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ESC / Hill Start Unavailable Fixes?

3.9K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  cuorefiat  
#1 ·
Hello all. I recently purchased a 2013 Fiat 500 Lounge and have been having issues from day 1. The final thing I need to fix is the ESC and Hill Start Assistance Unavailable errors. They come on about 50% of the time, with the ESC light on about half of that. No difference in driving or handling. I've had it at one dealership and one mechanic so far. Odometer is not flashing and no other warning lights or codes present. This is what has been done so far.

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Fix 1 - Dealership: Recommended to replace the clock spring. They wanted $1400+ for parts and labor; $900 for the part alone. I purchased the part from Mopar and had it installed by my mechanic for less than what the dealership wanted for the part alone!
Result: No change

Fix 2 - Myself: Fuse replacement. A few people mentioned replacing a couple of fuses under the dash even if they looked fine, but I don't recall which ones now.
Result: No change

Fix 3 - Mechanic: Brake Light Switch replacement. The old one was very bad and hardly moved but it did not fix the issue.
Result: No change

Fix 4 - Mechanic: Ground/Earth strap replacement. Mechanic replaced the ground strap under the battery as some users mentioned. Used a lot of dielectric grease to help with corrosion.
Result: No change

Supplemental:
I haven't done a load test yet on the battery, but it did look brand new when I purchased the vehicle. Possible I suppose. Also, I have heard at least one person mention the EVAP system as a possible cause, although I fail to understand how. And lastly, another user mentioned possible bad ABS sensors.

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What other things can I have looked at? I have spent as much money on this car now as I originally paid for it, and that has been only 3 months ago! Thank you.
 
#4 ·
my 2013, 500sport was doing the same esc/hill assist unavailable and could not get the car out of park ,I replaced the brake switch and bingo everything went back to normal i see you also changed the brake switch but no luck, could the rear hatch wire loom be compremised not sure what else could cause this
 
#5 ·
Dealer had said their techs recommended replacing the clock spring. I don't know why they determined that.

It is at a different dealership now. Getting the recall taken care of so I had them diagnose the error since they'll have it for several days. They said just now it is a bad sensor according to their techs and they have an active code. Parts, labor, tax, it's another $1200... and with no guarantees that this will fix it. They've had it a week now, and it looks like they will have it another week or so.

I would have no idea if the brake lights are working or not other than the dash error when one burns out. They were only checked after the switch was replaced.

I haven't checked the wire loom. I was too afraid that I wouldn't get the plug back in. I had that issue with my previous car. So I didn't want to mess with that.

Hopefully this will be the last time I need to take it to a shop, at least for a while. I'll keep you posted. Thank you for the replies.
 
#6 ·
So far it has been 3 days without the errors. The dealership said it was a sensor that had an internal failure (Yaw Rate Sensor - Mopar (68073504AA)). With labor the bill came to $976.57! Why couldn't have been the brake light switch??? Oh well, as long as the error is gone for good, I'm okay with it. I hope this helps someone out there!
 
#9 ·
Update: I took it back again after they FINALLY returned my message. They had it for a week but did not do anything. They say my OBDII port isn't working so they had to go behind the DLC to get their diagnostics. That can't be true since I run a HUD through OBDII port without communication errors. They claim my after-market reverse camera or my HUD are causing the error. So another $262.03 later I have my car back with everything unhooked. I'll drive it, but I have had this error weeks and months before adding those "after-market item" to the vehicle. Side note: the HUD is the very same one I have used on my last two cars without incident. But FIATs are notorious for being finicky, especially with electrical so it is possible I suppose. It could very well be the ORIGINAL cause of these faults were fixed, but on-going because of one or both of these ad-ons. I'll err on the side of caution for now.

IF, and I say IF, on the off-chance the HUD is causing the faults, I surmise it happens during the car's initial start up when the computer is checking everything. The faults only come on during the first 10-15 seconds, when they do. They won't come on during a drive. Whatever is causing the faults may be borderline on the programmed fault threshold. That being said, what do you think? Would a kill switch to the OBDII port prevent faults? I'm thinking when I turn the car off, I also kill the OBDII. Then after I start the car, and after the initial diagnostics checks, I switch the OBDII port back on with the HUD. Now if the faults are logged when driving instead of during start up, then I should see the errors after starting the car back up after running the HUD, regardless of if it was off during start up. If I remain error-free, then the faults are only checked during start up and not during driving.

There is one more point to consider I have failed to menton. I have a Y-splitter on my OBDII port. One port goes to the HUD; the other, a bluetooth OBDII scanner. There might be a chance that either the Y or the scanner, or combination, could be the cause. I might have to try each one independently until I get a fault. Thoughts? I just find it strange that I would get this SPECIFIC error for a non-related component. Unless somehow the OBDII is preventing communication from the sensors on the ESC and Hill Start assist.

As for the reverse camera, I can change the power source to the cigarette lighter vs the fuse panel. That would elimiate that anyway. The only thing is, I run a 3-port lighter / 2 USB port adapter on it. I use at most, one USB for charging my phone and one cigarette lighter port for my dash cam. I don't want to overload the fuse by adding power to a reverse camera. Thoughts?
 
#10 ·
Did you ever end up figuring this out? I’ve had the same issue for years, and I’m getting tired of it. I have replaced the battery ground, and the earth strap (because they both literally broke in two). So my issue shouldn’t be a ground issue. I’m going to swap the brake lamp switch, but looks like you tried that with no success.