power steering assembly - bad sensors

[audicary]

I recently had the power steering rack assembly replaced on my 2004 Allroad 4.2 (it had sprung a leak and lost nearly, but not all power steering fluid) by my local dealer. They also replaced the brake switch, saying the triangle light had illuminated as well as the some oil related seals and valley gasket. When I picked the car up both the ABS and Electronic Stabilization warning lights came on and stayed on (which had not been the case prior to when the car went in). They said the combination of lights was caused by a bad steering angle sensor which they had not replaced. Also the self-leveling suspension warning light now comes on and stays on, which the dealer said is the result of the steering angle sensor and the two related warning lights being on, although I know the self leveling system itself is good because I just replaced the two front airbag and condenser last year.

My question is could the brake switch, steering angle sensor and resulting warning lights have been affected (damaged) by the initial loss of steering fluid or by the repair work the dealer did, or could those problems have emerged entirely on their own ? It seems coincidental that all these sensor and switch problems, which had not been an issue before, suddenly cropped up alongside the repair work.

This type issue has happened before (with this car but not the same repair shop) where sensors needed to be replaced right after some generally unrelated but major repair work was done.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Edit/Delete Message

[julex]

What are the fault codes causing by the lights?

However, it is not possible for steering angle sensor to bomb out due to rack leak, sensor is way up in steering column. In most likely scenario, dealer simply doesn't know what they're doing and they installed steering column one or more rotations out of 0 degrees (centered to rack) , you can check that in vag-com /vcds... Or with stool vag401 tool (around $55 shipped on eBay stand alone handheld miracle tool that does what factory dealer tool can)

[rollerton]

^^ What he said. The story they gave you is total bullshit- literally none of those explanations is acceptable, and a steering rack can easily be replaced without damaging other parts. No step in a rack replacement neccesarily causes a problem with ANY of the things you've mentioned. They spun the steering wheel with the rack disconnected and possibly ruined your clockspring with contains the angle sensor. They also put the car on a rack and let the suspension hang, or some other screw up, without the suspension in "Jack Mode". Will need a calibration at least.
The clockspring might be okay- but you'll need an interface that can read steering angle to see if it's okay or not. If it's okay you can unhook the coupler under the dash, set steering wheel back straight and do the adpatation.
Ideally what you need is a comptetent and honest repair shop to check it out- and advise you how to get even with the dealer.

I've said it before; but outside of a clear and easy warranty repair I wouldn't trust a dealer more than any corner repair shop. The largest dealers may have the best trained techs, but the majority of them will simply have a master tech or two and a few "factory trained" (factory trained meaning they've read some VAG training materials or attended training workshops) techs and the rest of the repair floor will be staffed with kids off the street who may or may not be able to simply follow instructions. And if there are only 2 or so "master techs" which car you think they're working on? Your 12 year old Allroad or the 2013 S5..?
Add that to the CO$T of dealer service and nobody ever wins.

[audicary]

As an added note the three warning lights (self leveling suspension, ABS and electronic stabilization) do not come on when the car is started or put in reverse ... only when put in drive ... the dealer recommended replacing the steering angle sensor ... will that fix the problem or could there be other things wrong ... non of these lights had ever come on, either singly or in combination, prior to when the car was taken in to replace the steering rack assembly

[rollerton]

Already told you what happened. The ABS/ ESP error is 100% from the steering angle sensor. The dealer will make up literally anything to avoid taking responsibility for a screw up. But, at this point you're going to pay for it, so just take it in and accept the new $1300 invoice they're going to hand you.

[julex]

yeah, if you don't feel like fighting about it, bend over and take it. Moreover, I bet, what will happen now is they will hand you over $2000 estimate and casually ask if you'd like to trade the car in. Move straight out of dealer's book of cheats. You will think that this car is just too much ,trade it in for almost nothing (or an "Excellent" trade in offer on new car, aka a scam), then they will tell this new guy they just hired to go to the parking lot and disconnect steering column (5 minutes of work), flip it 360 deg around and button everything up (another 5 minutes) and car is ready for resell for 3x what you traded it in.