noco68 Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 I just read a thread on the Passat forum about an owner solving their 'ESP-light always on' problem (combined with a brake lights not working' problem) by simply replacing the bulbs! Now, the specific advice they received was to replace the blown bulbs with exactly the same type..... My girlfriends '02 Beetle 1.6 has had the ESP light problem for about 18 months now and recently (3 - 4 months) a brake light problem on one side which leads to all RHS rear lights going out and the right headlamp dims coming on! (RHS interior light also not working..). Surely this infamous ESP issue can not be solved as simply as getting the right sort of bulb into the car? BTW has there ever been a universally accepted cause for the ESP problem on Beetles? Edna'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Morning! I have to say this is the first time I've heard of people linking brake lights to ESP issues... In the majority of cases I have known of ESP lights staying on then it has been one of the sensors that feed the ESP system that has been at fault. Commonly either the Lateral Acceleration Sensor or Steering Angle Sensor throw out intermittent 'implausible signals' which effectively cause the ESP to lose faith in the sensors feeding it. Because it can't be sure what these key sensors are telling it it shuts itself down - this is what the light staying on means - its warning you that ESP is NOT ACTIVE. So be careful Often the ESP light will go out after a restart but occasionally it can stay on. The only way to be sure of the cause of the problem is to get it diagnosed or plugged into a VAG COM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_m Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 John Carter is an expert on ESP lights I will ask him to drop by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 After a new Lateral Acceleration Sensor, new Haldex ECU (total £1k+) and a current Steering Angle Sensor light A_S I reckon I know a bit too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noco68 Posted October 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Thanks for the speedy reply, Mollox , I guess here's the underlying crux of the matter for us at the moment. We are due our version of your MOT (NCT) sometime in January. If we bring the car into a dealer for a diagnosis check can the light be cleared without the fundamental problem being sorted? Clearing the light and getting through the NCT gets us two years to properly sort it...which sounds nice. Edna'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noco68 Posted October 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 [ QUOTE ] After a new Lateral Acceleration Sensor, new Haldex ECU (total £1k+) and a current Steering Angle Sensor light A_S I reckon I know a bit too [/ QUOTE ] Just read this - Jaysus! This is potentially ahead for us also? Edna'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Oh they can be cleared - the question is how long will they take to come on again? And that will depend on the nature of the fault. Certain faults will cause the light to come on pretty much immediately whereas the light I'm getting at the moment doesn't seem to come on in town driving but seems likely to pop up when I'm pulling gently from 70-80 in 6th on the motorway. Lots of variables I'm afraid!! Is an ESP light an NCT failure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noco68 Posted October 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Not 100% sure but they have something nice and vague called the 'electrical system check' - I'm assuming it would come up here. I have a deep mistrust of the testers (in general) and am assuming the worst... Edna'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_C Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 [ QUOTE ] John Carter is an expert on ESP lights I will ask him to drop by [/ QUOTE ] I don't know nuffin 'bout no ESP lights guvnor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 Ed, the way I see it (and I could and probably am wrong) ESP is not a mandatory requirement and so the fact that its not working might not matter? Its like heated seats not working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weedle Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 On my 2000 (6N2) 1.4 Polo the check engine light ( the yellow engine sign ) and the ESP light would intermittantly come on and eventually they just stayed on !! I had the Polo diagnostics checked and the mechanic said it was a problem with the manifold pressure sensor he replaced it and it was fine ..... for two weeks and then the lights were back !!! I took it back and he said he had been speaking with some other guys and they suggested having a full manifold clean or something along those lines - upshot is he did jsut that and i have had no lights for 4 months !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Edna The ESP light could mean a number of things. My ESP light came on because of a fault on one of my injectors. Work that out. Best thing to do is get a dealer/someone with VAG COM to check out your fault codes, and perhaps clear them and check in a couple of weeks to see which ones have come back. I'm sure the ESP light being on wouldn't make the car fail an MOT/NCT, however I think your RHS rear lights going off and your front RHS dips coming on when you break might do though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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