R36 DSG paddles don't work

[maclean_cherry]

Hi all,

Bought an '09 R36 last week and have an issue I was hoping to get help with. I've done a search on 'r36 dsg paddle' and read all threads on the 9 pages, no one else seems to have had my exact issue.

Issue is that neither of my DSG paddles work. The up/down shift on the drive selector work fine, all other buttons on the steering wheel work fine too.

My mechanic is going to hook it up to a computer next week and I'm looking at buying the VCDS kit as well (I'm very handy with computers so that'll be a breeze)

Question is, is there anything that could cause both paddles to not work but not affect anything else? Should I try a battery reset? I read the entire manual over 2 days looking for a hint on activating it but didn't find anything (although found heaps of other cool stuff!)

Anybody in Canberra able to help with hooking up to VCDS to check for codes until I can get my own?

Cheers

MC

Edit: Forgot to mention that I bought it off a family that had this as the wifes car with 2 baby seats and the hubby had a twin turbo Z4 for fun so Ive ruled out paddle abuse but obviously parts can still fail..

[BrashDaniels]

Any chance it had a prang and the airbag deployed or for some other reason the wheel has been taken off and not replaced properly?
Mind crunching........


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[maclean_cherry]

No accident, I've known the owners the whole time they've owned it. I don't remember it ever going to the shop for warranty repairs either so I don't think the steering wheel has been removed, will ask them though.

[revivor]

Suspect would be something might be faulty!

VCDS does have a setting I think for enabling steering wheel w/ paddle shifts (read this somewhere before for some Passats replacing their stock steering wheel)

Good luck!

[Ryan_R]

There's a setting here you can check with VCDS:



The Official VWW VCDS Tweak Library

[tigger73]

It sounds like you haven't got the paddles enabled or somewhere along the way the previous owner had them disabled.

Either way it's a simple thing to check.

Here's a steering wheel retrofit thread with all the details on how to code the paddles using VCDS.

This is the first thing to check. Second would be to look at the connections but this involves taking the airbag out. Funny that both aren't working though - so I suspect it's coding.

[maclean_cherry]

Thanks Ryan and Tigger. So from that thread it looks like I tick an additional box and the other ones should already be ticked?

Found a thread with someone in Canberra offering VCDS cable to borrow so I've hit them up for that.

Thanks again.

MC

[tigger73]

Thanks Ryan and Tigger. So from that thread it looks like I tick an additional box and the other ones should already be ticked?

Found a thread with someone in Canberra offering VCDS cable to borrow so I've hit them up for that.

Thanks again.

MC

Exactly. There should be a single check box that needs to be ticked. Fairly easy to check.

If it's already ticked then it'll go onto stage 2 investigation - pull out airbag and check wiring connections. But you may want to get someone else do it for you as airbags aren't something you want to "play" with. If they go off it can be fatal.

[Ryan_R]

Screenshot is from a Golf, just change the 3rd number from right to a 6 or 8 (depending if you want the microphone button on your steering wheel to be for voice control or audio mute/pause).

[maclean_cherry]

Thanks for the confirmation.

Looks like the guy in Canberra sold his VCDS cable so I might have to wait a bit longer to get this fixed..

Might just take it over to my local VW dealer to see if they can check the code.