Are steering wheels connected to ESP traction control?

Swapped out my stock four spike wheel for a fancy Audi one yesterday. (I needed to replace the wiper switch anyway.) my car is a MKIV Jetta TDI automatic with the ESP. The wheel came off of an 01 A4. I know the clock spring is special, but is the wheel different? The Audi wheel has buttons on it that I originally thought were for multifunction but now I think they are for shifting the tranny. My clock spring had a connector for it, so I plugged it in to see if it did anything. It didn't seem to.

Anyway, everything seemed to function fine in the driveway, but on the way to work about a quarter mile down the road the idiot light that flashed when the wheel spin and the ESP kicks in came on and stayed on. Is the wheel incompatible or is there another issue.

Your car has a steering wheel position sensor. That sensor is part of the clock spring. The 01 wheel likely has no compatibility with your 05 clockspring/sensor. Cars get more complex and things become harder to swap between models and years.

After rereading the Bentley Manual I got, I'm thinking I don't have it lined up right and that may be it. The wheel is off a touch and I just read about having some yellow marks lined up that I didn't pay attention to on the clock spring. The wheel fits to the clock spring and if I understand right the sensor is in the clock spring. I'll try realigning it and let you know if it fixes the issue.

There’s a little “window” in the upper right corner of the clockspring and when the clockspring is aligned properly there is a yellow marker in that window.

Keep in mind that you don’t want to just turn and turn the clockspring, you should be able to get it to line up in less than a 1/2 turn one way or the other. Mark it before you start.

Worked. The light is out and everything works fine (except the tiptronic controls).

I was surprised that the yellow circle stayed in the window while I continued to turn the wheel an additional half turn to put the wheel on right side up.

I hope to post some photos soon. I really love the Audi wheel. When I got it, I just thought it looked spiffy. It feels so much better and more ergonomic though. I'm amazed by the difference.

ZiggyoftheNorth said:

... I hope to post some photos soon. I really love the Audi wheel. When I got it, I just thought it looked spiffy. It feels so much better and more ergonomic though. I'm amazed by the difference.

Click to expand...

I'm guessing you mean something like this





I've had that, a black version of that and now a flat bottom MKV in various MKIV's over the years and it's without a doubt a tactile upgrade over the stock 4 spoke steering wheels.


I had visions or re-purposing the TIP buttons when I had a (gasser) GLX, similar to what some Audi guys did
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjutxgQIsETcW5JWXIyM0FQUVE/edit


My Brother was able to do this in his C5 chassis allroad





I actually prefer the feel of this wheel
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CsHQnJtKSAxTAfYU8


And I also have an MKVI wheel and airbag that I'd like to install, but projects never seem to get completed.

RexNICO said:

I'm guessing you mean something like this

I've had that, a black version of that and now a flat bottom MKV in various MKIV's over the years and it's without a doubt a tactile upgrade over the stock 4 spoke steering wheels.


I had visions or re-purposing the TIP buttons when I had a (gasser) GLX, similar to what some Audi guys did
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxjutxgQIsETcW5JWXIyM0FQUVE/edit


My Brother was able to do this in his C5 chassis allroad

I actually prefer the feel of this wheel
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CsHQnJtKSAxTAfYU8


And I also have an MKVI wheel and airbag that I'd like to install, but projects never seem to get completed.

Click to expand...

Yep, that's the wheel. Mine is black. I originally thought the buttons were some form of the multifunction controls until I got a Bentley Manual for Audi TTs. The TT has a six speed Tiptronic. My Jetta has a five speed Toptronic. I've been scratching my head trying to figure out if I could make it work with my tranny and what I would need.

I know what you mean about too many projects and not enough time. I tend to accumulate parts much faster than I can put them on. And the more I learn about doing or see in a junkyard on another car, the more projects enter my mind.

This should be a photo of it. If not try this link. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PuymTAH1Is8SnAhoug6Y2n8MZkRk95Ox

ZiggyoftheNorth said:

Yep, that's the wheel. Mine is black. I originally thought the buttons were some form of the multifunction controls until I got a Bentley Manual for Audi TTs. The TT has a six speed Tiptronic. My Jetta has a five speed Toptronic. I've been scratching my head trying to figure out if I could make it work with my tranny and what I would need.
I know what you mean about too many projects and not enough time. I tend to accumulate parts much faster than I can put them on. And the more I learn about doing or see in a junkyard on another car, the more projects enter my mind.

Click to expand...

Did you find the solution?

I know I saw a link where someone used cat 5 cable to connec tthe dots, but I'll be damned if i can find it now!

Maybe between the two of us we can figure it out.

I have an 04 mk4 tdi wagon, with the 09a tip...really want to tie it in to the steering wheel.


Tk