Please release the steering wheel -error

[DBedford]

1st time in 16 months we got the 'Please release thr steering wheel'. Thank goodness the car was off the road parked on a drive as it was unresponsive to any inputs. I disconnected the battery twice which made no difference.
On my 3rd attempted I left the negative terminal off while I contacted AA Roadside Assurance, after approx. 5 minutes I reconnected the battery terminal and the car started as normal. I took the car for a short run and pulling back into the drive to cancel the AA visit the AA drove into the drive (all in 25 minutes).
The AA mechanic confirmed that the car needed 5 minutes with the battery disconnected to allow all capacitive circuits to discharge and reset. I apologised for not being able to cancel his visit in time. He checked the security of the battery earth terminal before shaking hands and saying good-bye.

As they say,'Each day is a school day'.
Lesson learnt ?

 

[fred12345]

what was the error? I don't understand what the "Please release the steering wheel" error is supposed to be?

 

[Coulomb]

don't understand what the "Please release the steering wheel" error is supposed to be?

I think it's detected some resistance to the power steering. That could be because you're strong arming it, or more likely the wheels are encountering an obstacle, like a kerb. But best to blame the driver, right? ?

 

[fred12345]

found this - good to check it out

Screen Message

Has anybody had this message on screen.... 'Please Release Steering'. The car is dead until the message is cleared.

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