Passat B6 Steering wheel lock not going off

[hatton101]

Hi all,
I was wondering if people can help with regards to a recent problem with my 57 plate passat B6 1.9TDI saloon.
It started at the start of last week, when it was really cold. I got in my car in the morning, put the fob in its slot, and after a lot of weering and noise it sort of did nothing... after taking it out, jiggling the wheel and trying a few times more it started fine, so I just chalked it up to me having cold hands and being dense.

but then every morning last week the same thing happened, so after a bit of trial and error I found that if I put the fob in, and let it do what it needs to do, the driver info screen on the dash actually gives me the message "move steering wheel" and low and behold, I do this, and the ignition engages and all the lights come one and it starts normally...

My confusion with this error is that it only seems to be first thing in the morning, I can come to it after it being sat at work all day from 8:45 to 5:30 and it will start first time no problem.

I have read a lot about a fateful steering lock problem, but some of the signs of this just dont seem right, am I simply on the brink of this or is it something else?

Also does any one know how much this fix will cost me to get done? and can I take it to my local mechanics or is it a main deal job?

Any and all advice incredibly appreciated

Cheers all

[RichardSEL]

Don't think I've ever seen the MFD message "move steering wheel" in the eight year's I've had my '06MY

The "steering lock fault" is also associated with the steering column though, two microswitches on a PCB part of the IMMO system fail, initially intermittently. Get a copy of my help .doc for that PM me an email address for return attach.

As you're getting a MFD message there probably will be an error message stored in one or more of your electronic control modules.
Note down the date/time and mileage of when this message last displayed and compare it with a VCDS Autoscan. If you haven't got VCDS then I can do that (I'm in SE London) Or for someone closer who'll do it for beer tokens see the locator here:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...5cfcb6158e0447

[martin1810]

If you park with the will slightly twisted this can put pressure between the steering lock peg and the steering column slots. This is why you get a "move steering wheel" message. A failure to lock can also occur if the steering lock peg cannot slot into one of the grooves in the column. Just try to park with no sideways stress on the front wheels.

[hatton101]

This might well be the issue! Ive recently started using a new parking spot at home (communal car park) which takes a lot of faffing around to get in! I will make sure that when I leave it tonight wheels a straight and no stress is on the them and report back!

Cheers