[Glenstr]

My daughters car actually, she called me on her way home today saying after she pulled into a store after her 30 minute drive home and started her car again, the red steering wheel dash light came on with a loud beep accompanying it.

She had backed out of her parking spot and drove while talking to me, saying the steering wheel felt "jerky", so I told her to pull into a gas station about 2 blocks away. She said it was very hard to turn into the gas station

I was not far away so I drove to have a look. She had the car shut off, and after looking (in vain) for the power steering pump I googled it and saw there was none.

Got her to start it again, light was off and I could reach in and move the wheel both directions slightly while it was parked. I told her to drive home and I would follow her, keeping her on the phone. She said it was steering easier but still "felt funny" as in not normal, and after about 5 km's when turning the light came on red again and beeped, and her steering was manual & very hard again.

We got it home, and I did some searching but not able to find much info, other than some saying the entire rack assembly needed replacing in some cases. I did read about a reset when light was yellow, where you start the car, turn wheel all the way left, hold for 10 seconds, turn all the way right for 10 seconds, then back to centre, stop and restart vehicle, so I thought I'd try that. I went back out and started it, no light or beep, did the reset exercise anyway, no light on restart.

So I took the car for about a 30 minute drive to town and back, stopping at a store, shutting off etc., about 20 km's in total, taking lots of corners .Car was perfectly fine the entire time, no light, steering felt normal.

So I don't think this is a real serious issue or it would have manifested again. We are experiencing extreme cold with temps between -30C and -40C, but this has not been an issue during similar cold snaps last winter in the year since she bought the car. And the car was well warmed up when it first manifested on her way home, her drive home from work is about 30 minutes.

Could a lower than optimum battery cause this? She bought the car in November of last year, and as far as I know it's probably the OEM battery in it.

We are 220 kms from nearest dealer and I don't know if local shops have proper analysis equipment for VW's.

Could this be a one-off thing? Should she take to city to get scanned at a dealer?

Thanks in advance.

 

[adl534]

Hello. I called the VW dealership myself about this same issue. I was told this is a Tiguan Known Issue that occurs when it is cold. They said there is no fix for it other then turning the vehicle on and then off until the power steering engages. That being said, sometimes this works for me and sometimes it doesn't. It is annoying though as they know this is an issue and they slough it off like its no big deal. I live in Canada and this winter it has happened4 times this winter....sometimes it happens when it is -20, so not overly cold.