Grandad 2001 Civic with steering friction

[will777888]

Good evening chaps,
My girlfriend has just bought a great-grandad Civic. It is a 2001 five door 1.6 executive. There is friction in the steering. The steering wheel will not return itself to centre if it is rotated less than ~10 deg from dead ahead (whilst driving). Is this a known problem ? Does anyone know if there is a lube point(s) on the rack somewhere ? Or is the problem likely to be somewhere else - universal joint for example ? The car has only done 13,000 miles in its seven year life, so the problem undoubtedly stems from under-use.
Having said that, an S2000 that I test-drove earlier in the year had exactly the same problem, and that was only one year old !
Nice car in general though - the cabin is a very pleasant place to be.
Thanks in advance for your help.

[10 Pence Short]

The 2001 Civic was the first time Honda used a large scale mass production version of the electric power steering system (as far as I'm aware the S2000 system is slightly different, as was that one the Insight).

Sadly it was one of the weakest points on the car in terms of reliability. Honda had an absolute mare with warranty claims over them- my own 2002 Civic Type-R went through 3 steering racks, although this was over 125,000 miles.

It might be worth getting the car down to the dealer and letting them have a look at it.

[will777888]

Thanks for the info 10p short. Looks like it might need a new rack then. Luckily, this is covered by the miserly warranty from the dealer who sold it to us - but the maximum payout is £300. Hopefully it will cost less. Is there no way of lubricating the system ?