ESP Warning light - help

[bjarne]

Hi, I am new to the forum and have had beetles for many, many years. This is my first 'new' beetle, a 2001 1.6. The ESP warning light is permanently on and I have been told it may be a brake light. But all my lights appear to be fine. It was also suggested that it could be something to do with the ABS but the brakes are superb and work fine including during an emmergency stop (no vearing or skidding). Can anyone suggest what else the problem may be and how to resolve it? Many thanks for your help.

[Jitterbug]

There are many sensors etc involved in the ESP and shutting the ESP/TC/ABS system down will/should leave you with very good functioning brakes in any case.

Connecting at a dealers will reveal the fault code or you can buy a vagcom cable and do it yourself (£11 and a laptop).

[bjarne]

ref. esp light. went to local garage,diagnostic came up with code 01423 g200. garage is quoting £500 aprox. i've herd it could be the brake light switch,which is cheap to repair.what do you think. any idea's much appreciated.

[Jitterbug]

That code calls out the Lateral Acceleration Sensor, which is presumably where the £500 comes from. This is the sensor that works out if the car is sliding in a corner by comparing the lateral acceleration with what it expects given the speed of the car and the steering wheel angle so failure affects the ESP ability.

It doesn't refer to the brake light switch but in any case if your brake lights come on when you press the pedal then that switch must be working so cheap to test on your own backed up against a wall if necessary to see the reflection.

[Vee.Dubster]

It doesn't refer to the brake light switch but in any case if your brake lights come on when you press the pedal then that switch must be working so cheap to test on your own backed up against a wall if necessary to see the reflection.

The brake light switch is a common fault on most VW group A4 platform vehicles, it can go into fault mode whilst still technical still working the brake lights! It can (and does) effect other electrical systems. The switch on my own New Beetle did this.

The latest revision switch (version D - in green plastic) is only about £8 from the VW dealers - do not buy one that is not a genuine VW part. They are easy to fit yourself.

[Jitterbug]

Hey good info, blown brake light bulbs can cause similar issues/random errors on Discovery 3's. Does the A4 switch cause a consistent error or is it somewhat random? My ESP light occasionally comes on with no particular pattern but vagcom calls 00814 and refers to the brake pressure solenoid - worth changing the brake switch first??

4 revisions of a brake light switch! You'd think they could get it right