Telescoping steering wheel question/help

[Kristophe]

I previously had an issue where my steering wheel would randomly quit adjusting up and down (vertical) and replacing the broken shaft solved that issue. Just last week my horizontal adjust is making the most annoying rapid "click click click" as it adjusts inward, but not as pronounced as it moves outward. Yesterday I removed the bottom trim panels to inspect and grease the worm gear but its difficult to pinpoint if the noise is coming from the shaft or the motor assembly.

Has anyone had such a clicking noise that was resolved with a shaft and or motor replacment ? The motor assembly isn't too expensive (about $30 used on eBay) so I could just replace both the motor and shaft and hit one bird with two stones however I'd really rather just replace the shaft if that's the likely source.

Thanks much in advance. Happy New Year