Esp light 2001 s3

[Yicker]

Hi all

Was having a bit of fun with a hayabusa (well,getting made to look daft lol) this morning on the way home from work. Set off from some lights with the esp coming on in 1st/2nd on some slight corners but then the light stayed on.
Accelerating in a straight line its still kicking in quite violently but when i got home turned the ignition off and restarted the car the esp had gone off.
I fitted a set of spacers/bentley alloys last week and was thinking if this could have something to do with it? Will get it on vag-com asap but just thought id post up here to see if people have had similar issues.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers,Tony

 

[<tuffty/>]

Hummm... I have seen the light come on for various issues... normally if it stays on then something has gone wrong that the ESP relies on to work... this could be something like an ABS sensor, steering position sensor or I have seen it come on for a faulty MAF before...

Best bet is to scan for fault codes... for the light to have stayed on its going to have logged a fault of some kind

<tuffty/>

 

[dancupra225]

Any pics of the car with the alloys on the car ??

 

[Yicker]

Will see if i can find somebody local with vag-com over the weekend or just nip it to the local vw specialists monday.

Cheers

 

[Yicker]

Any pics of the car with the alloys on the car ??

Will put a couple up later when i drag myself out of bed

 

[Yicker]

Right,just been out in the car again and i dont think its the traction control kicking in.
It suddenly looses power after hard accelerating in 1st/2nd like a total shut down for a slight second and then back to normal. Someone has mentioned it could be the maf.
Anyone had these sought of symptoms if they had a dodgy maf?

Cheers,Tony

 

[superkarl]

so the light isnt flashing on the dash when this happens? this would indicate the esp is doing its job.

if not, sounds like hesitation to me. coilpacks/wiring, spark plugs, compression test at worst

 

[<tuffty/>]

Total shut down sounds like the ECU dumping boost... a scan should confirm....

Sounds like a boost deviation so over boost or similar which could be either something wrong boost control wise or more likely the MAF as if its under reading the ECU will be seeing less load than is actually happening and confuse it a bit...

Have a look on the VCDS forum as there is map of users with VCDS on there

<tuffty/>

 

[TqsScott]

Something like this happened to me on the way home last night. I went round an island and the car felt different to normal but just put it down to the fact my boot was heavily loaded. Then a few minutes later my car seemed to cut power a few times on acceleration and the esp light came and stayed on for the rest of the journey. When I got home I restarted the car and the light went out and all seemed normal again.

I'm booking my car into to Midland VW as I've also got cam position sensor code but think that's down to the previous owner having the timing belt done by Quickfit but I,ll see what they say and let you know.

 

[Gops]

Mine used to kick in violently but when I got new tyres it was fine? My light has stayed on but after a restart I had no codes.

 

[superkarl]

its widely accepted that the ESP system on the 8L is....... ****

 

[TqsScott]

Ok a quick update to my problem incase it's any use to anyone. Went out today and esp light came back on within a minute of driving. The car didn't feel right on corners, it used to feel glued to the road but instead felt like I was cornering on jelly! No boost problems at all. Turned the car off while I waited 5 minutes for my girlfriend re started light back on within a minute again.

Went to see the midwife for about half an hour then got back in car and light didn't come back on. Drove my pregnant girlfriend back to work carefully, still no light on. Dropped her off then gave it some welly. Cornered like it was on rails again with the light still not on for about 20 miles and still seemed fine when I parked up just.

My car is on 88k miles and I have no evidence of the Haldex ever being serviced so I'll get that done this week and see what fault codes have been logged and post on here.

 

[superkarl]

with issues like this, its best to start with a scan of faults and go from there. with so many components affecting the esp/4wd system its so difficult to diagnose

 

[AJD S3]

Ok a quick update to my problem incase it's any use to anyone. Went out today and esp light came back on within a minute of driving. The car didn't feel right on corners, it used to feel glued to the road but instead felt like I was cornering on jelly! No boost problems at all. Turned the car off while I waited 5 minutes for my girlfriend re started light back on within a minute again.

Went to see the midwife for about half an hour then got back in car and light didn't come back on. Drove my pregnant girlfriend back to work carefully, still no light on. Dropped her off then gave it some welly. Cornered like it was on rails again with the light still not on for about 20 miles and still seemed fine when I parked up just.

My car is on 88k miles and I have no evidence of the Haldex ever being serviced so I'll get that done this week and see what fault codes have been logged and post on here.

Any 'grinding' type noises at all? Any unwanted action from the ABS Pump?

As I'm sure SuperKarl might agree, sounds like the beginnings of my YAW Rate Sensor issue! I hope for your sake it doesn't end up being that!

In agreement with SuperKarl, scan of faults is definitely your best bet.

 

[TqsScott]

Hi AJD S3. I've not noticed any grinding type noises or noticed anything from the abs pump.

I did notice when I bought the car a couple of months ago It had two budget tyres on the rear, one worn near legal limit and the other only half worn. I assumed one was maybe a replacement after a non fixable puncture

I immediately changed them both to Goodyear Eagle F1's and was going to take it for the propper 4 wheel alignment along with haldex service and cam position fault/timing fault and a general service.

Now I'm wondering if the uneven tyre wear was caused by the same fault before. I guess I'll keep wondering until I have it scanned lol, I'm hoping something might have just come loose while roaming around the fields at AITP.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know more when I get it into Midland VW hopefully later in the week. The Misses has just text to say her exhaust has fallen of her saxo now!

 

[Yicker]

so the light isnt flashing on the dash when this happens? this would indicate the esp is doing its job.

if not, sounds like hesitation to me. coilpacks/wiring, spark plugs, compression test at worst

Yes,the light comes on and stays on when it happens. Coming home from work this morning,pulled out in 6th gear to overtake on the motorway and it seemed to cut power as soon as the turbo started spooling up so its not the wheels spinning.
I have also noticed over the past week that the exhaust seems to be a bit noisier (blowing) than it use to be when cold and has a slight rattle but sounds ok when it warms up.

Anyone got vag-com around the St Helens area? My neighbor said he will bring his snap-on diagnostic home but dont want it to miss anything that vag-com could show up.

Cheers,Tony