VW Golf - ESP Light on the dashboard

[Kryten]

I am hoping you motoring-savvy goaters can shed some light on a problem my car developed this morning, and to try and dispel some of the horror stories I have heard about possible causes...

I have a 1.9 VW Golf SE TDi, 05 reg. This morning, whilst heading to work I noticed that the ESP light had come on on the dashboard, and the push button switch down by the gear stick had the "off" word illuminated.

Now I did what it said in the manual - I switched the ignition off, turned it back on then drove a few miles and the light didnt go out. Unfortunately I cant book it in to the local dealer as they are currently having server issues.

I therefore used the power of the Interweb and discovered that not only is this now becoming a common fault across all VW ranges, but that a replacement part can cost up to £1500!

Have any other Goaters had any experience of this problem? Any advice?

 

[Stevienics]

Yep. Bought me Polo 2 years ago and it's been on and off ever since. Doesn't matter what the engine or car model is, because the problem is a well known transponder fault. Sometimes the Eng light comes on as well. In all likelyhood, nothing wrong with the engine whatsoever.

Just ignore it, but if it really worries you disconnect it and have a few beers before you drive............works for me.

 

[Kryten]

Yep. Bought me Polo 2 years ago and it's been on and off ever since. Doesn't matter what the engine or car model is, because the problem is a well known transponder fault. Sometimes the Eng light comes on as well. In all likelyhood, nothing wrong with the engine whatsoever.

Just ignore it, but if it really worries you disconnect it and have a few beers before you drive............works for me.

its an interesting solution, I'll give you that...

 

[Realist78]

How about looking for a place that will recon your ABS unit or whatever it is. If you haven't looked already, search this forum site...Linkthingamy

Or, for repair, check out these guys

 

[Teh Wal]

Reading through this thread - http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=66972 - it's not looking good mate. However you may be lucky, this was posted on Fri 4 Dec 09 11:31 by HonestJohn (2nd post from the end of the thread at the moment)

Further development. Last night the man from VW told me they were treating Golfs the same as Tourans. If fully VW serviced and not too old they are replacing the ABS/ESP modules FOC; otherwise its an age and service related Goodwill contribution.

I suppose the good news is that it's not an MOT fail type situation - 'cos you can choose to switch it off.
Good luck.

 

[The Masked Geek]

Isn't ESP that thing that lets BMW / Merc drivers to let you know they're gonna change lanes without indicating???!? DT_Xtremez_14:

 

[steve_k243]

Isn't ESP that thing that lets BMW / Merc drivers to let you know they're gonna change lanes without indicating???!? DT_Xtremez_14:

I thought it was the device that enabled white van man to tailgate at 70 plus whilst munching a burger and grunting into a phone at the same time.

 

[Hu Jardon]

If you are in the AA, Green Flag etc etc call them out - drive a couple of miles from home if you don't have home start. They will run the diagnostics for free.

I had a similar fault in an Audi TT a week out of warranty a few years ago. The initial quote came in at over 3K but after a bit of gentle persuasion and convincing the idle tw@ts to do a bit of fault diagnosis (change a bit and test it again - rather than change everything from the off) it came out at less than 1500, then I got on to Audi and they kicked in 75% of the charges as a goodwill gesture

Good luck

 

[Ex-Bay]

Isn't ESP that thing that lets BMW / Merc drivers to let you know they're gonna change lanes without indicating???!? DT_Xtremez_14:

I thought it was the thing that detected "the driver behind" on a motorway.
Or maybe showed the "driver in Front" on the same road.

 

[Kryten]

Owners of VW cars - beware!!!

Owners of VW cars - beware!!!

Well, I finally got the car booked in yesterday - thanks to all the fellow Goaters who gave me advice on probable causes - and thanks to you Teh Wal for the links - you were spot on....

Apparently a brake pump booster has failed in the cars ABS unit which is whats sending out the warning light. According to VW the repair involves replacing the entire pump rather than the specific component - the cheapest replacement starts at around £690.

VW were going to leave it at that, but I showed the guy on the service desk a print out from the HonestJohn website and got them to admit that this is becoming a major problem - so now they are investigating as to whether I qualify for their "goodwill" programme.

But be warned - apparently this is a problem that affects Golfs, Polos, Tourans and Sciroccos - if any of you have a version of this car post 2005 then you are likely to have the same problem crop up sometime...

 

[Teh Wal]

Glad to be of assistance mate. Fingers X'd for a decent decision from VW.