Power steering failure

devans

devans

Member
England
My Power steering has failed making the steering very heavy . There are no warnings on the display but I have colour Dis. There is nothing in the messages . I hear a beep when I start the car. Any assistance on basic checks would be great as I’m about 70 miles from home with a limited tool set.
 
Afternoon David,

You know I’m not a mechanical ninja but was going to send a few links to read through but noticed that there is plenty at the bottom of your post.

Scroll down and you should see a long list of previous threads that are common to your issue.

After a quick scan of the first few, could it be as simple as one of the 2 fuses or the fluid level.

Hope you get sorted quickly. Where are you because if you’re 70 miles north you might be close by where I might be able to help with something from one of my fleet to at least get you home.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
devans said:
My Power steering has failed making the steering very heavy . There are no warnings on the display but I have colour Dis. There is nothing in the messages . I hear a beep when I start the car. Any assistance on basic checks would be great as I’m about 70 miles from home with a limited tool set.
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I had heavy steering recently and it was simply that the fluid level was a little low. Topped it up and back to effortless one finger steering again.

Only use the correct green stuff though, reservoir located under passenger side Headlamp ?
 
ThanksI’ll take a look as see if it’s a fuse and check the level . I’m not seeing anything on colour dis or in the messages which I thought I would have
 
In my case it turned out that the air conditioning pressure sensor (half-way down the a/c radiator behind the front bumper) was terminally corroded internally and was shorting the CanBus circuit out, blowing the associated fuse that powers (among other things) the steering controller.

Unplugging the sensor (in doing so revealing that it had broken in half) was sufficient to allow the fuse to be replaced and restored steering. Need to replace the a/c radiator though as the remains of the sensor are corroded in place immovably.

Worth noting in my case that there were other indications of the canbus circuit playing up - oil pressure sensor failure (same circuit) and a couple of other errors listed, both visible warnings and within the ECU fault messages. If you have no warning lights it makes more sense that it is something slightly more simple such as low fluid or other options described above.
 
4F655668-43A4-4DC1-86C3-138743461D11.jpeg

Hi Tom
Fuses are good nothing blown 38 is good and so is the big one on the foot well . No messages in the Dis menu . I hear a bleep when putting the key in and turn 2nd click I need to take out headlight so I can see the level of the bottle . Pic of the messages
 
Not wanting to sound patronising but have you checked the fuse with a METER and not just visually?
 
I’m at my mums and have very limited tools here at home I’m fully equipped . I’ll see if a neighbour has one

audifan said:
Not wanting to sound patronising but have you checked the fuse with a METER and not just visually?
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Replacing with a known good fuse is another way if you have no meter, but I have personally seen several fuses that looked perfect but were blown. Another area to check is the auxiliary positive supply that bolts on the the battery positive terminal, the box can be loose onto the clamp and the terminals inside the box can be loose. Very easy to check, even with only the cars tools in the boot / footwell.
 
devans said:
I need to take out headlight so I can see the level of the bottle .
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I find that the level can be seen by holding a flashlight to the bottle.
(On an LHD car) you can then look at the bottle from the top/openening and see the level without taking anything but the bonnet off.

To be honest though, looking at the mess my expiring steering rack made everywhere, imho it seems unlikely that it should have run out without you noticing the fluid being lost.


1633109811317.png
 
There is also a dip stick built into the cap on the reservoir IF you can reach it.

Audi Workshop Service and Repair Manuals > A2 > Running gear, front-wheel drive | Steering | Checking fluid level, bleeding steering system and checking for leaks | Checking fluid level of power steering | Cold fluid:

A2 > Audi Workshop Service and Repair Manuals > Running gear, front-wheel drive | Steering | Checking fluid level, bleeding steering system and checking for leaks | Checking fluid level of power steering | Cold fluid:
workshop-manuals.com
 
Hi David,

Using Colour DIS’s diagnostic scanner, are there any fault codes logged in the instrument cluster?

Cheers,

Tom
 
Hi Tom
Nothing in diagnostics just an error for the satnav. I had the RAC come out and they have diagnosed it as a failed pump. They have said it’s safe to drive without power steering. Once I can get home I have my old cluster which I can reattach and see what comes up on the Dis . All I get is a beep similar to a bulb out warning noise.
 
Now I’m back home I could do more checks. Vcds shows the fault. Still nothing on the cluster in colour DIS. I then took out the headlight and pressed down on all of the cables and plugs on the pump which felt like they were secure nothing had come out . Key in and started the car all good cleared with VCDS . I’m disappointed that the RAC didn’t press down on all the cables. Lesson here is to get a spare set of tools for the car.
0829B5A2-569A-4742-967F-B18762574C84.jpeg
 
devans said:
Now I’m back home I could do more checks. Vcds shows the fault. Still nothing on the cluster in colour DIS. I then took out the headlight and pressed down on all of the cables and plugs on the pump which felt like they were secure nothing had come out . Key in and started the car all good cleared with VCDS . I’m disappointed that the RAC didn’t press down on all the cables. Lesson here is to get a spare set of tools for the car.View attachment 86628
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As annoying as that is, overall a result I’d say!
 
Erlingtheyounger said:
As annoying as that is, overall a result I’d say!
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The 60 mile drive back would have been better I wouldn’t recommend it and parking is really difficult with out it too. I’m intrigued why colour dis didn’t tell me there was a problem. Just a beep from the dash.
 
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