Electro-mechanical power steering light

msiert

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Location
Omaha NE
TDI
2001 VW New Beetle 2006.5 Jetta Edition
This is on my 2006.5 Jetta.

My 16 yr old daughter came home tonight and said...Dad a light came on the dash and it beep at me. When I showed her the owners manual she thought the light was the steering wheel and thought it was yellow.

She said she took off from a stop sign turning left in the wrong gear and it died. When re starting and driving off the yellow steering light stay on for a bit then went off.

It's 4 F here today and it's the warmest it's been for days. The roads are covered in snow and slush and I just had the dealer install a new battery last Friday.

I took it for a drive and everything is normal and told my daughter what to expect if the power steering goes out and to let me know if the light comes on again.

I'm thinking it had to do with the car dying durning a turn but the beeping has me wondering if I should have it check out ASAP?
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Well, the steering does a power on self test (POST) every time it is powered up. Being that she killed the engine so she had to turn the key off and then on to restart, causing the steering to do another power on initialization (POST).

Certainly something to be aware of, but if the steering light always goes off after a normal start, then the steering system is operating normally.
 
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MyAvocation

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Location
Hoffman Estates, IL
TDI
2017 Passat SEL TSI
Murry, could be a one-off. But if the steering wheel light returns (amber or red) try this simple fix: There's a ground lug under the hood, on the body -- look for it between the drivers headlight and the battery (you'll need to removed the airbox for easy access). On the lug you'll find a peach colored wire. This is the ground for the steering rack. Remove the nut and wires then go at it with a wire brush. Do the same to both sides of each wire connector. Rub a little dielectric grease on each, then bolt it back together. NOTE: In my case the contacts did not appear to be overly corroded, yet solved my problem. If grounding was the problem, the cluster light will go out after the car sits overnight.

Ultimately, you need to get a VCDS scan to see what codes are set (NOTE these do not trip the check engine light). For the problem relating to that ground lug here's a summary of error codes set by various modules, such as Steering Assist, Instruments and CAN Gateway (was my clue of a wiring issue):

------------------------------------------
01309 - Power Steering Control Module (J500)
004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent

18097 - Powertrain Data Bus: Implausible Message from Elect. Load Controller P1689
004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent
------------------------------------------
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
That ground on my car has worked loose twice. the 2nd time I cleaned up the terminals and replaced the acorn nut with a steel lock nut.

The symptoms on my car were an intermittent failure to crank and a glow plug light and code. Never had a problem with the steering.
 
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msiert

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Location
Omaha NE
TDI
2001 VW New Beetle 2006.5 Jetta Edition
I believe all is well the steering wheel light hasn't happen again.
 

MyAvocation

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Location
Hoffman Estates, IL
TDI
2017 Passat SEL TSI
If ground related, it'll be back. On mine, problem was intermittent for 4 months. Finally took action when light would stay on red and variable ratio assist disabled. Just say'n.
 

msiert

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Location
Omaha NE
TDI
2001 VW New Beetle 2006.5 Jetta Edition
If ground related, it'll be back. On mine, problem was intermittent for 4 months. Finally took action when light would stay on red and variable ratio assist disabled. Just say'n.
Which ground was bad?
 

cbatterman

Member
Joined
May 2, 2003
Location
Andover, MA
TDI
1997 Passat
YES! It worked



The steering was choppy on our 2006 Jetta TDI. I was so disgusted with it that we resorted taking it to the dealer. They diagnosis was a worn steering rack and could run up to 2K for a new replacement.

After reading your post I cleaned the grounds and now it works perfectly.

Thank you,

CB
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Your the second person I heard of that a dealership "partschanger" recomended replacing the customers steering rack. The quote was for IIRC, $2500. What the "partschanger" did was read the codes and based on the codes without any diagnosis, made the recomendation.

The problem was the same ground MyAvocation reffered to.
 

docwaters

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2017
Location
Prospect, KY
TDI
2006 Jetta
Just experienced the same problem and my mechanic quoted $1,700.00 to replace the power steering, etc.

I followed the instructions above and everything is working perfectly now.

THANKS!!!
 
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