Location of G85 Steering Angle Sensor please
 

Having had the steering wheel on and off a few times to test fit the R8 offering, I got the usual fault codes which I simply cleared with Vagcom thinking that they would all go away once everything was properly wired up again.

However, I am left with "00778 - Steering Angle Sensor (G85): Faulty - Intermittent". Either this needs recalibrating or is faulty (hopefully the former).

But before I go down this road, I need to understand where this sensor is located. If it's within the steering wheel gubbins, then it's likely that it's related to my fiddling around with the steering wheels on and off. If the sensor is on a road wheel however, then it may just be one of those coincidences and needs further investigation.

Gee, what a longwinded way to ask "does anyone know the location of the G85 Steering Angle Sensor please?"...! :rolleyes:

The steering angle sensor, on your facelift car, is built into the slip rings just behind the steering wheel. Late pre-facelift cars with the optional ESP have it as a seperate module towards the very bottom of the steering column near the pedals.

This excellent article from Paul Waterloo discusses retrofitting a tiptronic steering wheel, and in doing so he covers off the ESP calibration issue, and at the very bottom gives a direct link to the pretty simple procedure on the ross-tech site for re-calibrating it with Vag com....

http://www.audipages.com/upgrades/tiptronicwheel.html

It shouldnt need recalibrating really if you've just put the old wheel back on, unless the slip ring has managed to get turned independently of the steering column at some point and so is no longer correctly calibrated...

HTH

Thanks Ian!
 

Excellent stuff as always Ian, many thanks! +++

I did find the Vagcom procedure, but when searching for an answer to the original question, I also found an article (based on the TT) which mentioned that there are marks on the wheel and steering column which should be in line - although it does feel straight, I think I'll whip everything off again just to make sure before I try the recalibration procedure, as the warning lights (and fault codes) are still coming back... :o

It could always be 360 degrees out.... This is the nomal cause of issues...

See Pauls notes on the 'window' and the black/grey/gold markings...

+++

Sorted!
 

Thanks to Ian's help (who was spot on with the diagnosis!), I have now resolved this little problem. As there were some slight differences to the illustrations shown in the Audipages article, I will add my own short 'how to' here...


http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1499.jpg
1. No prizes for guessing that this is how it looks before anything is removed :rolleyes: The 2 screws securing the airbag to the wheel are located behind the wheel and can be clearly seen in the next photo.
On my wheel, they are Torx T27 but on others apparently T30.


http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1498.jpg
2. Here you can see the 2 screws protruding from the rear of the wheel (they are held in place by a washer once the airbag is removed, so you don't need to worry about them dropping out).
The airbag is connected to the wheel in 3 locations (in the multifunction/tiptronic version). Only 1 is shown in this photo.
You can also see the cable which connects the slipring to the wheel here. This needs to be disconnected from the wheel before removal.
The large nut that you can see in the centre secures the wheel to the steering column. This is removed using a 12mm splined socket. A T55 Torx apparently does the same job.


http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1496.jpg
3. Wheel now removed and slip ring visible. In order to see the 'window', the top column cover has to be removed. This is secured by 2 screws located on either underside of the column as shown in the next photo.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1497.jpg
4. A small phillips screwdriver removes these (at least on my model).


http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1493.jpg
5. Here you can see the gold colour in the window - this is the correct, 0degree, position of the slip ring.
For those of you who have read the Audipages article, the first thing you will notice is that there is no 2o'clock position marker on the slip ring. Instead, there is an 11o'clock marker, which has unfortunately been obliterated by the flash although it is partly visible in photo 6 (a bizarre design as the 2o'clock marker makes so much more sense as you actually have something to line it up with, ie the window!


http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1494.jpg
6. Here, the window has changed to what I would call 'half-gold' - this is the 360degree position (a full turn to the right).


http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...l/IMG_1495.jpg
7. Here, the window has changed to black - this is the 720degree position (a further full turn to the right).


As we all know from the best written manuals, reinstallation is the reverse of removal, but here are the key points :

With the slipring in the correct (gold window) position and centred (using either the 11o'clock or 2o'clock markers), refit the column cover and then centre the wheel on the spline and secure with the nut until tight and with the markers on the nut lined up as shown in photo 2.

Reconnect the slipring cable and the airbag connectors to the wheel before resecuring the airbag with the 2 Torx screws from behind the wheel.

The ESP and ABS warning lights in the dash should now go out when you restart the engine. If they don't then either :-

- the slipring is not in the gold 0degree position;
- the steering angle sensor (G85) needs recalibrating using Vagcom (VCDS) following the procedure here http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/car...ringangle.html ; or
- the sensor is broken :mad:

If the airbag light comes on then you need to clear it using Vagcom. If it still remains on, then you have a loose connection or other electrical fault.

Hope this helps anyone encountering a similar problem.