Fabia vRS electrical / PAS problem(s)

Started by nordschleife, January 07, 2011, 01:03:37 PM

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nordschleife

Hi All,

Christmas is now over but the Fabia persists in flashing lights in a Christmas fashion on the dashboard.

I'm hoping someone can help here.  This problem has been going on occasionally for 6 months or so.

What happens is that the power steering, ABS, ESP / ASR lights come on and the power steering goes dead.  Switching the car off and on again fixes the problem temporarily.  If the headlights are on they flicker very slightly while driving whether the problem is present or not.

I've VAG-COM'd the car and it says that the steering angle sensor is implausable and intermittent.

Doing a google search shows a range of different fixes for this.  The PAS on Fabia's is driven by an electric pump - not via a belt as is more common in my experience.

The pump was replaced about 18 months ago, possibly along with the steering angle sensor by Giltrap Skoda.  Giltrap Skoda is operating under a different company as of April 2010 and they have none of the prior service records.  However they were able to tell me that a PAS sensor was fitted to a Fabia in 2009.

Last night while driving home I was loading up the electrical system to see if I could create the problem.  It was dark, lights on, hot, AC and fan on, radio on.  If I then went to use the electric window and was able to create the problem several times.  On the last time the radio went into SAFE mode.

Once home in the driveway I again tried to create the problem and was successful however only if there was steering angle.  If the wheel was straight the extra load of the electronic components did not make any difference.

Could the problem be the alternator is unable to keep up with demand or is it likely to actually be the sensor?  VAG-COM tells me that the PAS pump draws up to 54amps at times - the alternator is 90amps.

There is no NZ stock of the sensor and they are $251 + GST ex Germany.  I'm hesitant to order this as it may not be the problem.

The local Audi dealer has checked the car and was unable to find any fault whatsoever.

Lastly, the car has wider wheel that standard due to the WRC body kit 215s - standard were 195s and it had 245s when we bought it.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Matt





VW Golf GTI - Track Car
VW Golf GTI - Road Car
BMW ///M5 - Previous Car and looking for another - F10 LCI
Octavia vRS Combi - Wife's Car
VW Golf R32 - Sold

nordschleife

Here is a similar problem on Briskoda.net:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/174810-fabia-intermittent-pas-failure-problem/

No real answer though.

I've just done another test with VAG-COM and the PAS was drawing up to 57amps when turning around in the driveway.

Also, around 50% of the time when the car is started the radio loses its memory.  IE; insert and turn key, radio comes on with memory intact, wait for glow plug light to go out, start engine, radio memory erased.
VW Golf GTI - Track Car
VW Golf GTI - Road Car
BMW ///M5 - Previous Car and looking for another - F10 LCI
Octavia vRS Combi - Wife's Car
VW Golf R32 - Sold

nordschleife

A quick update.  Weekend before last I took the battery, airbox and a few other bits out to get access to a couple of earth leads.  I cleaned these up, put everything back together and haven't had the steering problem nor the radio lost its stations since!

Early days but cleaning up the earth straps has made a difference to the radio issue at least.
VW Golf GTI - Track Car
VW Golf GTI - Road Car
BMW ///M5 - Previous Car and looking for another - F10 LCI
Octavia vRS Combi - Wife's Car
VW Golf R32 - Sold