ESP/VDC/Traction Control Fault

[ThreeFiddyZ]

Hi All,

 

I recently had my OEM Clockspring Fail and render my Steering Wheel Controls (Volume/Cruise/Horn) fail, which produced an airbag light.

 

Foolishly I replaced my Clockspring with a cheaper than oem Ebay replacement, as I could not source a genuine Nissan Clockspring.

 

After replacing the Clockspring I started experiencing VDC/Traction control issues, the Traction control would kick in intermittently when turning the wheel from left to right. I figured out that it was the Wheel Angle Sensor. Predictably, the cheap replacement Clockspring part failed altogether shortly afterwards.

 

I downloaded OBD Software (Nissan Datascan) to attempt to reset the steering angle sensor to 12 o'clock as I figured that when swapping the clockspring out, even with my best attempts to keep the wheel as straight as possible it may have cocked slightly either way whilst removing the steering wheel. I ran a reset which cleared the traction control issues.

 

I received a replacement clockspring yesterday and fitted this, ensuring the wheel was kept straight and all connections were carried over before reassembling. I also ran a reset on the wheel angle sensor after installation to be cautious and cleared any fault codes.

 

However I am still getting intermittent traction control intervention, nowhere near as bad as initially but enough to nearly cause me to lose control of the car, before eventaully the traction control and slip light are permanately switched on until the car is restarted.

 

I have pulled the below codes out of the ABS/ECU Units using my OBD Software

 

C1145 - YAW RATE SENSOR

C1143 - STG ANG SEN CIRCUIT

 

I am getting quite frustrated, therefore last night out of desperation I have ordered a genuine Nissan 350z Clockspring/Squib Assembly including another wheel angle sensor from Ebay (these have been taken from a 2005 350z and are known working parts) and I will swap these out when I receive these in the next couple of days to try these.

 

My question is, how does the steering angle sensor take it's readings? Does it sense the position of the clockspring or does it independently get it's readings of the steering wheel position via another method? The reason I ask is because before replacing the Clockspring I had no issues whatsoever with VDC/Traction Control or the Wheel Angle Sensor, so I wondered if the cheap Ebay Clocksprings are giving erratic readings to the Wheel Angle Sensor.

 

I also ran a OBD Data Logging test. I recorded the Values of the Engine RPM (To Ensure my test was valid) alongside the Steering Angle Sensor Values. Whilst turning the wheel from lock to lock twice, The steering angle sensor value stayed on 0, whilst I got true live data from the Engine RPM.

 

Again I did not have this issue before replacing the Failed Clockspring so my thoughts are that how can the Wheel Angle Sensor Circuit/Sensor be faulty along with the yaw rate sensor?

 

Any thoughts on this are much appreciated, otherwise it's off to Nissan.

 

Thanks

 

Ash

[Richf]

Are you absolutely certain than the wheel went back on straight , even one spline out can cause this

[ThreeFiddyZ]

Hi, Thanks for the response.

 

Yep, I'm certain as I made marks on the nut for the steering wheel for alignment and I also ensured that the Steering Wheel Alignment Mark lined up with the column alignment mark for center.

[ThreeFiddyZ]

Hi All,

 

Just wanted to post to let others know what I've found and how I've resolved the issue.

 

It turns out that the Generic Clockspring Replacements via Ebay aren't compatible with the 350z. This is because at the rear of the Clockspring, a steering angle sensor for the Traction/Stability Control is present. The Non-Genuine Clocksprings don't physically latch into the steering angle sensor.

 

This means if you fit a Non-Genuine Clockspring for the 350z, as it will not physically latch and turn the steering angle sensor along with the steering wheel/clockspring assembly, it will not give it a reading, which is what produced my above error codes and erratic traction/stability control behaviour.

 

This problem was exaggerated because as the car was driving and turning from left to right, the yaw sensor was giving a reading to the Cars ECU, but the steering angle sensor was still telling the ECU that the wheels were straight ahead, tricking the ECU into thinking the car was sliding, triggering the traction control.

 

After purchasing and fitting a used genuine Clockspring and Wheel Angle Sensor from another 350z, my issues are all resolved.

 

I was able to prove the above as before replacing the Ebay Clockspring with a Genuine unit, via OBD Troubleshooting my Angle Sensor was reporting no values when the wheel was turned from left to right. The car now drives without issues.

 

If anyone wants the name of the Software and Cable I used to troubleshoot and reset my steering angle sensor, It's called Nissan Datascan II and I used a VAGCOM KKL Cable 409.1 to connect to the car via OBD.

 

 

Once I had put the Genuine replacement part and performed the same test via OBD Troubleshooting, the Angle Sensor reported the correct values.

[Luke0549]

Give Abbey Motorsport a call - I had the same issue - fixed it there and then for me.

[ThreeFiddyZ]

Thanks Luke, Issue is all resolved now though as I've posted above :-)

 

Maybe it goes without saying that we should always use genuine Nissan parts, however a lot of people like me will find that you have limited options when sourcing a new Clock Spring/Squib for the 350z.

 

I just wanted to let people know that the pattern Ebay parts aren't correct even if they are listed as compatible. I hope it helps someone and avoids them the pain I've been through.