Power Assistance Steering Warning Light

sohccammer427

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Location
Eastern North Carolina
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDi 6 Speed Manual
Probably the coldest day of the year (around 17F) and I'm driving to work and the Power Steering Assistance indicator light come on. At first it's yellow (reduced) and then red (lost completly).

At first I did not know what the indicator light was. It looked like a steering wheel, but had four spokes and my Jetta only has a three spoke steering wheel. But I did notice it was more difficult to steer, so I figured it must be a steering related issue.

Made it to work ok and went back out at lunch and the issue had self corrected. Today it was just as cold and no isues at all. I guess I'll see if it happens again, before I bring it in for a look-see. Manual says that if it stays off after restarting, no immediate need for steering service is required.

Can cold weather affect the electro-mechanical steering system?

On a side note I did not have my owners manual in the car. No problem (I thought). I'll just navigate to the VW site and download it in .PDF form like I can for the F150. No such luck, VW wants $60.00 for the owners manual, and it's only available in hard copy. :mad: I hope they read these posts.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Clearly, you need to do an adaption for a 3 spoke steering wheel.:D Just kidding.

There is a steering torque sensor down on the rack. maybe slush or ice got into an electrical connection.

There also is a steering angle sensor and the steering controller at the steering wheel. Being that the problem is not emission related, a DTC could have been set even though the MIL light is off. Do you know anyone that can do a VCDS scan for you?
 

sohccammer427

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2007
Location
Eastern North Carolina
TDI
2015 Passat SE TDi 6 Speed Manual
Ol'Rattler said:
Do you know anyone that can do a VCDS scan for you?
Not right off hand, but the Company where I work has graciously let me have an older HP laptop. It runs Windows XP Pro and has USB ports. I have been thinking of buying a VCDS (VAG-COM Diagnostic System) Micro-Can Interface/dongle. I guess now is time to jump on one.

Seeing as I plan on keeping the car for a long time, (probably will be my son's first car, he's 11 now) I guess it would be a good tool to have.

So you're saying a scan could possibly point to a specific componant that could be failing?

I'll follow up down the road with what the VCDS reports.
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
It's normal for the light to come on if the battery voltage is low. I've had it come on in very cold weather on start-up. Let the car idle from a few minutes and restart. The PS should be normal after the restart.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Ya, there could be a code set when the computer sees something it doesn't like and if the problem was intermittant, the light would go out but the code could still be set.

What 2footbtaker says sounds plausable, especially if your battery is getting old...................
 

MPLSTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Location
Champlin, MN
TDI
06 Jetta DSG
I had mine replaced under warranty, $1400. Mine would stay on and go out randomly. It had done it as soon as a bought my car. Normally it was only the yellow warning and other than a windy day it didn't bother me too much.
 

2footbraker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
06 Jetta, 01 Golf
I had a PS failure again this winter where it would not come back on-line despite numerous restarts. I even fully charged the battery and no luck. Took it to the dealer and he cleared a code and PS came back. Kind of stupid it didn't reset itself. The code was "PS open circuit".
 
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