Bad ACSD switch and Steering Angle Sensor

Tiny
CASPER THE GHOST
  • MEMBER
  • 2007 NISSAN ARMADA
  • 5.6L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 250,000 MILES
Now, here's a question: my vehicle listed above is not throwing a check engine light on the dashboard. The shop installed a new clockspring and after that, while driving, I felt a pulsating/vibrating effect on the pedals on certain condition like turning my steering at certain speeds and will throw a VDC/SLIP indicator on the dashboard. They inspected more and found out that when they turn the steering wheel there is no steering angle value that their scanner is reading (meaning it stays at zero degrees when they turn the steering in any direction). They said the Steering Angle Sensor is good and the clockspring is good, but the ACSD switch is bad. No check engine light; just pulsating/vibrating on pedals due to no data from steering angle sensor and throwing a VDC/SLIP light on dashboard and it comes down to the ACSD switch? I asked the mechanic who did the work what the ACSD switch do and said it should provide data to the ECM on the Steering Angle and once the ACSD switch is fixed that pulsating effect will go away. I just found out today before this video that ACSD is about the cruise control switch in the steering wheel, but he didn't mention anything about cruise control. How is the ACSD cruise control switch connected to the Steering Angle Sensor? And why would it not send data to the ECM if the ACSD is the one that's bad? Or my gut feeling is right that the shop is pulling my leg? The good thing though is the clockspring turned off the blinking airbag light which is why it came to this clockspring replacement and the pulsating issue.
Thursday, July 1st, 2021 AT 3:32 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
It sounds like, what they have done is test for voltage to the steering angle sensor to try and find out if it is faulty. I attached the testing below that I suspect they performed.

The only thing that gives me pause is that if the steering angle sensor is reading 0 degrees that is clearly what is causing the issue. This is because the sensor is telling the ABS that the wheel is not being turned but the wheel speed sensors are changing when in a turn and the Yaw rate sensor is changing as well indicating that you are in a turn. This conflicting data is causing the ABS to think the wheels are slipping so it applies the ABS to try and gain the control back that it thinks it lost.

So if you read through the testing, they must have found an issue with the ACSD in order to not condemn one of the other parts such as the wiring, connectors, or the sensor.

I think your instincts are correct that this is most likely a sensor issue and not an ACSD issue. The only thing that has in common with this system is the data communication lines run through the ACSD. So if the control module is not getting the signal and remaining at 0 degrees then we simply need to find out how they tested the sensor to determine it was okay.

Please run through this material and let us know if you have questions. Thanks
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Friday, July 2nd, 2021 AT 2:04 PM

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