Power steering woes!

P

PaulA2

Well-Known Member
I hope that someone can perhaps save my sanity here and offer a little guidance on the power steering. I have searched previous issues and feel confident I should have covered most usual fixes etc!

The history: bought the a2 with no power steering which was diagnosed by Indy garage as a pump fault so seller cut and run.

What I have done: swapped pump and rack as it was leaking badly on drivers side with a known good setup from a donor car (all driven by me). For good measure swapped steering angle ring too and cleaned earth on a pillar and checked continuity of all cables and resistances to rule out any shorts / faults. All contacts cleaned and still no power steering!

When I try to re calibrate steering angle I login as required (40168) and basic settings group 60 and the current angle shows 0 at wheels straight ahead after full lock left and right before drive forward at no more than 20km. When I hit the on/off/next button it seems to log me out of abs and reports error messages in the vagcom fields and I would hope to see ok in a field. Numerous attempts and sequences not cured this problem.

Now I know all components are from working car, all cabling fuses and earth tests ok and no error messages!

My suspicions guide me to think:

Battery / alternator not performing to spec
ABS unit faulty?

Thanks to anyone for any feedback! It is becoming a personal challenge to solve this problem now!
 
Paul,

First question.....are you using a genuine Ross Tech VCDS cable, and if so, are you using VCDS Lite software?

Secondly......What DTC's are you seeing when running a full scan?

Cheers

Jeff
 
Jeff

Many thanks for the reply

Genuine cable fully updated software. When completing a full scan no other DTC's recorded.

I had a look see at lateral acceleration readings and despite stationary in a garage with no external forces the reading fluctuates a bit. Strangely when looking at steering angle in motion it does not change until stopped.
 
PaulA2 said:
Jeff

...........When completing a full scan no other DTC's recorded.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

Question regarding above........."no other DTC's recorded".......

You don't say what DTC has been recorded.

It might help to know, if indeed there are any, what DTC's are logged.

You appear to be following the correct procedure to perform a basic setting for the steering angle sensor, however it might help if you post the output from controller 03 (ABS Brakes).

I'm running VCDS release 12.12.2 and can complete the basic setting without issue every time.

Cheers

Jeff
 
Jeff

This is what baffles me, I see no DTCs stored when running a full scan in the ABS nor any other modules. What concerns me is that when I run the calibration sequence I would expect to see the four windows populated with data and then when pressing the on/off/next button at the top of the vagcom screen the following windows to display ok in one of the windows rather than error messages. As soon as I get chance will screen shot what I mean to explain. Many thanks for your input so far.

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

Just to verify, with the slip ring in the central position, did you make sure the yellow dot in the window was visible?

It's easy to have the slip ring 360° out of alignment - however I'd expect an DTC of 00778 if this was the case.

Also, I presume the slip ring you've fitted is the same part No. as the original, not that it should matter for setting the angle.

Please check the following:
controller 03
measuring blocks 08
group 4
go

Field 1 must have a value between -1.5 and +1.5 °

Screenshots would be useful to assist, but it might be worth putting a meter across the battery with the engine running to ensure at least 12.2vdc constant.

Cheers

Jeff
 
Jeff,

Ok will endeavour it get info posted some stage tomorrow and huge thanks for your assistance so far. Slip ring definitely good as transferred directly from working car with same part number.

Cheers
 
Jeff,

Sorry been a while but work has been a little over bearing for any A2 time. Any how a few screen shots to add more detail:
Successful login:

Then I go to the associated basic setting group:

Hit On/off/next and get this:

I would hope to see ok instead of error messages here?
Voltage checked on VCDS and on good old multimeter as healthy but it does fluctuate a little but not huge amounts. Still no DTCs in any module. On my long drive home yesterday though I spotted the airbag light come on for a short period but then went off again! Never seen before but no DTC's stored and I have never known an audi airbag module to reset without clearing codes manually.
 
Still battling with this! Swapped ABS unit yesterday with a known good one and made no difference! Check all wiring and earths all showing good continuity and all can bus wiring checked. Only thing left is to swap battery and alternator I guess? Have a good spare battery but no alternator which is a shame. I am starting to think the pump (which was installed from a working car) may have been damaged by the old rack? Is this possible? Only used a very short period but the pump tries to work when turning one direction but not the other. Tried the calibration numerous times! All ABS sensors on wheels working, swapped steering angle and tested in another car all good. I really am getting hacked off with this now!
 
I am seriously falling out of love with the car and if it can't be fixed it will go, I don't want to as spent an awful lot of time getting it to its current state but right now I am fed up!

Checked all connections and as far as I can tell all good and been cleaned up with dremel. Earths all cleaned and measured resistance (less than 1 ohm). Checked all fuses, swapped alternator now zero difference.

Swapped pump with yet another, exactly same symptoms. Its useless turning right, gets light turning left but only for a small portion of it. swapped steering angle sender for yet another known working one.

Used VCDS to check angle being registered which it is. Checked all canbus wires and all seem fine, no DTCS stored in any module. You can feel pump start when engine switched on.

The issue I have is that taking it to a garage could lead to costs that spiral rapidly beyond the value of the car.

On a side note the pumps are from working cars but petrols but all part numbers are the same. Someone please rescue my sanity and the launching of spanners!
 
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