Steering Angle Sensor

[clarkitect]

My DSC light used to come on intermittently, then finally it came on and stays on. Once I finally got INPA working, I connected and re-calibrated the steering angle sensor, and the light was off the next time I started the car. Fixed! Yeah, no. As soon as I turned the steering wheel, the light came back on. Diagnosis: Bad steering angle sensor.

So my next steps are to remove said sensor and take it apart to see if it can be cleaned, or if the contacts inside are worn out. Based upon this video and some pictures on the now ended ebay listing, I suspect the sensor contact is worn out and I will need a replacement part. Seeing that a new one is +/- $240 I will either hope this guy lists some new repair pieces, or just get a good used one that will hopefully last at least 20k miles.



The TIS page for removal of this sensor states that the steering wheel needs to be removed. Looking at it, I can't figure out why that is. I'll find out when I get in there I guess, but has anyone replaced this part and have any tips? If you have a used one you want to unload let me know.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...column/CKPnfKe

[clarkitect]

So I ended up changing out the steering angle sensor. Sadly, I have not fixed my issue yet, but am still tinkering around with it. The issue is the DSC light is always illuminated, so no traction/stability control. ABS works fine. As stated above, recalibrating the sensor initially turned the light off, but it would come back on immediately. After replacement, the light is still on and I get an INPA error 97 for "lenkwinkelgleich notwendig" - Steering angle adjustment necessary. If I clear the error, it comes right back on. I am not certain that I have done the correct adjustment. I did this:


I am not sure if the light is still on because I didn't remove the steering wheel to change the sensor or not. But to actually change this sensor, the steering wheel does NOT need to come out. However, it is tricky to put things back together and get the wheel centered properly. I had to take it apart and put it back together a couple times to get it right. So, top tip, Mark the steering shaft and the clamp so you can put them back together exactly.

To access the sensor, remove the lower dash section, the lower covering, metal knee protection thing, and the vent that is under there. It's a great time to fix this:



Here's the clamp with the clamping bolt removed:


Steering shaft separated from the clamping bolt, and a little more context of where to work:


Looking back up at the sensor and the shaft from the steering wheel. Moving the telescoping wheel all the way forward helps you access everything here:


The sensor itself simply pops off and the new one back on. You need to ensure the rod on the car inserts into the hole on the side of the sensor, and plug it in.

The job was pretty easy except for needing to be a contortionist to get in there. And the fact that I haven't got the light to turn out. The sensor I purchased was used, and presumably "fully functioning". I will update if I figure this out.

So there's the update, didn't want to leave this blank in case someone came along looking for info later on.

[Frankie]

Clark,

You might want to read my thread here.

In short, the steering angle sensor my not be the problem. Instead, you car's wheel-alignment-to-steering-column is out of whack.

[clarkitect]

Clark,

You might want to read my thread here.

In short, the steering angle sensor my not be the problem. Instead, you car's wheel-alignment-to-steering-column is out of whack.

I was thinking that may have been an issue, but I messed with it until it was basically dead on. Took a couple tries but I was happy with the final position when driving, so I figured it would be worth a shot to recalibate.

Fortunately there are great people on this forum who are always willing to help, like you Frankie, and Purplecty, who remotely programmed the sensor to my car with NCS Expert, then calibrated the sensor with INPA. Purp’s version of INPA was a little different than what I had, so the above video does not reflect what was done.

So now all is well! For now anyway.


So to do this job you will need to have some proficiency with NCS Expert and INPA, which I don’t currently have. Maybe I will eventually. But for now, thanks a lot Purp.

[purplecty]

No problem glad it worked out!

I was thinking that may have been an issue, but I messed with it until it was basically dead on. Took a couple tries but I was happy with the final position when driving, so I figured it would be worth a shot to recalibate.

Fortunately there are great people on this forum who are always willing to help, like you Frankie, and Purplecty, who remotely programmed the sensor to my car with NCS Expert, then calibrated the sensor with INPA. Purp’s version of INPA was a little different than what I had, so the above video does not reflect what was done.

So now all is well! For now anyway.


So to do this job you will need to have some proficiency with NCS Expert and INPA, which I don’t currently have. Maybe I will eventually. But for now, thanks a lot Purp.

Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

[wolftalk]

if you have a sensor like the one in the first post - with the carbon rings and disc with wipers - you can likely repair your original sensor using a salvaged wiper disc from a used part.

1] remove your sensor without rotating it on the steering shaft
2] mark the position of one of the big notches in the shaft hole relative to the sensor case

3] open the sensor using a T-6 screwdriver/bit to remove the 4 screws.
4] verify wiper disc is part 54558

5] lift out wiper disc and look at the four wipers. They should all be the same length and unmangled - unlike the shorty shown in picture below.



6] clean off the carbon rings with q-tip and denatured alcohol. Put in a replacement disc/wiper assembly from a new or used sensor unit in the same position as the one you removed.

7] reassemble the sensor and reinstall it.

I had cleared the LEW code already using a creator c310 hand-held scanner. You'll still need to calibrate by starting the car and spinning the steering wheel both ways lock-to-lock one or two times to turn off the DSC light - at least, this worked on a 2004 X5/E53.

anyway, the point of all this is if you can get ahold of a good disc/wiper assembly, swap it into your original sensor and you won't need to have the sensor coded. Spinning the steering wheel lock to lock does the calibration.

I got a used sensor from a junkyard ($30). I looked up the sensor part number on realoem.com, then looked on amazon/ebay for cars and part numbers that a generic replacement part worked for … those are the cars/parts you look for if going to a u-pick junkyard or getting one off ebay.

'course, some cars are easier than others to get the part out of, and if you can't turn the steering wheel it may be difficult or impossible to get the sensor out without taking enough of the steering column apart to free the wheel or pull the steering column off the shaft going thru the firewall.

a 13mm wrench, sockets/extensions including a 13mm, wire cutters, a set of star point sockets, vice grips, phillips screwdriver, straight screwdriver, flashlight and hammer are useful.

I looked at sensors from three cars, all of which had good wiper discs. That implies if you buy a used part off ebay, you have a good chance it'll have a good wiper disc - or you can ask the seller to check.