Dashboard lights coming on - vw beetle

Gobbolinos14

My airbag and ESP lights have recently started coming on. The airbag light remains on all the time but the ESP light comes on randomly. I was advised by VW UK to take my car to a dealership for a diagnostics test (£99) who then advised me that the slip ring had failed. I had the slip replaced but after driving just over 2 miles the light have come back on.

The dealership are now advising that a "secondary fault" is causing the lights to come on and are expecting me to pay for further diagnostics work.

Does anyone know what VW should be providing their customers with when they test cars? I didn't get a printout of the diagnostics test due to being told that it is all done on the computer. Does anyone know what could be causing the lights to come on if it's not the slip ring?

Any help would be appreciated as VW aren't helping at all. :mad:

roneik

If you take it down to kwik fit they charge 35 quid to diagnose on the computer. Recently I took a neighbors car in and if they don't have it on their list as a in house fix and call out a mobile repairer they don't charge the fee.
In the case of the car I was working on 2 liter beetle ,it was misfiring and a head gasket had been the verdict of a different garage. So armed with the info from kwik fit that cost nothing, I changed the coli pack plugs and leads.
You only pay the fee when the work is undertaken.

roneik

By the way it sounds like they just reset the engine management unit, and as the fault still existed it came back on

Johnmcl7

How old is the car? Unless you have to take it to a main dealer I'd find a decent independent in your area.

Did the airbag light come on at the same time as the ESP light? Is the ABS light coming on with the ESP light? The ABS ring becoming corroded and malfunctioning isn't unusual on a VW car but that system should be separate to the airbag system.

John

Gobbolinos14

The car is a year 2000. It did have an independent test but they could not find the problem. The airbag light has been on since the indicator stalk was replaced. The ESP light came on afterwards, but it does not keep on all the time. Today it is off! The ABS light has never come on.