What does it mean?
C1260 is a Chassis (ABS, traction control, steering) fault code. It indicates: Steering Angle Sensor Circuit-Signal .
Symptoms
- Stability and traction lamps on, often coming and going while cornering
- Steering angle value in live data jumps, freezes or fails to return to zero when driving straight
- Occasional unwanted brake intervention when the car is going straight
- Electric steering assist may feel different left versus right
- Lane keeping and similar assistance features drop out
Likely causes
- Intermittent or noisy steering angle signal caused by a worn sensor optical or magnetic track
- Damaged clockspring producing dropouts as the wheel is turned
- Chafed signal wire shorting momentarily to ground or to an adjacent circuit
- Corroded connector pins giving a high-resistance signal path
- Calibration lost after a battery disconnection, so the reported angle no longer matches reality
- Corrupted or delayed sensor messages on the data bus where the sensor reports over CAN
- Failing control module input
How to fix it
- Watch the steering angle value while turning slowly from lock to lock and look for jumps, dropouts or dead spots
- Wiggle the column harness and connector during the sweep to see whether the value glitches
- Check the sensor supply and ground for stable voltage under load
- Inspect the clockspring for wear, and check that it was centred correctly if it has been disturbed
- On bus-connected sensors, check CAN wiring and bus resistance for errors
- Run the steering angle calibration and retest with a road test that includes turns in both directions
- Replace the sensor if the signal is proven to be erratic with good wiring and supplies