tommytee

Hi
A few weeks ago on a cold morning I inserted key and it was unable to unlock the steering wheel, the console read "Please take load off steering wheel".
Nothing would come on except for the radio, meaning handbrake was unable to be released. jiggled around with key did nothing, rang garage (not a AUdi dealership but a run by ex audi dealership head mechanic who knows his audi's and i would consider the next best thing to a dealership without the silly prices ;-).
Called for a tow but that was proving difficult due to handbrake and how car was parked. Also disconnected battery, and swapped key, neither of which did anything, trying to man handle the steering wheel did nothing either. Tried it one last time and key went full turn unlocking the wheel and able to start car, Drove it straight to the mechanic.
Its happening again and very stressful when getting kids out to school in morning.
Once it arrived in the mechanic's garage the issue did not repeat itself whilst in their care and nothing logged on ecu, result = waste of money getting a rental for a couple of days.

I think it seems to happen more and more in cold weather, battery is fine. its a 2.0TDI with 120k on clock,

any ideas what is causing this, i have looked online and see I am not alone but nobody follows up posts on a fix/resolution

many thanks
Tom

raj99

Hi Tom,

Based upon your model, I'd assume you're in Europe and based upon what you've described, it sounds very much like the steering column and/or the actuator control unit might be the issue. Unfortunately the successful long-term solution is usually a new/refurb steering column replacement.

However, take a look at this video and it may work for you:

Also, here's a good thread: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...-park-2878878/

tommytee

yeah thanks for that, i'll probably give to dealership for an hour to diagnose and then make decision based on findings, gut instinct is that it will be pricey to fix.

Richard Levy

My car did the same thing to me this morning. '06 A6. Google had various solutions, I tried the simple one first. Put key in and out till it unlocks the steering wheel. 5th time it did just that.

No errors on the computer.

Time will tell if it continues.

Richard Levy

Car did it again today and I couldn't get the column lock unstuck. I can hear three faint click-clicks as it tries to release before the "Please tale load off steering" error comes on. Tried cranking on the steering wheel manually and removing/inserting the key a hundred times to no avail. click-click--click-click--click-click.

This car might be toast if the steering column is really ~$2000. I certainly can't risk driving it anywhere even if I get it unstuck now.