Hi

Have a A4 1.8t Quattro - 106000 miles

I have noticed recently that the ESP light has been coming on when driving. Dosn't happen a lot and disapears when you turn off the engine and back on again.

I had a read at the manual and it also stated that the light should flash on the dash when the ESP is correcting/working. When i tried messing about in the snow tonight the light never came on even when i was in slide.

Does this mean the ESP isn't working?

Any idea what could be causing it?

Thanks
Graeme

 

I think some of the more common causes for this are the brake pedal switch and believe it or not, the brake light bulbs. Check for a shorted or dirty connection on those, a burned out bulb, or maybe try a new brake switch. Do some searching on here and you will find a bunch of info. I would say that if the ! light isn't coming on when you are losing traction, the esp isn't activating.

 

BeringCB6

Thanks for replying.

You'll need to excuse my lack of knowledge.

I noticed last night my brake lights were staying on on occasion even when driving, i don't know what this would indicate but your explaination sounds less expensive than what i was thinking.

I will check all the bulbs/connections tomorrow but would that dash not show an error message if the bulbs were faulty?

What is the brake pedal switch and is it easy/cheap to replace?

Thanks again for your help and i will have a read through and try and see if i can find out any more info.

Graeme

 

not to steal ur thread but my friend just bought her audi 1.8t with 108k like 2 days ago and something similar happend to her.
but it only happens when she's slowing down.... (i wasnt driving so idk exactly wat happens but i was in the car...)
so we were slowing down and all of a sudden (what seems like) her left front wheel locked (i dont think it was ice) and it sounded like the ABS kicked in... then the TSP and ABS lights came on, after that we hit a lil patch of ice and her front wheels locked (no ABS?) but when she turns off the car and restarts it, it goes away.... wht could this be?
its done it maybe 5 times already!
did u ever figure out wat it was with ur car??
thanks in advance to anyone that can help me!!

 

Hey

How you doin

I still haven't got to the bottom of the problem but i'm taking it down to teh mech on Monday so i'll keep you posted.

My problems seems a little diffrent. My ESP light randomly lights up but i think my ABS is still working okay. There's no other lights lighting up on the dash. My brake lights keep staying on as well so i'm hoping it's nothing major and is something relating to that.Fingers crossed!!. Tried testing the ESP when it was icy but it didn't seem to activate.(no flashing light on dash to indicate it was working anyway)

I'll let you know though.
Graeme

 

Just been reading a few other threads.

Is it possible that the brake swith could be causing the brake lights to stay on? Could this be affecting the ESP aswell?(causing the ESP to not work)

Graeme

 

yeah i've looked everywhere and couldnt really find anything so if you can keep me updated on how it goes and stuff it'd be awesome!!
THANKS!!!

 

yeah i think the brake switch could cause the break lights to stay on.
but idk if it would affect the ESP...

 

HI

Just to let you all know what the problem was. I took the car to the garage this morning and all that was wrong was the brake switch. This was causing the ESP light to come on while driving, it was also causing the power to disapear for an instant(If you press the brake while accelarating there is a cut off of the power until you lift off the gas and reapply)The faulty switch was causing this to happen.

Got it fixed today and all is well.

I would recomend any Audi owner who stays in Glasgow or abouts to check out the A4Audi garage in Clydebank. Knowledgable friendly service and considerably cheaper than audi dealer. All trained audi techincans. http://www.a4audi.co.uk/

Used them a few times now and highly recomend them!!!

 

sweet shop. if only i could open something like that.... fk college!