Steering Angle Sensor Cleaning

[glengibson]

Has anyone attempted to clean their steering angle sensor rather than replacing the costly part?
I did read somewhere that they can get dirt on them causing errors and they can be cleaned. Thought I would try before buying a new one at £300!!
And what would be the best thing to try cleaning it with??

Cheers!

[CanisRed]

I was going to have a go at cleaning myself, as I’ve one throwing faults.

However, decided to go for a new one instead.

So (having been an apple tech in a former life), I’m going to dismantle mine, clean with compressed air, and video the entire experience (will share on here).

I pick my new SWAS tomorrow so will have a bash at the weekend.

[dambat]

Yep, done it. You could use IPA to clean as it's just optical sensors, or just air blown gently to remove dust. The main thing is to set it to 0 degrees when you pull it apart and make sure it goes back at 0. There are a few posts from me on this in the past. If you do lose the degree setting, you can get it back by reconnecting the SAS to the Volvo and checking the angle setting with VIDA.

It's certainly easier to repair than anything made by Apple!

[CanisRed]

Originally Posted by dambat

It's certainly easier to repair than anything made by Apple!

[polainm]

I'm in same position. It's tempting to DIY fix, if it's only dust on the slit HOWEVER it can be a continuity fault in the clock-spring ribbon cable, and this can be intermittent, so even testing this on the bench might be OK, but when turned, not. One should also really use a new steering wheel stretch bolt. High strength thread lock (not too much) will suffice, but make sure it's torqued correctly and steady the steering wheel carefully when torquing up, NOT via its limit stops or steering lock! The rest of the 'how-to' is all over the internet, especially YouTube Peppermint's site. Let us know how you get on......

[glengibson]

hopefully will have time to have a go at the weekend as the MOT is due in next few weeks!

[dambat]

It's fairly straight forward to diagnose what is wrong before you pull it by turning the wheel and monitoring the PID in VIDA.

Bouncing around - optical sensors (most common fault).
Jerky - fine (wheel) sensor.
Bouncing between reading and ground state - cable.
180 degrees out - needs clocking (not sure how this happens but it does. Maybe parking with the wheel hard over).

I clocked mine and cleaned the sensors 5 years ago, and never had a fault since.
Damien

[glengibson]

Thanks Damian,

I do have Vida so will plug her in again later today and have a look

[glengibson]

We’ll just had it plugged in Vida,

Cleared the codes and it cleared fault so went for a drive and after about 5 mins fault appears again. Had the diagnostics on whilst driving and it seems to be ‘freezing’ on left hand turns approx 227 degrees. I reset and tried again and it did the same.

Would you have said this was dirt on the sensor or something else before I take it apart tomorrow?

Many thanks

[dambat]

Hi Glen. I'm not sure. It could be a blocked sensor. It might be something else. If it was a just a blocked sensor, I would expect it to change again as you moved past 227 degrees and the other sensors take over. Worth trying.

I'm a bit hazy, as it's been a few years, but I recall the steering angle part does not use the ribbon cable. There's a video here (in Finnish), which is a fairly destructive teardown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2pbgi_JpOg

You just want to do enough to access the optical sensors and occlusion ring. One or two screws and the side clips (which he breaks in the videos) about minute 3.

Good luck. Damien