A fault code doesn’t yet mean the unit or sensor itself is faulty: often it’s the plug and connector leading to it.
Possible causes
- Low voltage: a flat battery or corroded terminals
- Power or ground of this control unit (fuse)
- The control unit itself
What you can do yourself
- First check the battery, fuses and the unit’s ground: with poor power the unit stores an internal fault.
- The power steering may switch off — the steering will get very heavy, especially at low speed. If this happens while driving, hold the wheel with both hands, slow down and stop in a safe place.
- ESP and traction control, and sometimes ABS, may not work. The brakes still work, but without electronic help — on slippery roads brake smoothly and don’t accelerate hard.
Stop and don’t drive on if:
- The red brake light is on, or the brake pedal feels soft or sinks
- The steering became very heavy, or the car pulls to one side when braking
OOleg’s tip: check the connector
Often the cause is simple — there is no contact in the connector (plug). Look at the connector from the back: remove the rubber seal and you will see whether a wire is corroded or has come off completely. Corrosion shows up as green deposits. Ideally, gently pull each wire towards you one at a time: a sound wire stays in place, while a corroded one simply comes off — it needs to be repaired.
Unplug and inspect connectors with the ignition off.
The code can come from the ESC unit or the electric power steering unit — check which unit it was read from. This is the Hyundai and Kia meaning. On other makes this number means something else: if your car isn’t a Hyundai or Kia, change the make at the top.
Source: Kia TSB CHA084, Kia TSB 194 (static.nhtsa.gov); tat.net.au (Hyundai)
The explanation comes from the error code reference in the AvtoElektrik PRO app.