Have had a strange problem occur twice now in the past month whereby when starting the car we get the following message displayed:

ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Loose Connection

My 1st reaction was to turn off the car and restart it to see if it cleared but then the car wouldn't start but still same message displayed.

Turned it off again, tried to start, this time it started up but the same message was displayed. Drove the short distance home but non of the dash instruments were working apart from speedo, just lit up like a christmas tree.

Tried car following morning and its been fine since.

Any clues, is this a known fault?

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

I had the same problem last week. It's not the brake switch problem, as I had that squashed for good a couple of months back.

What I found is that if you turn the ignition off then back on , but the notch before starting the engine. While the faults are scrolling past, press the ASR button on then off. The faults will simply clear, and the engine will start! Took me about 10 minutes to figure that one out.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Thanks I will try that suggestion if the problem crops up again.
It would be nice however to erradicate it all together.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Its sound to me as a low battery. If the battery is low it causes problems for stilos. They must have a good battery.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

I noticed one or two folks on here reported that fitting a battery from the diesel model cured this problem. I think with winter coming I'll invest in a new battery as its the original battery on the vehicle, I know they dont last forever thesedays. At least I'll have some peace of mind knowing theres a decent battery under the hood.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Well changed the battery today, stuck on a hvy duty one which set me back £60 minus my 'ex-trade discount' of 50% so will see how we go now regarding the ESP/ASR error. Also checked all the fuses inside the car and in the battery compartment by cleaning all the blade contacts. Fingers crossed.

How times have changed, once upon a time your battery was tucked away in the corner of the engine bay with just +- leads coming off it now theres god damn electronics all over the place lol.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Ahhhh nutz, the errors back!!
Haven't looked as its peeing down with rain right now but is the brake light switch easy to get to? If so i might take it off and have a look what condition its in.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

There is a procedure for resetting the switch to a gap of 1mm (sometimes 2mm) which could well sort your problem.

1)remove switch(twist)
2)pull out plunger
3hold brake pedal down while refitting switch
4)insert 1mm feeler blade between switch plunger & pedal
5)SLOWLY allow the pedal to come back up
6)drive away
7)deep joy if its worked .......sadness if it aint

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Cool just found out the vehicle still as 5 months remaining on the original 3 yr warranty so its going into the dealers later in the week! Hopefully examiner will find something!

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Either way it needs sorting, if I get it done under warranty thats a bonus if not then thats part of the parcel of owning a modern car.

Its booked in on Thursday to have Examiner do its checks, service manager seems to think its either the CAN sensor (??) or the Brake Light switch wich are both covered. Its the wiring loom thats not covered but if its just a bad connection somewhere he says we are still covered as the loom isn't being changed just repaired.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

having received additional info from the dealer who the original owner used, the ESP/ASR,Connection Loose error was reported 5 times but only checked out 3 times at the designated service intervals. The owner probably felt he was wasting his time. Plus FIAT UK have agreed to have this checked out under WARRANTY and will pay for it as its been reported before.

Re: ASR Failure, ESP Failure, Connection Loose

Simonch6 said:

FIAT UK have agreed to have this checked out under WARRANTY and will pay for it as its been reported before.

Click to expand...

So Fiat UK ain't so bad after all then,hope everyone else reads your post before moaning about how bad Fiat UK are

Hope you get it sorted soon

Re: Asr Failure Among Others On Abarth

Your problems with the ASR warning and the gearbox are highly likely to be caused by a loose/incorrectly fitting brake pedal switch. This is a well-known and common point of failure, causing exactly the same symptoms you have.

Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

ok i have a non start with the faults
ASR failure
car security failure loose connection
now i have checked the D4 connector and cleaned it with electrical contact cleaner and back probed all wires and all ok
battery is good as are all earths that i can find.
immobiliser light ( car with a padlock through it i believe) comes on for a second then starts flashing and car wont start
any other ideas please guy's
oh and i cant carry out a diagnostic read via the eobd socket for the engine or body module but i can read the abs module
hope someone can help please
cheers

re: Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

My car had somthing like this before I bought it! It was a non starter with immobiliser problems and then recovered to a dealership. It turned out to be an ECU failure and had a reconditioned unit replaced into it! Was expensive though, felt sorry for the previous owner at +£500 ish! Sorry to break the bad news!

re: Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

So you have
Lost connection
Car security warning
Engine turning strongly but not starting?
Battery good

Tried a different key?

Check the connection at the aerial pick up ring around the ignition switch. a common source of problems. If this can't detect the immobiliser in the key fob then that will give your symptoms


ASR failure might well be just low battery volts after cranking for a time

re: Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

Deckchair5 said:

So you have
Lost connection
Car security warning
Engine turning strongly but not starting?
Battery good

Tried a different key?

Check the connection at the aerial pick up ring around the ignition switch. a common source of problems. If this can't detect the immobiliser in the key fob then that will give your symptoms
View attachment 37669

ASR failure might well be just low battery volts after cranking for a time

Click to expand...

yeah battery is good but also tried a new one as well
connections on the arial pick up look good but dont know if the arial is working as cant carry out a scan on the car
car originally started for about 3 seconds then cut out with the asr and car security warnings and hasnt started since
also tried both keys

has anyone a wiring diagram for the ecu please

re: Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

Too many wires into ECU to have all on one wiring diag. Which circuit do you want?
Here's the immobiliser aerial P91 which goes straight into the body computer M1. The body computer pin 29 communicates with the ECU M10 via the dreaded D4 connector and then feeds back through the can lines to the body computer

click to enlarge
E50 is the dash warning light

Here's a close up of the body computer to ecu connections


What engine is this? Not that it makes much difference re immobiliser wiring

Carried out a pressure wash or been through floods lately? (Who hasn't) but did you get awash with the stuff and the D4 connector swamped?

re: Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

no floods and the d4 connector was dry and no corrosion
just trying to trace the immobiliser wires to see if i can test to see if ecu is getting the signal and its the ecu at fault or if its not the body control module
where is the body module please
thanks for the diagrams

re: Won't Start [possible faulty ECU?]

Body computer?
That's behind the drop down panel next to the steering wheel, where you can see the fuses

I'd try an ECU reset by disconnecting the battery for an hour and see if it sorts itself out. I'd check if you've got a healthy 12.5v at the battery too whilst it's disconnected