Smoke from behind steering wheel!!!!!

[C11PRA DC]

Hi all,

Driving along the motorway last night and a stream of smoke starts seeping up from undeneath the hazard light button an the steering column along whith a burning plastic smell.

Just as I prepared to pull over to witness the ensuing fireball it stopped!

The recently sparadic horn now dosn't work at all!

Any Ideas as to whats happened? (Its a 99 Ibiza Cupra BTW).

Cheers

DC

 

[SHADY-NINJA]

i had a similar experience on a Mk2 golf GTI i owned years ago.
the melted plastic turned out to be my indicator stalk (thats both sides)
try to have a look at that and keep me posted.

 

[warren_cox]

over time cables get disturbed and rattled about and the cable sheathing can eventually wear exposing bare metal. A mate of mine adjusted the rake / height on his steering wheel and the loom to the stalk controls got snagged in the mechanism and he suffered much of the same as your describing. I wouldn't leave it though as if something was to happen in the outside lane of a motorway at 80mph it could leave you in a fairly awkward spot.

 

[C11PRA DC]

I'll have a good look on Sat!!

If it comes to it is removing the steering wheel straight forward without effecting the airbag?

Cheers

DC

 

[Stu_HR]

Yes and no. Removing the steering wheel is straight forward but make sure the battery is disconnected and do not reconnect it until all the airbag connections have been restored. Otherwise this will throw a fault code in the ECU & the airbag warning light will come on & can only be turned off by dealer or VAG-COM.

 

[C11PRA DC]

Hi all,

Bit of an update!

Removed the airbag, steering wheel, upper/lower shrouds, staulks and very carefully inspected all wires and connectors with no evidence of any problem or damage.


I wish I had looked closer at the wheel first before doing all the above as it appears the live spade connector for the two horn buttons had broken off.

I'am soldering a new connector on tonight then putting it all back together (using a NEW wheel retaining nut and airbag bolts!) and hope fully that should sort it!

Cheers

DC

 

[C11PRA DC]

Thought I'd dust of this thread for future reference for others!

The smoke looks to have been caused by a short between two copper contacts/runners on the the wiper stalk assembly. This melted the plastic creating a hole/gap that the contacts on the wiper stalk would get stuck in, preventing it from moving freely up and down between the four settings!

As mine has an MFA a new wiper stalk assembly (S6K6953519CB41) was £41.89, so I bought one for a base model at £24.66 (S6K6953519CB41) and swopped the stalk/MFA.

Fitted it and its all fixed! no more short circuit worries and my wiper stalk now works perfectly!

Hopefully this might help others!

DC

 

[fcuknafe]

Im having this problem atm aswell. im not very mechanical minded so dont know what to do. My wipers have a mind of theyr on they wont turn off atall now and if i even touch the stalk lightly the jets come on, also ive had the smoke come from the steering wheel twice soo im guessing this is the same problem. Took it to seat and they want £140 but i dont really wanna spend that much. can anyone give me some easy advice lol thanks

 

[warren_cox]

Thought I'd dust of this thread for future reference for others!

The smoke looks to have been caused by a short between two copper contacts/runners on the the wiper stalk assembly. This melted the plastic creating a hole/gap that the contacts on the wiper stalk would get stuck in, preventing it from moving freely up and down between the four settings!

As mine has an MFA a new wiper stalk assembly (S6K6953519CB41) was £41.89, so I bought one for a base model at £24.66 (S6K6953519CB41) and swopped the stalk/MFA.

Fitted it and its all fixed! no more short circuit worries and my wiper stalk now works perfectly!

Hopefully this might help others!

DC

Great to hear you got it sorted - well done for finding it!

Out of interest what Cupra is it on, Ibiza or Leon (Mk?)?

 

[C11PRA DC]

Great to hear you got it sorted - well done for finding it!

Out of interest what Cupra is it on, Ibiza or Leon (Mk?)?

Yeah! I was chuffed when I had sorted it! Its a 99MY Ibiza GTi Cupra Sport.


fcuknafe

You'll need to get the steering wheel off and disconnect/dismantle the steering column/shroud/stalk assembly's to investigate/check as I did!

Might be worth asking the Mk3 chaps as to the correct process for disassembly/reassembly.