MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: 80walk on January 20, 2018, 05:19:13 pm

Title: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 20, 2018, 05:19:13 pm
Just changed front spring today and when finished started car and got 3 beeps and red light on the dash .... any ideas ? Tried disconnecting battery for few mins but hasn't made any difference ... even drove for a short distance but no difference
Thanks
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: MIJ_JAGGER on January 20, 2018, 05:42:10 pm
That’s the dreaded power steering sign mate
Did you whack the track rod end off when you removed to install springs?
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 20, 2018, 07:39:53 pm
Thanks for reply .... dunno about whacking it but it was off obviously, what would that have done ? Anything do get it back to normal ?
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: r5gtt on January 20, 2018, 08:07:46 pm
Check fluid level
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 20, 2018, 08:18:42 pm
Ok thanks, Why would fluid level have went down ? Car drove perfectly before working on it to change spring
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: r5gtt on January 20, 2018, 08:59:52 pm
 I have no idea as it was just a suggestion  :signLOL:

I replaced full front and rear shocks springs trailing arms last week and never had an issue and all lights went off even before I drove off which was weird as ABS sensor was plugged off when doing this.

Did you disturb anything else? Is PS hard now?
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: MIJ_JAGGER on January 20, 2018, 09:15:59 pm
Thanks for reply .... dunno about whacking it but it was off obviously, what would that have done ? Anything do get it back to normal ?
Do you still have power steering?
There is no fluid for the power steering, it’s electronic.
Whacking the end off instead of prying it off can cause damage to the rack.
I had a knocking on my motor which I couldn’t figure out, it’s only when my rack failed and changed it I realised my steering rack was on its way out.

Get it scanned with vcds, mine had a steering torque sensor fault when it happened
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 21, 2018, 07:12:27 am
Torque sensor fault code came up yeah ... handy enough job to install ? Any specific programming / coding required ? Nightmare ....
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: MIJ_JAGGER on January 21, 2018, 10:56:58 am
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,112882.msg1085530.html#msg1085530
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 21, 2018, 08:14:24 pm
Thanks for all replies, appreciate the help....
is it safe to drive a car whilst the powering steering isn't working ? I know it's heavy but gonna will need to drive it to a garage.
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: r5gtt on January 21, 2018, 09:58:25 pm
You'll be fine if you have strong arms
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: pudding on January 22, 2018, 03:35:17 pm
You will certainly get strong(er) arms afterwards!

It's a good point about thumping the hub to detach the tie rod.   Probably even less of a good idea with ally hubs!
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: MIJ_JAGGER on January 22, 2018, 04:50:25 pm
I drove without power steering for a couple of days, just hope you don’t have to parallel park
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: Octoparrot on January 22, 2018, 07:32:46 pm
The extra heaviness wasn't a problem for me but the lack of self centring was a bit disconcerting
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 26, 2018, 10:42:26 am
bit of an update ... picked car up this morning all fixed. New rack required.

Question .... is the steering weight in a GTI any different to standard golf ? maybe just cause ive been driving diff car recently that it seems lighter to me than what it was .... maybe the older steering rack was on its way out ... thanks
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: f00glee on January 26, 2018, 01:37:32 pm
bit of an update ... picked car up this morning all fixed. New rack required.

Question .... is the steering weight in a GTI any different to standard golf ? maybe just cause ive been driving diff car recently that it seems lighter to me than what it was .... maybe the older steering rack was on its way out ... thanks

Don't know about steering weight compared to other models, but the amount of assist given by the electric motor can be adjusted through coding using VCDS if it isn't to your liking.
Title: Red steering wheel
Post by: MIJ_JAGGER on January 26, 2018, 02:04:20 pm
bit of an update ... picked car up this morning all fixed. New rack required.

Question .... is the steering weight in a GTI any different to standard golf ? maybe just cause ive been driving diff car recently that it seems lighter to me than what it was .... maybe the older steering rack was on its way out ... thanks

Don't know about steering weight compared to other models, but the amount of assist given by the electric motor can be adjusted through coding using VCDS if it isn't to your liking.
How on vcds?
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: SI-R32 on January 26, 2018, 03:18:58 pm
bit of an update ... picked car up this morning all fixed. New rack required.

Question .... is the steering weight in a GTI any different to standard golf ? maybe just cause ive been driving diff car recently that it seems lighter to me than what it was .... maybe the older steering rack was on its way out ... thanks

Don't know about steering weight compared to other models, but the amount of assist given by the electric motor can be adjusted through coding using VCDS if it isn't to your liking.
How on vcds?

you can only do this on early golfs with VCDS don't quote me on year but say 2004-2006 ish otherwise trip to VW or some other people may be able to do it
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: f00glee on January 26, 2018, 04:50:14 pm
bit of an update ... picked car up this morning all fixed. New rack required.

Question .... is the steering weight in a GTI any different to standard golf ? maybe just cause ive been driving diff car recently that it seems lighter to me than what it was .... maybe the older steering rack was on its way out ... thanks

Don't know about steering weight compared to other models, but the amount of assist given by the electric motor can be adjusted through coding using VCDS if it isn't to your liking.
How on vcds?

you can only do this on early golfs with VCDS don't quote me on year but say 2004-2006 ish otherwise trip to VW or some other people may be able to do it

Ah. Ive got an '06, so you may be right.

From memory Channel 44 "Steering Assist" then in the long coding helper there's a field in which a number can be entered, the description made if fairly obvious what it was, but I cant remember the text . Lower number = less assistance = heavier steering. I'd have to check again but think default was around 5 and I maybe backed it off to 4. A characteristic curve is kind of a map which determines how much assist the motor will give for varying scenarios of speed/steering input and the number selects from a set of pre-installed curves.

I was going to notch it down 1 at a time to see the difference as at the time I found the car a bit vague on dead straight 70mph roads. Reducing it by 1 did the trick and I never went any further.

As an aside, if you can find copies of the VW self study program relating to electromechanical steering it's pretty interesting. The steering assist corrects in the long and short term for crosswinds/road camber etc. And helps with self centering by driving the motor back when you're not applying torque to the steering wheel. At least, I found it interesting...
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: MIJ_JAGGER on January 26, 2018, 05:15:25 pm
Ta gents 07 here so maybe not
Title: Re: Red steering wheel
Post by: 80walk on January 27, 2018, 01:22:59 pm
Maybe it's just a coincidence or maybe because th old steering rack was on the way out but I'm sure the steering felt heavier from before. I was driving without power steering for a few days so maybe it's that factor aswell ...