Steering fault

[RhysoTDI]

At the end of last year I had this flash up on me;


Had the car recovered and my local garage spent a couple of days investigating it but found no fault. Car has driven perfectly since then until it reappeared yesterday.

I’ve taken a look myself and found what appears to be an earth wire?? This was taped up. Anyone have any idea whereabouts it connects too? I was looking at the area in and around the steering rack. I have VCDS but I cannot connect to the steering module probably due to the below images?







Any help would be greatly appreciated :

Fed up of this lockdown; my car is costing me more money sat idle!!

[morski]

That the main earth wire for the rack motor. Following it back it should just bolt to the body. Yours should be inside the big plug next to the thick red wire. Not sure what the black little plastic is on the end of it.

[RhysoTDI]

That the main earth wire for the rack motor. Following it back it should just bolt to the body. Yours should be inside the big plug next to the thick red wire. Not sure what the black little plastic is on the end of it.

Thank you

i think that’s what’s throwing me is the connector type plastic by the sheathing. I found the plug unplugged and just taped up in genuine insulation tape!! Ssems to have been like that for some time.....

the car had a replacement rack and gearbox prior to me buying it but that was over 4 years ago ��

[morski]

The black plastic thing on the brown sheath is a clip that is meant to hold the cable in in the main plug that the cable goes into. Have a look at the 3rd picture here and you will see it AUDI A6 C7 4G 3.0 Tdi Radiator Fan Wiring Cable Loom 4G2971111C Kabel | eBay
Why its been working with it unplugged is strange.... VCDS should show the date the fault first occured

[RhysoTDI]

The black plastic thing on the brown sheath is a clip that is meant to hold the cable in in the main plug that the cable goes into. Have a look at the 3rd picture here and you will see it AUDI A6 C7 4G 3.0 Tdi Radiator Fan Wiring Cable Loom 4G2971111C Kabel | eBay
Why its been working with it unplugged is strange.... VCDS should show the date the fault first occured

lovely! Thank you

therein is my problem....l can’t connect to the steering module at all to grab the fault codes so obviously this not being earthed probably means no power going to the module?

[Elansear]

lovely! Thank you

therein is my problem....l can’t connect to the steering module at all to grab the fault codes so obviously this not being earthed probably means no power going to the module?

Hi if as others have said it is an earth connection for the steering guess you have nothing to loose by extending it to reach an earth then try logging in to the steering.

[RhysoTDI]

So the plot thickens......

had my local garage take a look. That earth wire that Morski said should just connect back to the body does NOT!! It looks like it was deliberately unplugged and taped up. There appears to be another earth wire that runs right back to the battery. They also mentioned there are 3/4 trigger wires which run into the wing and into the engine bay; maybe one of them is broken??

the fault disappeared on my way there and in hindsight i should left the ignition on as we may have been able to talk to the steering module.

The garage have given me the car back and told me to grab some codes if and when the fault disappears; looks like I’ll be carrying my laptop for the foreseeable unless anyone can shed any further light?

[OmegaV6]

Daft thoughts ..and I know nowt about the actual problem ... but ... BIG buts ....

you stated early on in the thread that the steering rack was replaced prior to you acquiring the vehicle ... is it worth checking ?, can it be checked ? that the "correct" rack is actually fitted as the "rewire" would appear to come from the time of replacement.

Is it possible (from any receipts you may have) to go back to whoever did the replacement and have a chat about "why" the re-wire was done ??

[RhysoTDI]

Daft thoughts ..and I know nowt about the actual problem ... but ... BIG buts ....

you stated early on in the thread that the steering rack was replaced prior to you acquiring the vehicle ... is it worth checking ?, can it be checked ? that the "correct" rack is actually fitted as the "rewire" would appear to come from the time of replacement.

Is it possible (from any receipts you may have) to go back to whoever did the replacement and have a chat about "why" the re-wire was done ??

always good to have different perspectives so don’t think if it as daft

The rack was replaced by AUDI back in January 2015. I’m currently on Elsawin online trying to pinpoint wiring / technical diagrams. Given that the dealership is operating on a skeleton crew getting any info could be difficult

I purchased the car in January 2016 and from what i can tell the wiring has been like that since I purchased the car. I’ve only used my local garage for repairs / servicing so this must have happened prior to me taking ownership

[RhysoTDI]

I’ve had my own random thought.....i was looking for diagrams etc and i saw a fuse location board for the drivers side....

i have had a leak from the sunroof and I’m wondering if water has ingressed and taken out a fuse within that board that relates to the power steering??