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ESP Light

1982 Views 3 Replies 1 Participant Last post by  Hmilton
2009 Smart Passion/SMP
41,711 miles
Original tires, still good tread depth.

My daughter's car. The ESP light is coming on.
- When she starts the engine the light is off.
- The light may come on while driving.
- If the ESP light does come on it stays on until she turns the engine off.

She's 85 miles away so I have not been able to look at it or scan for codes.

- Should the ESP light coming on produce an OBD-II code?
- Anyone know what to look for or check?
- Does the forum have a procedure to do a diagnostic work-up?

Thanks.
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I did some searching

Ok, so I found this post from Smart Bob:

You may have a tire rubbing that will cause a wheel speed sensor to see a fluctuation between the rotating speed of one of the wheels. In any event, your vehicle's ESP system should be inspected and insurance should cover the repairs. You cannot normally retrieve ESP codes with the generic code readers that are available in most Auto Parts Stores. It will take the Mercedes Star System or a professional code reader with the correct software.

I'll check the speed sensors and associated rings, inspect the tires again, shocks and suspension. After that I guess I'll need to get the codes read. Anything else to try?

Lucky I have an extended warranty.
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Update on ESP Light

AllData didn't provide any real ESP checkout procedures. So in order to do everything I could before taking it to MB, on 9/5/2013 at 43,943 miles I:
-replaced pads & rotors (Pads were worn but not shot, rotors had normal wear. My reasoning was first I wanted to make sure that the brakes were not contributing to the ESP issue. Secondly, I wanted to replace the original pads with a low dust option. Third since new pads are $11/set, I'm not going to pull the brakes apart and then reinstall pads with 44K miles on them. I serviced the glide pins.)

- Replaced all 4 tires. These were the original tires. They were not worn to the wear bars but were pretty dmn close. My thinking was that worn tires could contribute to the ESP light issue, in addition to replacing due to wear.

So far no ESP light, but since it's been an intermittent issue, I will not declare the issue resolved. I'll update this again in a month.
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Just an update, no repeat of the ESP light since replacing the tires and front pads & rotors.


Sent from AutoGuide.com App
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