ESP Fault - Please See Owners Manual

[SCFC_Messiah]

Hi Guys

I've noticed if my car (170 TDI) is left lying over night, or left without being started for a few days, when I turn the ignition for the first time and the car is starting to fire into life I get an audible warning chime and 'ESP Fault - Please Read Owners Manual' displayed on the DIS for a split second. By the the time the engine starts though, the audible warning has stopped and the warning message is gone from the DIS. It literally displays for a split second (barely long enough to read)

For the rest of the day it'll start up first time without any warnings or messages. It literally only happens on the first start up after the car has been left standing for a while (over 12 hours around about)

After reading this thread it seems Audi say it's perfectly normal, others say it's the sign of a failing battery - http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...18081-esp-fault-please-see-owners-manual.html


Anyone else experience this? I'm tempted to think it's a failing battery - it would explain why it does it when the car has been left standing (maybe the battery is draining over night and running low!?). Either way I don't feel happy with Audi's claim that it's perfectly normal!

Any advice or experiences appreciated, Cheers guys

 

[zx6rninja]

this has happened to me after i had the battery diconnected,stayed on until the car was driven. it could be a battery voltage issue.

 

[SCFC_Messiah]

If it is just a battery issue I'm happy ignoring it. If the battery fails at some point down the line I can just get it replaced easily enough

I just hope it's not something more sinister....

 

[Sidhu88]

sounds like battery to me mate. Take it to halfords for a battery test (its free) see what sorta charge its holding. Run an alternator test while ur at it. After changing my battery i had the same issue but it went back to normal after driving it for about 10 seconds. Sounds like the batteries knakkered if its almost dying overnight. Make sure u get a decent powered calcium battery that is near or exceeds the power of ur current spec battery

 

[Bc02cmc]

Dont know if anyone can help with my a3 issue...? i have an a3 2l tdi 54 plate and since december last year ive had nothing but problems with my esp and abs lights coming on, it came up the the reader as abs sensor and wheelbearing so it was changed. The lights still come on. I was advised to change the abs pump so thats been done too. Again the lights are back on. They are not on constantly because i can restart the car and it resets it, sometimes for a few weeks or maybe 5 mins but it still comes back on. When the brakes fail i get push back on the peddle like the brakes are jammed. (brakes are brand new all round) pleeeeease can someone help as i love my audi but right now its no use to drive! help please

P.s my mot is due this week

 

[Sidhu88]

Make ur own thread fella.

 

[SCFC_Messiah]

Cheers Sidhu. Halfords battery test done. The battery is showing 82% which is apparently fine, and the alternator is fine too

Called my local Audi to see if they could confirm this bulletin that was apparently sent out claiming this was perfectly normal. If he could confirm that I'd have been happy to live with it..... but he had no knowledge at all. Not sure what to do now!?

 

[TDIb0y]

I have the exact same issue as described in the 1st post, only difference being sometimes I get the DIS message for a mili-second without the beep actually going off.

It may be coincidence, but I'm pretty sure the issue only started after I took the battery off the car to charge it. Not that there was anything wrong with the battery, I just wanted to give it a full charge.

Because of this, I don't think there's actually a voltage issue triggering the problem. My guess is there's a error left in the system from when I took the battery off the car.

I intend to get this checked when I take the car for a service, so if it clears the problem I'll report back.

 

[cubby]

Same issue here as well too.
Its a 2008 170 dpf .
Bought car from uncle and just before it it was in at audi for water ingress setting
Off alarm . Battery was deemed ok by audi assistance.
Mines only does it when car has already been started. Never on initial turnover when car has been sitting
Same thing, quick flash on dis then beep. Esp button seems to turn on and off as it should..
Presumably no codes as car was audi serviced literally just before i bought it.

 

[SCFC_Messiah]

I've come to the conclusion it's not something to worry about. It'd still be nice to have it sorted though

 

[mjr901]

I've come to the conclusion it's not something to worry about. It'd still be nice to have it sorted though

The exact same thing happened when i had my 170 58 plate. literally just a quick flash then its off. Car was on 6k, and it did this occasionally right up to 30k. i then swapped to S3

i figured its just the voltage just being shuffled round upon ignition which creates slight irregularities in voltage elsewhere(ie the ESP system in this case), thus making an error for that split second until things had evened out...

Im sure you will be fine :thumbsup:

 

[Murikka]

Just yesterday I went to my local Audi dealer here in Helsinki Finland and asked about this matter, as my 2007 A3 SB 2.0Tdi Dpf quattro flashes this same "Esp fault - check users manual" error on DIS almost everyday when I start the car. I checked codes with VCDS and there is no errors in the ESP. The answer was pretty clear, there is bulletin about this in dealers system and it says that there is no fault in ESP system, and there is no update or recall to solve this matter.

 

[DenniS3]

I had this fault last week, I had a thread with my error code on. Do a search if you want the code.

Anyway the ABS brake sensor was the problem, £485 to get it fixed at an independant audi/vw garage. ABS is tied into the ESP.
Common problem on A3s and Golfs. As it's a common fault Audi cut the price of the repair kit by about £300 instead of a recall.

 

[SCFC_Messiah]

Thanks, but I'm pretty sure from reading your thread that you had a different problem. In your case the warning light stayed on.... in ours the DIS displays the warning for a split second on start up then disappears when the engine kicks in. No further warning messages from then on and the ESP turns on and off as it should

 

[Dannykn9]

Had this issue about 7 months back, replaced my battery with an upgraded Varta one, and problem has been solved ever since!

 

[10gler]

I had this problem too, I replaced the battery and problem has been solved.