Rack and pinion point of failure

How can we tell if our rack and pinion unit needs replacing?

The car is a '92 Pontiac Trans Sport SE (3.1 TBI engine). We had a small fluid leak that we fixed a year ago with a can of Lucas (there were no oil spot under the car but the underframe was damp from leaking PS fluid) but the unit was working fine with no play.

Now, after more than one year, there's a very small play in the steering wheel but is this as close to failure as it can get or there are more clear signs that would require to change the unit before it fails completely.

Pretty sure mine is original with about 272k clicks on the van. Are you sure the play in the steering wheel is due to the rack? I did change 1 inner tie rod. Some racks can be adjusted but not sure about these ones. Probably there would have to be clear & evident signs of wear before a replacement would be required. i would say the odds of a complete failure are remote.

Over here, if having to remove the rack for repairs, can be cheaper to just replace it rather than fiddling with the old one.

Chances are it will get worse..

I replaced the Inner tie rods and outer tie rods on mine... But I still had a tad of play that got worse over time.. My play came from the internal steering gear being worn.. I ended up replacing the rack with a Reman unit when i had the sub frame out for engine replacement.. I should have replaced the rack in the first place...

You will need to check the outer tie rods and the inner tie rods for play..

A small play in mine ('93) long ago was due to inner tie rod ends. At that time I changed only the tie rod ends. I pulled ethe steering rack out for that change.
Of course, outer tie rod ends are also part of "normal problems".
Recently, oil leak in external tubing that belongs to the rack . (check thread "Rack and pinion revisited", about 2 months ago). I replaced it with a reman. The reman is much harder than the original though until the steering fluid temperature has raised somewhat.....

It is possible to adjust the play in the rack bearing. There is a adjuster plug under a lock nut. But, as said, most likely the play is caused by a bad inner or outer tie rod end.