Any thoughts – steering wheel & exclamation mark symbol and EBS light on

[Swatty]

I was doing a bit of back and forward manoeuvring to get into a parking space when I noticed the symbol of a steering wheel & exclamation mark had appeared on the dash and the EBS (skidding car) light was also on.

Switched off the engine and restarted and all checked out ok, both symbols were off. Did lots of testing:

1. Press EBS button and warning light comes on (i.e. I could switch system off). And it went out when I pressed it again.

2. Moved the steering wheel about a lot when I was parking at two places on the way home – no warning symbols.

3. EBS light flashes if I wheel spin the wheels

Was this just a glitch or is it an indication that something is worn or is starting to play up.

[Ben H]

A one off I'd put it down to a gremlin / glitch.
I remember once cut through a permant live supply wire to the centrafugral (sp) computer on a Mazda RX8. Was stripping it back to tap a feed from it but my strippers snapped the wire. Reconnected it & heard all sorts of goings on in the center console & when ignition switched on similar lights lit up.
Garage said it would need to be booked in to have it all reset so I took it for a spin round the block, let all the sensors report back to the computer that all was ok & that was it, job done (*&^%ing stealers!!!)
That had sensors on the sterring column so it knew where the wheels were pointing if it ever needed to correct itself with ABS & so on.

Don't know if the Vectra does but I just guess a sensor on yours got a bit excited with all the movement you was doing.

[Swatty]

Hope you are right Ben, fingers (and everthing else) crossed. Everything seems to be doing what its supposed to, but I get twitchy when she starts shouting at me

[DennisTheMenace]

ESP Does need proper recalibration ,

[Swatty]

ESP Does need proper recalibration ,

Hi Dennisthemenace, if the system check when you start up is OK does it still need to be recalibrated. Is it possible to do any checks to establish if it needs to be recalibrated or is working correctly?

[DennisTheMenace]

If you disturb the system by fully pulling the power on it , the system will need recalibration , the warning light coming on along with the strearing light means you might have let the revs drop too low whilst swinging the car round , it will be fine , i had a 1.8 petrol vec while mine was being restored , i let the revs drop and the steering shutdown , restarted the car and it was fine , you esp traction control will be ok , its only if the power has been completely taken away , well thats what i lurnt at thatcham on a training course !

[Ben H]

ESP Does need proper recalibration ,

Not in my case with the RX8, once all the sensors fed the information back to the computer it could see everything was as it should be & the light went out upon restarting the car & all was well.

Similar thing to if certain CAN bus items are disconnected & ignition gets switched on a fault will appear as it is seen as the item is missing/faulty. Plug it back in & turn ignition back on again & the fault is not seen & therefore gives no indication.
I certainly state this is not a practice to follow but this is theory I was told by someone who designs CAN systems for Jaguar.

[Swatty]

Thanks both sounds like I should be in the clear