Thread: ABS, ESP, Steering Lights - Lights galore!

Something has happened for all of those faults to appear at once and I'm not mechanically minded or anything but my first suspect would be the CAN Gateway. The No Communication faults aren't necessarily faults with all the modules, but faults with the central hub that the modules are connected to in order to communicate.

Originally Posted by Goosey

the sort of fault i hate lol, intermittant bad connections, thats why your fans run flat out.

like you're being advised can check the basics but sometimes these can take ages to locate, especially if it's in a control unit

Indeed, This is my worry the cost involved in finding the faults is one thing, The replacement cost of a faulty module etc is another.

Originally Posted by jb0o

Something has happened for all of those faults to appear at once and I'm not mechanically minded or anything but my first suspect would be the CAN Gateway. The No Communication faults aren't necessarily faults with all the modules, but faults with the central hub that the modules are connected to in order to communicate.

Very true, the can gateway fault lights up like a sore thumb.

Nigel (NHN) called earlier and was very helpful so extremely pleased with the advice on offer and support over the phone as much as he can, Tomorrow im going to look at the grounding points in the engine bay and ensure they are connected properly to the chassis.

Obviously ill fish around and check to see if there are any bad points visible just to cancel out the smaller easy things. Hopefully Nigel being Nigel will be able to put these faults together by looking at the fault codes posted and narrow down the search to an area then we can possibly go from there.

Put your trust in Nigel and you can't go much wrong you're in the best place anyway... imagine going to Audi to diagnose the fault, £££££.

Nigel will soon have you up and running again Farhan. He is very good at this fault finding. He doesnt get enough praise for the amount of
time he spends on these things. Im surprised he finds time to sleep.

Cheers jonny and sandra, Im glad nigel is on board to help out he knows his stuff with electrics. Going to check the battery later today lets hope i find something

Just an update, after a cold nasty evening i removed the battery etc, what a task to get to the grounding cables!

FAO: Nige

i saw the grounding points you mentioned, I undone around 4-5 grounding wires rubbed them all down with sandpaper including bolts and the areas where they touch on the threads. So far i havent been able to test but from what i saw there really wasnt anything on them to worry about at all. All looked in fair condition, I also did not see any odd splits or anything in the main looms so on that front everything looked ok.

Tomorrow i will drive the car after work and do a full test on saturday to see if this has made any change. Upon starting the car i still had the esp and powersteering light, Battery was removed for around an hour.

im sure these will reset when i drive down the road and do the full lock right left thing but it will be a bit of time before they come back.

Ok so thats at least confirmed & excludes this from the list, its something I always would check with so many errors.

I am still looking over this atm in between other jobs, so bare with me, but certainly if you can clear them & drive again, I still cant see how you lost power to the rack.

I do wonder if something is going on with of course gateway, but the ignition aswell, cause rack wouldnt lose power just like that, also the cluster faults you advised me of on the phone are extremely strange, I have yet to converse with a mate of mine as we often bounce ideas of eachother, so will do so tomorrow as I have some work to line up with him anyway that requires 2 people, on my car, for once lmfao.

If you could email me direct with logs that would be good thanks.

Cheers nige, It may have helped but i doubt it i can see what you mean though, There was one ground that had a bit of not rust but looked a bit old as you would say. It didnt look to be a problem at all though, I gave it a good hit with the sand paper.

I will have to give it a proper drive to see if anything has changed on it but i still doubt it, I have a feeling the fault lies within the can-gateway. Im going to leave it for the weekend and see if you can think of any other things it could possibly be.

Ill need your email again as for the life of me i cant remember it since i bought my rear light off you! Ill have the vcds log over to you asap.

Ok, rather than sit and squander depressed i have come up with some thoughts!

ABS Module - This is surely linked to the speedometer? The speedometer gets its signal from the front ABS Sensors. So i have a feeling there is a short to the ground or power issues there.

When the ABS Module fails also the power steering cuts out, Brake warnings come on......Not sure about why airbags flagged up in the log.

This is one thing! Or my can gateway is smoking a spliff and doing strange things. Iv been trawling the net looking for issues and this person below has a similar issue.

Iv quoted Shakespeare's version below:

SoI was driving home from work the other night in our first signifcant snowfall (Ilive in pa), and long behold while going down a long stretch of road at about 45 mph,I get a warning in my dash "Brake Fault: Drive Carefully To Your Nearest Workshop." Not only does that happen, but my brake light begins to flash, my ABS light goes on, as well as my power steering light and the slippery road warning light. Along with all the warning lights, my speedometer drops to zero and does not move. I call a friend whose a Honda tech, and he tells me to turn my car off for about a minute and then turn it back on (almost like a computer restart). I do it, and everything seems fine. I drive home, get in the car the next day to take my daughter to school, and it does it again; all the same symptoms with a few additional ones: my fuel needle goes from empty to full, my power locks wouldn't work from the keyless entry, the trunk would not work, the fuel door would not open, and my odometer was stuck at 3,268. Immediately I called my dealer and took it up there. They did a few computer diagnostic tests, and came back withthe verdict of a faulty ABS module. The way he explained it to me was that the way the computer communicates with all the other parts of the car is through this module, and b/c it was faulty, it was shooting off all kinds of wrong signals. So, mechanically, my car was fine. Has anyone else every heard/dealt with a faulty ABS module? Can anyone elaborate more on it?

Ok, got to the bottom of this!

shockingly had VW/Audi come out to inspect it via audi assist. Upon arrival he scanned the car he saw all the faults, He opened the engine bay to find food on my engine tray......Yes food.

A few seconds later a rat runs out from the undertray....You guessed it. My little vermin friend has chewed through my wiring!!

As the audi guy was witness we called the insurance and they took his witness and have offered to take the claim on albeit a fault claim, Our NCB is protected but i will have to pay an excess and the car will be further diagnosed.

Hopefully it can be repaired and this issue can be sorted out.

Wow thats quite unbelievable, but at least you now know what the cause is.

Originally Posted by BlueSpark

Wow thats quite unbelievable, but at least you now know what the cause is.

LOL yep! shoulda heard the tech guy on the phone he saw it all and said to my mum...Madam would you kindly make me a cup of tea LOL and call your son.

Its good that you now know what the problem is. At least now you can get the car fixed and back on the road. How bad is the wiring?

Yeah when I read that text, it could only be something obscure like this overall, at least you know now it can be fixed, if the coachworks cant do, give me a shout, I'll fix it for you

Still can't believe it mate. A rat!!

I reckon it's still got something to do with your remap though. The rat must've heard you talking about having a bluefin and thought it was this.........

I LOLLED SO HARD I FELL OF MY CHAIR. I LOVE U BRO.......UR EPIC.

Originally Posted by Farhan

I LOLLED SO HARD I FELL OF MY CHAIR. I LOVE U BRO.......UR EPIC.

Originally Posted by NHN

Yeah when I read that text, it could only be something obscure like this overall, at least you know now it can be fixed, if the coachworks cant do, give me a shout, I'll fix it for you

Cheers nige, very weird but i have heard it happen to someone before, It was my aunts BMW was brand new and within a few days rats got in and caused mayhem, Engine wouldnt turn over numerous faults aswell.

Will do, Theymentioned the company would diagnose and inspect the wiring further upon arrival, Then if its a larger job they will send it to audi for the rewiring as obviously it means more removal and parts. I cant see it being cheap at all. The lady over the phone mentioned obviously if its inspected and the value of repair can be dealt with under the excess figure we can opt to have it done ourselves. (I highly doubt that)

Wiring is pretty major especially in the bay atleast with the insurance if they say they fix it and other parts of the loom are found to be damaged later they will have to either rectify it. Wiring is the one thing i dont want to pay for its extremely time consuming and costly. Will keep you notified though.

Originally Posted by Sandra

Its good that you now know what the problem is. At least now you can get the car fixed and back on the road. How bad is the wiring?

Hopefully, Because of the situation they said it may take a bit of time for it to be rectified...Hopefully i get a nice courtesy car. I cant stand being put into a fiat panda i need my audi swag back.

Lol, proper laughing at audi swag.

Lmfao @ Ads!

Least you got to the bottom of it, you mustve been tearing your hair out!

So theyoffered me an aygo..... er no

like for like...not like for less. The world we live in.

I'd love one of them to throw around, sure I'd get bored easy though.

Let us know what you get, and make sure you throw up a few YouTube clips or you making sure the rev limiter works properly

Originally Posted by jb0o

I'd love one of them to throw around, sure I'd get bored easy though.

Let us know what you get, and make sure you throw up a few YouTube clips or you making sure the rev limiter works properly

id love to throw one off a cliff and video it.

discounting the battery tends to cause all the lights to come on, cant imagine so many things going wrong at the same time

Originally Posted by Brett Butler

discounting the battery tends to cause all the lights to come on

That would be interesting lmfao

Originally Posted by Farhan

So theyoffered me an aygo..... er no

like for like...not like for less. The world we live in.

Lol@aygo, hear they come in a fetching pink colour too. So you got any idea what they will give you Farhan? When is the car going in to get the work started on it? Any idea how long it will take them?

Originally Posted by Farhan

So theyoffered me an aygo..... er no

like for like...not like for less. The world we live in.

LOL thats your Audi swag out the window then mate! That not even like for like, insurance companies nowadayz!! Farhan it would be interesting how much they quote you to repair the damage, so keeps us inform and hope it gets sorted soon.

Originally Posted by Sandra

Lol@aygo, hear they come in a fetching pink colour too. So you got any idea what they will give you Farhan? When is the car going in to get the work started on it? Any idea how long it will take them?

LOL, tbh i have driven one before they are quite fun to drive but i was expecting better, When i used to have the bmw a few years ago they offered us a jaguar as a courtesy car (Later refused as drivers under 21) Instead they gave us a volvo saloon 2.0 Diesel which was nice. Thats where i picked up my lovely 6 points!!

The second time i had a courtesy car was a fiat bravo 1.4Turbo which was miles better.

Spoke to them a little while ago and they said Aygo/107/Toyota IQ.....Unless i pay for a premium car which i dont really want to do so a nice pink Aygo it may be LOL.

Originally Posted by BlueSpark

LOL thats your Audi swag out the window then mate! That not even like for like, insurance companies nowadayz!! Farhan it would be interesting how much they quote you to repair the damage, so keeps us inform and hope it gets sorted soon.

Indeed, They are being a bit iffy but im not going to fuss, Considering the extent of damage my cars wiring could have im at least pleased they are willing to even take it on. I understand it will be a hit on my policy but i think its more the reassurance that the wiring will be extensively checked and guaranteed there after. One thing alot of people may miss is fine it may be repaired cheaper elsewhere but say my vermin friend attempted a bite on another major harness, Broke a tooth but put a splice in the wiring....Over time weathering etc could rust the cable and carry on through the whole loom then ill be stuck later down the line.

At least by allowing the insurance to get involved i can cover myself for work carried out and if this happens later down the line i have a claim to fall back on and take up with them.

Originally Posted by Farhan

Ok, got to the bottom of this!

shockingly had VW/Audi come out to inspect it via audi assist. Upon arrival he scanned the car he saw all the faults, He opened the engine bay to find food on my engine tray......Yes food.

A few seconds later a rat runs out from the undertray....You guessed it. My little vermin friend has chewed through my wiring!!

As the audi guy was witness we called the insurance and they took his witness and have offered to take the claim on albeit a fault claim, Our NCB is protected but i will have to pay an excess and the car will be further diagnosed.

Hopefully it can be repaired and this issue can be sorted out.

glad you got to the bottom of this headache , bit of a random one that lol

Farhan, if you get a pink Aygo, we all want pics, lol.

Originally Posted by FranA3

glad you got to the bottom of this headache , bit of a random one that lol

Cheers fran, i was worried you were going to shout at me for not cleaning the engine bay LOL.

Originally Posted by Sandra

Farhan, if you get a pink Aygo, we all want pics, lol.

I sure will - After i throw it off a cliff edge better scenery and all that. LOL

ALSO UPDATE UPDATE:

Please see photo of what Audi-Assist guy discovered....Looks like they were waiting for the cooker to turn on to warm things up!! Just to note two rats ran out from under the engine bay he also mentioned the deceased would still be present as obviously they cant run.



Nuggets and Fishfingers

Nice litle stash of food there. Lol.

Originally Posted by Farhan

Cheers fran, i was worried you were going to shout at me for not cleaning the engine bay LOL.

haha don't worry not your fault it was full of fish fingers and nuggets lmao

and here's me thinking it wast the east end of london that was full of rats! Kinda missed this thread until now but an interesting twist. Glad its now on road to repair.

So, today i went to get the courtesy car and the garage collected my car - Apparently the inital diagnosis is going to be done by feltham coachworks. The gentleman who collected the car said the power steering wont be related to the rat biting it but they will have a look. He said "the power steering has fluid"

At this very point i thought....This is a losing battle but i will call them tomorrow to make sure they know what they are doing.

On the plus side i didnt get an aygo i was given a nice new polo

the crap part is...its a 1.2 legless 3 cylinder with 60bhp and 80lbft of torque...my bicycle with no wheels is quicker.

Oh dear, doesnt sound like a promising company to diagnose it at all, electric rack with fluid, urm yeah ok fella jog on, I would of said.

Originally Posted by Farhan

So, today i went to get the courtesy car and the garage collected my car - Apparently the inital diagnosis is going to be done by feltham coachworks. The gentleman who collected the car said the power steering wont be related to the rat biting it but they will have a look. He said "the power steering has fluid"

At this very point i thought....This is a losing battle but i will call them tomorrow to make sure they know what they are doing.

On the plus side i didnt get an aygo i was given a nice new polo

the crap part is...its a 1.2 legless 3 cylinder with 60bhp and 80lbft of torque...my bicycle with no wheels is quicker.

Hey Farhan, glad things are moving with the repairs, shame no pink Aygo though.

Originally Posted by NHN

Oh dear, doesnt sound like a promising company to diagnose it at all, electric rack with fluid, urm yeah ok fella jog on, I would of said.

Indeed, im going to insist it just goes to audi. I think these guys will do the dirty work of ensuring the rats are gone LOL. The guy who mentioned that was only a driver for the company though so should be ok. They are VW approved aswell however so lets hope all goes well. Should get some details from them tomorrow in regards to whats happening.

Originally Posted by Sandra

Hey Farhan, glad things are moving with the repairs, shame no pink Aygo though.

Cheers Sandra, Shame on the pink aygo they had a black 107 there i opted for the polo...Little did i know the 107 may have been a bit quicker to say the least.

glad it's been diagnosed, have that same problem in the area i work in.
infact it was only yesterday we had a 320CDI merc in with chewed through fuel pipes

Well an update cars arrived at west london audi yesterday

Had a call today.

Car is absolutely fine no problems found at all, however your rear brake pads need attention they are 95% worn. Audi come on seriously jobs been forwarded to you guys have you even plugged it into VCDS yet?


Naturally the insurance company has said if they could further investigate it as feltham coachworks saw the problems, along with the accesor and also the RAC man.

OMFL, thats to be blunt effing ridiculous, well if they fail to understand basic fault analysis, PM me

OMG, i have yet to come across a Audi garage where i am fully satisfied with their service and hence would not be surprised with that response Farhan. Their service is awful and useless, especially when you know what the fault is and tell them to fix it and they reply but theres nothing wrong with it.

I had this issue when i was losing power and told them to upgrade the diverter valve whilst it was in for cambelt change. Firstly the guy sitting in service department had never heard of a diverter valve nor did one of there engineers. lol In the end i provided them the part number and told them to change it as i will be paying for it!! lol

Hope you perservere Farhan and get it sorted and on the road soon.

Originally Posted by Ads

Still can't believe it mate. A rat!!

I reckon it's still got something to do with your remap though. The rat must've heard you talking about having a bluefin and thought it was this.........

OMG. absolutely epic post! Ad you are one of the funniest guys i know. really! sick man

Jesus. Typical Audi.

When my High Pressure Fuel Sensor went I had to do like BlueSpark said and give them the part number and tell them to change that as per info I got from Ross-Tech Wiki and problem solved.


I did hear of one guy with an intermittent problem who told Audi to test drive his car until the problem came up. One of the master techs at the Audi dealer started using the car as his daily for a few days or something until the fault appeared and then he diagnosed and repaired.

Thanks guys, will carry on pushing them to look at it, Only reason im going through them for the moment is the insurance company if the job is to big.

If they can fault find and allocate the problem as insurance company will push them to resolve it quickly being an insurance job. Ill then decide whether i want to go through with the claim. Nigel will keep u posted on this for the moment im just going to make use of the courtesy car LOL

could you actually see the chewed wiring?

Originally Posted by murran

could you actually see the chewed wiring?

nope nothing at all, i inspected the grounding which nigel advised me to do. I didnt see anything chewed or hacked into my self.

This is a nightmare as the VCDS scan just shows to many issues...Unless someone can understand elsa and see where all the faults relate to and which wiring loom could be the one which is the issue. That could take some time however

Update again

Had a call today from audi over the weekend they kept the car and a tech was driving it throughout the weekend to bring up the faults again. Odd to say this but i was hoping the errors came back so they can carry on searching for the problem. Luckily they did and audi are going to investigate the matter further.

I had another call later in the afternoon to say that they need to investigate further as the looms they have checked they cannot see any problems but they are certain the faults are nearer the exhaust manifold areas. They are now going to remove the manifold and look at replacing the wiring looms if need be. If they can repair it they will if not they may need the car longer to order the looms in.

The bad news is i have to return the courtesy car tomorrow so i will be without a car....Great timing i was insured on my sisters car but the differential decided to pack up on friday!

Good news that they're investigating further mate, hopefully it wont be too long before shes out on the open road again!

Well yesterday i was feeling pretty happy. Had a call they removed the manifold and managed to repair the wiring. They did find wiring which was damaged by the rats and they fixed it. I was advised they had been chewing on the wiring for the oil sensor aswell and at the actual sensors connection so they would be replacing the oil sensor which was fine.

All was done yesterday and i was told the bill would be 580
78 for inspection
312 for removal and refitting the manifold(S)
the remainder was for the labour cost and repair of the wiring.

I thought fine no problem...However they wanted to keep the car to test overnight and today...You guessed it seems the other faults are fixed they say but the powersteering light is on again!

They are now advising that maybe the power steering was not a fault caused by the rats....He mentioned on the phone it may have been an underlying fault which has progressively just got worse.

What would you guys suggest if i have to replace the steering rack? My cars an 08 and i understand there are 3 generations of steering racks. My car is out of warranty but do you think i have any reasonable grounds to try and get the rack replaced under warranty??