Electronic Stability Control light on dash

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Permalink Reply by mr bad example on February 13, 2011 at 11:54am

what were the conditions? in snow, i stand on the gas pedal going up hill and it pretty much stays lit. in GA, i imagine you don't get much snow. if you wanna do donuts, first press the buttons on both sides of the speedo (trip reset and clock set) and turn ignition to AUX, where everything lights up, but doesn't start, hold till the triangle is blinking, then start, your ESP and ABS are now disabled, have all the donuts you like! turning off the car will kill this function and give you back ESP and ABS.  this is NEEDED when trying to get your car out of a snowbound area, the ESP will not let you get "wheel spin" which is needed in blizzard conditions.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Diehl on February 13, 2011 at 3:46pm

I never heard that before...about disabliing the ESP.   Thanks!  If mine ever starts working again, I'll know how to disable it.    But the light first came on just after a routine gas stop.  No reason.  Then this morning it was off for a while, but the next time I got in and drove it was on again.  I hate these kind of elusive gremlins.  We'll see. 

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Permalink Reply by rognoncru on February 19, 2011 at 1:03pm

Read owner's manual. Could be a problem with the esp itself.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Diehl on February 19, 2011 at 4:07pm

Thanks.  I think you're right.

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Permalink Reply by Allan Schmidt Christensen on March 12, 2011 at 6:28pm

It's just one of the many "alfa syndromes" the smart has. Turn of the car, and start it again, and the car is back to normal again. If that dosent help, it may be a problem with a abs/esp sensor or the electrics. Good luck with your smart :-)

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Permalink Reply by Jim Gausman on March 13, 2011 at 3:44pm

Thank you for the secret code to turn off the ESP and ABS!  As you say, this may come in very handy to get out of being stuck in the snow.  Also it will increase the fun level when I find an icy vacant parking lot!

I noticed that when the systems are turned off in this fashion - that the ESP warning triangle flashes continuously and the ABS light remains ON.

Are there other 'secret codes' that we should all be aware of?  How does a person discover things like this?

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Permalink Reply by Jack Diehl on March 13, 2011 at 4:18pm

My light has been on for a couple of months now.  Next time I have some service I'll get it checked out, but so far I've noticed no problems, and it drives fine.  I'm just aware that something is not in working order, so I'm not going to push it too far.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Diehl on June 22, 2012 at 7:08pm

FYI...after several months of driving with that light on, it went out and has been working normal for several months now.  Kinda weird, but either way it was ok.   Still like the car.  Unrelated to the light, we have one gas station in town that has no ethanol gas.  It's only 90 octane, so I add some octane boost, but consistently get at least 3 mpg better.  Used to be, with the ethanol in the gas, about 36-37 mpg around town.  Now it's usually 40.  That whole ethanol thing is so bogus, and aggravating!

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