Steering lock fault : system fault! contact workshop.

[DJS11]

Over the last few month the A6 Avant (2011 -89k) has started to show a- Steering lock fault : system fault! contact workshop. when you switch the ignition on.
The fault isn’t consistent and can be cleared by switching the ignition off then back on. I initially thought you had to move the steering wheel then switch the ignition off and back on but it just requires the ignition off then back on.

There doesn’t seem to be much online around the fault message other than it relates to the electronic steering lock which has a malfunction.

In an attempt to stop the fault i’ve removed the steering column cowl and cleaned the contact areas between the steering wheel and the column, if anything it reduced the fault being displayed for a few weeks before retuning to it’s randomness of once a week or longer to a couple of times in a day.
The car shows no other faults and not driven with the fault active so not impaction the usage of the car as yet, altough I’m keen to fix the fault.

The car went into Audi for it’s last service which included the timing belt, while it was in the fault was looked at, after a few hours of investigation is was determined that a static fault was found with the ESL actuator. As the actuator isn’t available as an individual part the complete ESL control unit would need replacing.

I’ve been trying to understand and research what the ELS actuator is, i'm assuming it's in the sterring coloum somehere? Keen to understand what’s involved with replacing the actuator and or the complete ESL control unit. Ideally looking if there are other options than the main dealer route which i’ve not taken up at this stage.

Any help or advise is much appreciated.

IMG_0138.jpg

[A6S]

The steering lock as far as I can tell is simple solenoid/motor that pretty much moves a pin in and out to stop the steering from turning.
If the solenoid/motor is broken or the sensor doesn’t know the position it’s in then you are likely to get that fault.
No doubt Audi/vw built this part into an extremely expensive item like steering colum/rack or some other parts. Even though it could be replaced with a £2 part instead of £1000.
When the fault appears, does the car start? Does the steering turn? If it’s yes to both then I would just ignore it till it stops you going

[DJS11]

That's my thinking as it's not causing a problem at the moment. In the background i'm going to see if i can get a replacement, doing a little research you look to be correct on the solenoid working from the diagram below. I'm going to remove the steering column cowl and confirm they are the same.

steering_zpsmoedmoto.jpg