Help.. ABS, ESP then Steering and tyres warning lights on 2006 Polo GTI

[sikman]

Update:

Got the car back yesterday and all is fine, Mechanic has driven the car around for most of the week and clocked up 165KM and Ive done around 60km and trouble free so far as before it was f**king up everytime you drove it constantly.

The Fix: Removed and cleaned/sanded all earthing points, removed all wiring plugs that connect to steering/pump and sprayed them with Electrical Cleaner.

Fingers crossed it seems to be fixed. Over 200KM of driving incident free while before it would happen everytime you started the car....

[Robi Kan]

Hey Sikman (and Paazuzu)
I have the exact same problem! I have sent the car to the shop with your notes. Hope it will be solved

Thanks alot.

Robi.
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2006 9N3 1.4 Auto (Black)
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[sikman]

Robi

Its been 1 month now and well over 1000km off trouble free driving, I hope my fix will work for you as well. Let me know how it goes.

[Paazuzu]

Thanks for posting this Sikman. My car has started having some real issues over the past week - so will give this a crack on the weekend.

[Paazuzu]

Update:

Got the car back yesterday and all is fine, Mechanic has driven the car around for most of the week and clocked up 165KM and Ive done around 60km and trouble free so far as before it was f**king up everytime you drove it constantly.

The Fix: Removed and cleaned/sanded all earthing points, removed all wiring plugs that connect to steering/pump and sprayed them with Electrical Cleaner.

Fingers crossed it seems to be fixed. Over 200KM of driving incident free while before it would happen everytime you started the car....

Spent a few hours today doing this. Man what a pain in the butt getting the battery out! Who at VW thought up that monstrosity of a battery cover!!? Anyhow, cleaned, sanded and greased all earth points and sprayed the power steering connections with electrical cleaner. Took her for a 20 minute test drive and so far, so good. Hope it stays that way!

[gavs]

I hate to laugh at you guys and you missfortune but VW have had notoriously bad history with electrics and specifically, earth points. Good to see they STILL haven't sorted themselves out.

Good job with your mate figuring out the issue sikman, lesson for all fairly new vw owners. If you have anything crazy going on with your electrics, undo and clean all your major earth points

[Paazuzu]

Quick update - over 1000k's now and still no issues.

[sikman]

Quick update - over 1000k's now and still no issues.

Good to hear my trick also is working for you as well, I'm now 3 months trouble free so to me that means it was a successfully resolution... If the car went to VW for troubleshooting they would of replaced battery, steering pump, steering rack, etc $5000++ later it would still have the "Earth problem"..

[Bundy]

Robi

Its been 1 month now and well over 1000km off trouble free driving, I hope my fix will work for you as well. Let me know how it goes.

sikman, I know this thread is ancient but just wondering how much longer did the vehicle last on the cleaned earth points? Did the issue ever come back? My wife has a 2008 VW POLO GTI that is experiencing the exact issues that you described and she had the alternator replaced only to still have the issue still exist. Just curious how much longer the hassle free driving continued for post the earth cleansing?

Cheers,

Bundy

[seangti]

sikman, I know this thread is ancient but just wondering how much longer did the vehicle last on the cleaned earth points? Did the issue ever come back? My wife has a 2008 VW POLO GTI that is experiencing the exact issues that you described and she had the alternator replaced only to still have the issue still exist. Just curious how much longer the hassle free driving continued for post the earth cleansing?

Cheers,

Bundy

That person hasn't been here in years. Clean the earth contact patch on the chassis, or even replace the earth cable too. It should last ages/many years, usually just caused by surface corrosion if the contact patch turns poor. Pending your issue, the main fuses on the top of the battery can get very fine hair line cracks in them, you'd need a torch and a keen eye to spot it sometimes, that can/do fail and cause some gremlins. Running a multi meter probably won't identify it.

Clean the earth points, have a keen look over the fuses. Without going back over the thread (sorry, lazy), the power steering, oil sensor and I think ABS all run off the same fuse. Perhaps check the wiring diagram and follow the trail pending your fault.