[Da Kine]

Did a little snow bashing last week and while coming down on a back road had a little problem. I hit a patch of ice while coming down the mountain and slid into an imbankment. Hit the driver side front wheel kinda hard. I got out and looked real hard for dents and dings and found none. Once I started going again, I found that my ABS and ESP were all out of whack. The ESP would come on while driving with no wheel spin. The brakes would start pulsing even when I wasn't touching them. I pulled the fuses for the ABS and ESP so I could drive home and also found that my steering wheel was canted about 30 degrees to the right while driving straight.
The next day I removed all four wheels and cleaned the ABS sensors and then pulled all the fuses one at a time followed by turning on the key after each fuse pull. This cleared the check engine light and now the ABS, ESP does not go all crazy. Now however the ESP indicator on the dash will not go away unless I toggle the switch. I also have a constant ESP BAS indication on the dash.
Some more info: I was in 2 wheel drive at the time of the hit. I had the wheels aligned to clear the steering wheel issue.
So, any ideas? How can I clear the dash indications and reset the ESP?

 

[Guest]

The problem is almost certainly the fact that your steering wheel isn't centered. That is most likely a bent tie rod or drag link from your collision with the embankment. The ESP system reads a sensor that tells it the steering wheel position. It uses that to determine how far you have turned the wheel so that it knows what sort of radius you are trying to make. If your actual radius is different than that, it thinks it needs to do something to "help" you get back on course.

When the steering wheel isn't centered, it thinks you are trying to make a turn even when you are driving straight. In that case the computer thinks it needs to "help" get you back on course and you get the ABS, etc. kicking in. There have been a lot of discussions about exactly the same situation you are experiencing.

The fix is to get the bent steering rods fixed and then get the steering wheel centered fairly precisely.

 

[Da Kine]

Tie rod and all are fine. I had the alignment done and the steering wheell is now centered, but I still have the indications on the dash.
I am going to try the dealership next week, but as soon as they see all the scrapes on the underside, the warranty will be ou the window... oh well.

 

[WTF_LOL]

Tie rod and all are fine. I had the alignment done and the steering wheell is now centered, but I still have the indications on the dash.
I am going to try the dealership next week, but as soon as they see all the scrapes on the underside, the warranty will be ou the window... oh well.

When you took it in did you have them just center the wheel or did they also check your toe?

I would be really surprised if it wasn't the Tie Rod. You can center the wheel with the draglink but if the tie rod is still off then esp will still bug out.

also, you said the indications are still on the dash. IS it just the lights now or is it still buggin out? Once the esp light trips I think it takes about 5 cycles or so (not sure of the milage though) for the light to shut back off.

 

[Da Kine]

No, the system doesn't bug out anymore. I had them do a 4 wheel alignment, but did not specify anything about the toe. Have only put about 15 miles on it since I had the alignment.
Thanks for all the input folks. Hpefully one of these will get it soon.

 

[MichaelW]

Unless you have adjustable control arms there isn't a whole of alignment possibilities with a JK. I can adjust toe in my driveway with a tape measure as well as recenter the steering wheel.

The only thing you will get with a 4 wheel alignment is your thrust angle and once again there isn't much you can do with that.

Glad your issues went away though!

 

[Da Kine]

Fixed!?

Well it seems that the indications have gone away on their own. Have no idea why or how, but they are gone and all seems to be running great.
Thanks for all the info guys. Best thing about this site is the wealth of knowledge flowing around. Someone is bound to have an answer.
Thanks again and when I see y'all out and about..