Toyota Repair: noise in steering column.


Question
QUESTION: The motor for the Electronic Power Steering makes a "whining" noise every time I turn the steering wheel in either direction. Is this normal? There is no loss of power or function. It is a very low grade sound and seems to have gotten slightly louder over the last year. I have 65K miles on it with no major problems.

ANSWER: Hello, some of the EPS units can make a slight amount of noise due to the electric motor turning the wheel, I would not worry too much about it, unless the warning light turns on there is no problem detected by the computer.

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QUESTION: Thanks for your help. My only other question is that this "whining" noise only started about a year ago. Why would this noise start after owning this car for almost 5 years, new from the dealer?

ANSWER: I personally have not run into an abnormal noise from the steering like this so I can't be objective in my answer, if it's loud enough to be annoying there may be a problem with it, what year and model is it?

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QUESTION: 2011 Sienna Limited.

The noise is very low and subtle but noticeable. You can only hear it while steering and driving slow (such as out of a driveway/parking spot) or when turning the wheel at a stop.

It only occurs when the steering wheel is moved and the sound is definitely coming from the motor of the EPS which I believe is close to dashboard on the column.

I am just worried that I may take to the dealer and they may tell me that they have to replaced the entire steering column when it could be normal electric motor noise.

Thanks again.

Answer
I think in this case it would be best to at least have the dealer listen to the noise and give you an opinion, most  dealer's will call a tech or shop foreman to the driveway to just listen to a noise without writing a repair order, since I can't hear the noise and have had no complaints such as this it would be the best thing to do.