2015 Passat TDI Dash Lights Lit Up

[KJNDIVER]

Recently we went thru a cold spell down along the gulf coast, nothing for you guys, but damn abnormal for us. Well during the cold weather the car started showing some dash lights upon start up that it had not done before. Initially they would only come on upon startup and would go away after driving a half mile down the road or so. The lights that now come on are the airbag light, the ABS light, the traction control light, the tire pressure light, and the steering wheel light. The tire pressure light flashes for a minute or so and then stays on. The book says that there may be a system error when this occurs. Although I have been having a tire bleed down occasionally.
As mentioned, initially these would go away, but for the past few days they come on and stay on without going away. With the cold weather, initially I thought that it was related to that with maybe some ice had gotten somewhere that it shouldn't have, but now that its warmed up it hasn't gone away.
I inquired to the dealer and he said that it is usually a wheel sensor when it does this. Said to bring it in, they could scan it to determine which sensor it was, he typically keeps them in stock, and then he said it would be about $500. Whoa!! Whether it is or it isnt, that strikes me as excessive. This wheel sensor, how much is it typically and how hard is it to change? If i can change the turbo on my 2005 passat i reckon i can change a sensor. Anyone have any point of reference? I tried to attach a picture but the new format wont let me. Any suggestions on that?

 

[06bluebeetletdi]

Definitely sounds like a wheel speed sensor, but unfortunately I don't know the price to replace one.

 

[740GLE]

how old is the battery? still turning over the same gusto? I'd rather believe that cold impacted the batteries life, rather than a wheel sensor.

 

[pedroYUL]

Definitively this ^

...but just for kicks I went over here and priced the part:

ABS Sensor - Front Left [Facet] (A5)(Mk6)(NMS)(8P)

Left Front ABS Sensor....

www.idparts.com

it looks like these are shared with the mk5 and mk6, so, fairly common

 

[Tom in PT]

If you end of replacing the battery (which might be the root of your problem) you will probably see a few lights on the dash when you first start it up. Drive around the block slowly a few times, they should all go away, this is normal.

 

[KJNDIVER]

Battery is only a year old. It turns over fine. Other than not being able to use the cruise control there is no abnormal condition to operability. I am not familiar with the location of the sensors, how difficult is access? I can buy a sensor, go around one by one until I find the one that is the culprit. Or @$25 I can buy 4 sensors and change them all and still come out way ahead of the dealer. How difficult to change? I know the ones on my F250 aren't that bad, but haven't done one for this car yet. That site only lists front sensors, and I say 4 only because isnt the tire pressure indicator a signal from the wheel speed sensor on each wheel? It detects change in rotation which triggers the light? In that sense wouldnt there be 4 sensors all the way around?

 

[pedroYUL]

A true scanner, one that talks VW, like VCDS, VCP, OBDeleven, VAG5054 will tell you exactly which sensor is wrong. ABS sensors are attached to the knuckle, complete access when you take the wheel off.

 

[740GLE]

Should be a connector to disconnect and unbolt rebolt.

I don't believe sensor need to be adapted, should be just plug an play.

That being said theses sensors are very robust and aren't prone to failure, but the wiring isn't, something may have been flung up into the wiring and damaged the connector/loom.

 

[KJNDIVER]

Well, I ordered the following front abs sensors from amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0772SB1XK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , I replaced them today. For grins and giggles i checked each of the new ones for continuity as well as the old ones. Both of the old had continuity, i dont recall the value, but it got a reading. And both of the new ones were open loop with no readings. Not sure what its supposed to be, but thats the test that i got. I replaced both. Didnt work. No change. All the lights still come on upon startup and i get the audible alerts as well. Is there something else i can check? The wiring looked okay, nothing obvious.

 

[BuckeyeMan71]

You should see if there’s someone near you that has VCDS to check it out for you. Your going to spend more money than you need to just throwing parts at it

 

[pedroYUL]

My 2004 had a blown ABS sensor, wanna know how I found out? ...by reading and clearing codes with my VCDS cable.

I did change the sensor, front left, and the code was off right away. Actually, before wrestling the old one out, I just plugged the new one in, and switch the key, and the error light went off.

 

[vtek71]

FYI I had this exact same issue. VCDS had tons of codes so it was hard to figure out what was up. One that stood out was the left wheel speed sensor. I got one from ECS tuning for like $35 and changed it in my driveway in 15 minutes. Fixed. You may have to have the VCDS to clear all the other codes out once you replace the sensors though. I did notice it had tons of debris on the sensor head like maybe it was just dirty and messing with the signal. I had already bought the new one though so I didn't get a chance to actually test that theory.

 

[Smashed Ixnay]

Recently we went thru a cold spell down along the gulf coast, nothing for you guys, but damn abnormal for us. Well during the cold weather the car started showing some dash lights upon start up that it had not done before. Initially they would only come on upon startup and would go away after driving a half mile down the road or so. The lights that now come on are the airbag light, the ABS light, the traction control light, the tire pressure light, and the steering wheel light. The tire pressure light flashes for a minute or so and then stays on. The book says that there may be a system error when this occurs. Although I have been having a tire bleed down occasionally.
As mentioned, initially these would go away, but for the past few days they come on and stay on without going away. With the cold weather, initially I thought that it was related to that with maybe some ice had gotten somewhere that it shouldn't have, but now that its warmed up it hasn't gone away.
I inquired to the dealer and he said that it is usually a wheel sensor when it does this. Said to bring it in, they could scan it to determine which sensor it was, he typically keeps them in stock, and then he said it would be about $500. Whoa!! Whether it is or it isnt, that strikes me as excessive. This wheel sensor, how much is it typically and how hard is it to change? If i can change the turbo on my 2005 passat i reckon i can change a sensor. Anyone have any point of reference? I tried to attach a picture but the new format wont let me. Any suggestions on that?

$500?!? Audi didn't even charge my wife $500 for a wheel speed sensor on her Q7 TDI, LOL. They did charge half that, at $250. I ended up just buying a spare left and right wheel speed sensor for when this issue occurs again, since it happened twice already. The first time we paid the $250, but second time we did it ourselves. It's not hard to do and doesn't take long.

 

[Ralftex]

I’m having the same problem also on my 2015 Passat sel. It started two weeks ago, the lights would light up and I would drive and it would go away. Now they stay on all the time. I’m going to do a scan with my VCDS to see what sensor it is. Thanks for your post.

 

[noplug]

Thanks guys for this thread!

I have ABS, Traction Control, TPMS, and Airbag error lights on. My battery is low/older so I may
be replacing it but I have ROSSTECH + VCDS and cleared errors, then drove it 30ft and errors came back.
Laptop battery died before I could examine all codes, I'll report what I find.....

 

[06bluebeetletdi]

Noplug, sounds like a wheel speed sensor with the lights coming right back on