Ba*tard power steering!!

[golftastic]

Hi guys,

I am up the creek without a paddle. Ive got a MK5 GTI, 3 door Black (the best right?) and the power steering is misbehaving.

Context - MOT came up and car passed with a few advisories, play in the rear suspension arms, corroded front brake discs and a leaking front shock. My mechanic mate set to work on getting these parts and fitting them to the car. After completing the work, he then took the car to the tyre place down the road to have tracking and alignment done. Before the car was put onto the ramp, the car flagged up the Red steering wheel symbol on the dash and the steering went heavy. He had the car tracked/aligned and then headed back to reset all the fault codes and calibrate the steering sensors. Fault codes cleared, no warning lights. Turned the car off and then on and yellow steering wheel light came on and and when moved, the light turns red and steering cuts out.

So after some time fiddling he decided to put the old front shocks back on as this seemed like the only work that he had done that may have affected the steering system. He did that, and the steering worked fine. Sent the shocks back and ordered some different (more expensive) shocks put them on and the yellow light appeared (and had it tracked again). The car drives fine, but the yellow light will not clear. The power steering will cut out and the symbol will go red if you go over any hard bumps. My mechanic friend was mortified but not able to explain why.

The car went to another garage yesterday for a second opinion and they checked all the plugs and connectors on the steering rack, cleaned them and refitted them. The gaffer used a vag com system on the car and said he reset everything the steering light goes off it drives fine (went out in it for 20 mins driving about). When the ignition is switched off and then on again and the yellow light re appears.

I read that a drop in voltage or electrical signal can cause this type of issue, so I replaced the battery 2 days ago with a heavy duty battery. No luck.

HELP!!!

[pudding]

Sounds like the rack is knackered and the shocks etc was all coincidental.  They have no affect on the steering rack.  He didn't break the yaw sensor on the nearside control arm did he?  It's the only other thing I can think of.   A lot of people forget about that when removing control arms.

[SI-R32]

Have a quick read of this maybe related, you really need  to get the fault code of what's wrong

www.r32oc.com/topic/32054-torque-sensor-steering-rack-failur

[pudding]

Interesting reading!

I changed my shocks, springs, hubs, bearings, ball joints and wishbones.......and whacked the old iron hubs with a hammer to release the TREs.  My steering is fine.

I can see in hindsight that whacking the hubs with a hammer is probably not wise with these steering racks though!

[golftastic]

Thanks chaps.

I'll get a read out of the actual codes flagged up by the car in the next few days.

Something that emerged today, my mechanic noticed that one of the sensors on the passenger side front wheel had some tape on the wiring. He mentioned having to move it when fitting the brakes. Got an auto electrician booked to have a nose around the wiring next week.

Ill keep you updated. For now, I've got functioning power steering and an amber light on the dash, which definitely beats no power steering at all 

[pudding]

That is just someone cutting off the brake pad wear sensor mate.  Very common.  And very stupid since it can be turned off in VCDS for a neater solution.

[G40will]

Just my 2 pence but have you tried calibrating the steering angle sensor? I'm not 100% sure it's called that or if that'll fix the problem but it goes something like this... turn all the way to the left and hold for 10 seconds then all the way to the right and hold for 10 seconds then back the middle and wait then turn off the car and restart it and that resets the sensor? Bit vague I know but do some research on it and see what you find.

[golftastic]

Update;

The car has been looked over today by an auto electrician who said that the steering angle sensor needs replacing and then the system needs coding and calibrating using VAGCOM software. I am somewhat relieved as I now have an answer to what is causing the problem. The auto electrician also tidied up the wiring on the abs sensor on the passenger side, as apparently the wiring was badly connected so he stripped and re soldered the connections.

Code coming up was 'Steering angle sensor implausible signal' - This is guess may explain clearing the error codes gets rid of the steering light on the dash, but when the ignition is turned off and then restarted, the amber light comes back.

I have tried the steering angle reset - turning the steering wheel left, then right and trying to drive straight and it didn't seem to work...?

[golftastic]

Anybody got any ideas about part numbers/cost for the steering angle sensor?

[pudding]

What sensor is it?  There's 3, G85, G269 and (I think) G220.

G269 is the steering torque sensor and is part of the rack, you can't buy it separately.
G85 I think is the angle sensor under the steering wheel.  Have you removed the steering wheel at all recently?
G220 - no idea where or what that is.  I think it might be another sensor on the rack to mirror G85 or something, a bit like throttle and pedal pots matching each other for safety reasons.

VCDS fault codes always include the G number, and we need that before advising further.

Have you tried taking it to the main dealer for a reset?  They will have more specific knowledge and tools to sort this.

[jason_rmh]

I'd be weary about just randomly replacing the sensor.
The fault is not necessarily what it seems, although I guess is an option once others have been exhausted.

I had issues which turned out to be caused by abs sensors.

See here:
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=111188.0

Another member had the same error as you simply caused by a setting in vcds which needed setting.

See here:
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=111328.0

Hope this helps.

Jas

[golftastic]

Ah thanks chaps. Steering angle sensor behind the steering wheel, so I am lead to believe.

I haven't taken it to a dealer, but as there is one down the road I could pop by. I don't have the exact fault codes, should have made a note. Theres also a vag specialist downs the road that I'm thinking of getting booked into to get further advice and a potential fix.

All this happened due to front shocks and front brakes....nightmare!

[The Red Warrior]

If it is indeed the steering angle sensor, I've got one you can have for free. It came as part of a kit I got when I changed my steering wheel from a Mk5 non MFSW to a Mk6 MFSW.
Not sure on the revision number but I could easily check for you. Only problem: you'd need to pay postage and I'm in New Zealand. You may be able to get one cheaper yourself off ebay.

[golftastic]

Car is booked into a VAG specialist tomorrow, so I will reveal all as and when I get the info.

 

[golftastic]

Rack is dead and torque sensor is returning some odd values.

Anyway, it needs a new rack, and a new wiring loom (i'm assuming thats for the rack)