flickr