Power steering light and handbrake light

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Jadder
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Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 11:11 am
Drives: VW polo 2006
Location: Scotland

Power steering light and handbrake light

Post by Jadder »

Hi so I am stumped with this one so The power steering light started playing up it would randomly come on and I would loose power steering once I turn the ignition off and on I would have power steering again u till the next time, so upon investigating after it kept happening I noticed ther was a leak in the steering rack so I replaced it, once the rack was installed the light stayed on but I always had power steering now the handbreak light is on steering light and now back to no power steering any ideas guys
RUM4MO
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Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
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Re: Power steering light and handbrake light

Post by RUM4MO »

Hi, it sounds like originally your power steering rack had a slight leak of fluid getting past the end seal and so you would have lost some fluid, but probably not enough to loose power steering. You then replaced the rack for a better/refurbished one and now you don't have any fluid leaking - so, did you get a new rack with the same coding as the original, or did you copy the coding of the original one into this next one, if not that might be why you are getting faults being logged.

Now, it might only have been a failing battery or charging system that was making the original steering rack fail or loose power and that steering system required a lot of current to keep it working and if the battery is weak due to age or state of charge, the car's power monitoring system will deny the steering system power in order to keep the rest of the more important systems supplied with enough power - remember that while power steering is useful, it is not essential as you can still drive the car without it although a lot more effort is required.

So, have you checked the battery health and the charging system as it just might be that you still have the original problem that switched the power steering off originally and now have an incorrectly coded next steering rack.

Good Luck!

Edit:- Sorry, hand brake light - have you tried getting access to the switch and seeing if this is a completely unrelated problem?
Jadder
New
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2020 11:11 am
Drives: VW polo 2006
Location: Scotland

Re: Power steering light and handbrake light

Post by Jadder »

Thanks for the reply I never checked for coding on the new rack where can I check This I still have the old rack there to compare, battery is on charge now to make sure its not that
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Power steering light and handbrake light

Post by RUM4MO »

I am probably wrong to say "coding change needed" as it was only the rack that you swopped over, the original steering pump assembly ie its controller, will need to learn that ne rack's steering angle sensor, ie need some thing like "basic settings" carried on the steering system.
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