ESP Deactivated Itself!

[Wonky]

Was driving in drizzling rain yesterday along the freeway when all of a sudden beep beep beep and warning came up on the dashboard that ESP was off. Tried pushing the ESP button a few times but it made no difference. Got off the freeway as planned and next set of red lights I got I turned the car off and back on again hoping it was just a temporary glitch, but made no difference - beep, beep, beep and the warning again.

Got to where I needed to be and the car was parked for about 2 hours. Started it up and all was normal and haven't had the warning in approx 100km (in dry) since. Has anyone else had this happen? If so has it happened again or did you take it to dealer for checking and what was the result?

[ausiemale]

Happened to me on my first day.

I stalled (new car, new clutch) and restarted the car. It ticked over then the ESP light came on saying it was off and the button didn't work. Then pulled over at a garage and bought a coffee while I called the dealer and started the car again, the clutch made a little bit of a clicking noise then she started fine, no error msg.

Just cleared 10,000k today and it hasn't happened since that first day.

Strange things these new fangled cars :confused:

[Belzey]

Was driving in drizzling rain yesterday along the freeway when all of a sudden beep beep beep and warning came up on the dashboard that ESP was off. Tried pushing the ESP button a few times but it made no difference.

Wonder if this is a common occurrence??

Had the exact same thing happen in my car the other night when I was pulling into my garage, kept pressing the button and nothing but when I turned the car off and on again it worked. Also it happened to my hubby when he drove it the other night.

I have not taken it to Holden but if it happens again I will.

[Titanium]

ctrl-alt-delete .......

Never had it happen in 17,000 kms.

[EfiJy]

Wonder if this is a common occurrence??

Had the exact same thing happen in my car the other night when I was pulling into my garage, kept pressing the button and nothing but when I turned the car off and on again it worked. Also it happened to my hubby when he drove it the other night.

I have not taken it to Holden but if it happens again I will.

u shuld take it back anywa

[deadlywpn_VeSSV]

Hey guys,

Mine did the same thing at 100k/h on the freeway, thought, "what the" then the engine actually shut down, and the MAF filter had got some water over it because of the huge puddle i had to go through..... limped to a service station, took the maff and air filter off, cleaned it and then it was great agian.


(obivoulsy not the same problem for anyone, but it might help shed some light ;) )

Cheers

[VQST80]

Hey guys,

Mine did the same thing at 100k/h on the freeway, thought, "what the" then the engine actually shut down, and the MAF filter had got some water over it because of the huge puddle i had to go through..... limped to a service station, took the maff and air filter off, cleaned it and then it was great agian.


(obivoulsy not the same problem for anyone, but it might help shed some light ;) )

Cheers

Hey deadlywpn__..

When you pulled the maf off, was there water acutally inside the unit or just on the outside.??


If so I think maybe the CAI is in need of slight relocation.

Not sure what would make the car stall tho.


Anayway the ESP system seems to be the issue here.

Just a quick question to the guys that have had this happen, Have you had your cars lowered?,

[deadlywpn_VeSSV]

Yup, is lowered, and there was not water, but a lot of moisture in it.

The Pod was drenched..

[jordanf1]

had it when installing the HIDS. When I tried to turn them on it blew a fuse and the car was telling me that the ESP was off. Replaced the fuse and restarted the car and everything was ok. Car had less than 300KM at the time.

[Wonky]

Interesting the potential connection between lowered cars with CAI and ESP turning itself off, though can't see why. However, my car is lowered and has a CAI and obviously at least one of the others is too. Velly stlange ..... :confused:

[VQST80]

Surely the system would have logged a fault code and maybe getting down to the the dealer for a quick code check may be the surest option.

My guess would be the system received a sensor out of range signal, which probably would auto shut down the ESP as precaution.
Again only my opinion and hopefully its just a small software programing issue.

Im not sure I see any links between the ESP and Lowering tho, it just popped into thought when I read the thread.

[xploit]

I get it all the time,

the VE's hate the rain...

my interior light has a habit of turning itself on and the car thinking that a door is left open so that the car wont lock itself either - once again only in the wet.

[BadMac]

I've also had the ESP off trick. Just before car developed a misfire and went into limp mode. Took it to Holden and they put a plug lead back on, problem went away. The ESP seems to be sensitive to all kinds of sensor readings (which you would hope its doing when it activates).


BDZY88, i'd take that back in and get it seen to. Something wrong there and it could end up a safety issue, ESP turning off expectedly in the wet just when required.

[ABG]

Has never happened to me. Closing in on 16,000kms

[carneb]

I had a problem with the ESP turning itself off. I would pull up at a set of traffic lights and it would come up with the warning. Then I would drive away and it would come back on. It did this a few times so I pulled into a side street. Just after this the car started running like crap. I pulled over and lifted the bonnet and the CAI had come apart! The car was drawing air that wasn't going through the MAF so the ECM had failed the MAF.

Maybe your getting air leaking past the MAF?

[ROGRSS]

Just out of curiosity guys, when i got my VESS lowerd i was told not to go any lower then 25mm springs cause may play up with ESP. Mine and my oldmans were both lowerd with pedders 25mm and we havent had any problems with esp (mine's done 12,000km and oldmans 13,000km).

Just a thought. but sounds like it also could b the CAI

Hope u guys find the probs and get the fixed cheers Paul

[L8TR]

I have had it happen to me twice, the car has just clocked 1500k
i get the same response, standard driving ESP turns off beep..beep..beep
and the ESP button doesnt respond.
on both occasions i have kept driving to my destination (both times happened after Holden working hours) Once i get back in after it has been off it all works fine again... was planning to bring up at 3000k inspection

[Wonky]

Have you got a CAI L8TR? In retrospect I'm guessing that's what my problem was - I can't remember doing so now but I guess I must have hit a patch of water on the road that wet something to do with the CAI??? and affected the ESP till it dried out. Has been fine ever since.......

[L8TR]

Wonky,
i haven't got CAI yet, car is really only 2 weeks old, the only mod to date is aftermarket 20s!
Just wondering if that may cause it with a different wheel alignment?

[eldan89]

Dads had it happen on his senator a couple of times, apparently in our case it was related to a low battery charge.

[L8TR]

Just had my 3000k service and had them check out the ESP problems,
apparently my problems were contributed to the brake pedal!
the placement needed to be reset!
We will see how it goes :)

[cholo]

Yup mine happened also and I believe it was in the rain too. But just once and able to turn it back on.

Just as a side note, we were driving along coming back from the coast and we accidentally went off the white marking on the left of the road.
The bitumen was broken and not even, so the car lost control we all packed sh*t screaming and so was our little boy. lol

Anyway esp took over and steered the car (right) back to being straight and of course natural reaction being thinking that it was the car losing control, my wife steered it back to left. Esp steered it back to its normal direction again. Amazing. It could have been a disaster cos there were cars on the other side and they were stationary from a traffic jam.

cheers

cholo

[Brandonsdad]

Mine happened on Saturday. Bright sunny day, no rain, no CAI, but lowered to the max.....360 mm front and 360mm rear. I think the constant bottoming out was the problem. Went to Holdens and they disconnected the battery and did this and that and no problems since. Got coilovers in on monday so there should be no more probs.

[RNGTR]

Mines done it once, New years day coming out of the Domain Tunnel in Melb.... Drove to where I was going ( 30 mins or so ) turned it off & it was fine when I started it up again. Cars standard height & was under 1000ks old.

[Wonky]

Mines done it once, New years day coming out of the Domain Tunnel in Melb.... Drove to where I was going ( 30 mins or so ) turned it off & it was fine when I started it up again. Cars standard height & was under 1000ks old.
How long did you leave it? I tried turning mine off for a minute or so - ESP still wouldn't come on. Left it for an hour or two and it was fine.

[RNGTR]

How long did you leave it? I tried turning mine off for a minute or so - ESP still wouldn't come on. Left it for an hour or two and it was fine.

Less than 10 mins? Wasnt very long.

[Steve-LS2]

happened to mine today, MAF cable was unplugged, plugged it back in now engine light comes on, engine bay was in the slight drizzle today so the front half of the engine bay had water on it...engine light still coming on ggrrrrr

[HSV Manta]

Also happened to mine. ESP and engine light came on. I just un-plugged the negative terminal and the MAF plug and left it for ten minutes. Plugged it all back up and no dramas since,

Steve

[Aus8]

I have a 3 day old stock March 2008 build VE SS ute M6. Drove it in the rain for the first time today and it went beep beep beep ESP OFF. And it wont turn back on. Not happy at all to be honest. I know I have warranty but its the time and hassle. Dont they test this sort of thing before they put it in the car?

Also the cruise control will turn on but only engage about 50% of the time and turns itself off without any brake or accelerator input.

My car is stock and not lowered so cant be anything to do with that.

Cheers

Aus8

[SLE355]

Holden have a fix for the ESP turning itself off now.

[kpop]

not ESP, but driving along slowly in a side street one day and the ABS warning light came on, then went away...


I have a 3 day old stock March 2008 build VE SS ute M6. Drove it in the rain for the first time today and it went beep beep beep ESP OFF. And it wont turn back on. Not happy at all to be honest. I know I have warranty but its the time and hassle. Dont they test this sort of thing before they put it in the car?

Also the cruise control will turn on but only engage about 50% of the time and turns itself off without any brake or accelerator input.

My car is stock and not lowered so cant be anything to do with that.

Cheers

Aus8

on my vz - the brake pedal is extremely sensitive - so even the slightest touch to it will turn the cruise controll of - even if you tap it from the side...

[BadSeed]

yeah guys it has to be something to do with the brake sensitivity..
i've had my esp turn off numerous times, and i have noticed that if i only lightly take my foot off the brake pedal the rear brake lights remain on until i either apply them and take my foot off with a bit more force or give it a backwards tap with my toes.. its annoying.. i will be bringing it up tomorrow morning with the service manager as its going in for its 3000k service..

[Wonky]

Holden have a fix for the ESP turning itself off now.
Do you know what it involves? In particular is it mainly/all BCM or do they need to do something with ECM too?

[SLE355]

Do you know what it involves? In particular is it mainly/all BCM or do they need to do something with ECM too?

Wonky, I'll check the foreman's notes tomorrow as i can't remember if it was an ECM or Instruments reflash. Bit of a PITA if its ECM and you've had a tune.

[hogs]

Evening,

That will teach you not to give to another to thrash at the Nats.

The fact that Tuffie gave it a hammering and it got touched up by an old fart in a Family Wagon would be enough to cause any new thing to fluff it's ECU.

Cheers,

Hogs,:)

Ps My ESP relies upon throttle position. And it doesn't work at times!!!

[BadSeed]

guys i had mine serviced for this problem today... and its caused by the brake peddle position signal intefering with something. they need to relearn the brake pedal position..

check this out.. at night time or with someone to check your rear lights. take your foot off the brakes very lightly.. do the brake lights still stay on? do you need to release your brake peddle harder to make your rear brake lights turn off? if so this is a symptom of esp turning off and staying off until next reset - ABS/ESP OFF CODE: C0161

[SLE355]

Wonky, the service techline fix is a Instruments reflash.

Badseed, just to clarify, that fix you posted is for the cruise problem not ESP deactivated problem.

[Aus8]

Gents.

Thanks for the replies.

Problem #1 ESP OFF while driving in rain: Started car after a hour problem wont repeat in the dry hopefully it wont turn off again in the wet as thats when I want it on the most.

Problem #2 Cruise control wont activate / deactivates itself with no brake/accelerator input: As mentioned above brake pedal is callibrated wrong and when I am not on the brake it thinks I am (Brake lights remain on sometimes when foot not on the brake). Temp fix before 3k check up is to tap the brake from underneath the pedal pushing it up (opposite way of braking)

Not what I expected from a March 2008 build car but what can you do. Does the dealer test the cruise control as part of the $1500 dealer delivery charge? Evidently not.

Cheers

Aus8

[Wonky]

Wonky, the service techline fix is a Instruments reflash.

OK, thanks SLE. :thumbsup:


That will teach you not to give to another to thrash at the Nats.

The fact that Tuffie gave it a hammering and it got touched up by an old fart in a Family Wagon would be enough to cause any new thing to fluff it's ECU.

Cheers,

Hogs,:)

:lol: Nah, my ESP problem only happened once a long time ago when I had the pod filter on it and hasn't happened since.

From one old fart to another! :)