Hi! Need help!

I have an 8-month old Yeti Elegance 2.0 TDI. I have to drive through an uphill road every day. I had found the Hill Hold Control and Off-Road Drive Off Assistant of great utility especially in heavy uphill traffic when I needed to slow, stop and go. Yesterday, for the first time, I found the car rolling back despte engaging Off-Road Assitant. I put on the hand brake, alternately engaged and disengaged the Off-Road Assitant, went up to 4000 RPM but the car would still roll back. I had to wait for the traffic to ease, reverse and take an alternate longer route. I tried it again this morning, it seems back to normal but it is simply not the same feeling as it was earlier. I somehow feel that the traction on uphill has suddently become suboptimal. I have been driving cars for 20 years, various makes, and driving on the same road every day for the last 6 years. I better know. What do you all suggest? What may be wrong? Even if I get it repaired, how would I gain my confidence back? Any error could be potentially life-threatening in the heavy uphill traffic I will have to drive through.

Hi there, welcome to Briskoda and I'm sorry to hear you have a problem.

I don't have experience of the 'hill hold control' as my Yeti has the DSG (automatic) gearbox; I presume you have a manual gerabox.

I would suggest two things;-

1. if the is a fault with the hill hold control then you should go back to your dealer and ask him to fix it under warranty and

2. you say "went up to 4000 RPM but the car would still roll back" - this suggests your clutch is slipping and perhaps burnt out. If as you say you have to do a lot of stop/start uphill, your driving style could well be worth thinking about i.e. how much do you slip the clutch when you move forward?

I hope that helps for a start.

Hi and welcome,

Not quite sure as to your exact fault as Hill Hold Control (HHC) which in the UK handbook is referred to as Uphill Start Assist and the Off-road function (button on the dash) are two separate systems. The HHC is activated for 2 seconds when applying the foot-brake on a slope over 3%. Whereas the off-road function changes various engine and ESP/ABS parameters to aid driving on loose surfaces. A function of the off-road system is described (again in the handbook) as start-off assist, this limits the The engine rpm to 2500rpm even with the accelerator fully depressed and alters the traction control to aid pulling away uphill on a slippery or loose surface.

Have had a short term failure of the HHC on our Fabia; was not holding the brakes on, no matter how steep the hill. However by the time I got it to the dealers the fault had cleared and there were no logged fault codes either. Worked fine since.

Regards,

TP

edit: for those who have read the UK sales brochure, you might have noticed SUK in their description of the off-road function use the term uphill start assist to describe the start-off assist operation. Just to confuse things :wonder:

First Hill Hold does not need the Off Road button to be engaged. It will operate in normal drive mode.

It does need a fairly hard press to set the hold. It works by delaying the release of pressure on the brakes for a couple of seconds.

It may be released by the clutch pedal switch (also used by the Cruise Control)

It works in both forward and reverse mode depending on the direction of the car on the slope.

It has NO effect on the traction of the car, it only holds the brakes on.

Suggest a Dealer visit.

It does need a fairly hard press to set the hold. It works by delaying the release of pressure on the brakes for a couple of seconds.

+1, mine needs quite a firm push of the brakes for it to work, a light push or quick tap of the brake pedal will see me roll back...

Yesterday, for the first time, I found the car rolling back despte engaging Off-Road Assitant.

You don't have to engage the Off-Road button to get the benefit of the Uphill Start Assist (aka Hill Hold Control or HHC). HHC simply holds the brakes on for an extra couple of seconds after you take your foot off the pedal. After that couple of seconds, if you have done nothing else, the brakes will come off and the car will start to roll back.

I put on the hand brake, alternately engaged and disengaged the Off-Road Assitant, went up to 4000 RPM but the car would still roll back. I had to wait for the traffic to ease, reverse and take an alternate longer route.

I had a read of the manual this morning and (not for the first time) I thought that it was worded rather misleadingly. You could get the impression that you have to engage the Off-Road button each time you want to get the benefit of Start-Off Assist, but that isn't the case.

If you got the revs up to 4,000 with the Off-Road button engaged then the Off-Road button isn't working properly. It is supposed to limit the revs to 2,500 until the wheels start to turn, at which point the traction control takes over to limit wheelspin on the move.

I tend to agree with bahnstormer, it sounds as if you might have a slipping clutch. Regularly performing hill starts with 4,000RPM on the clock (if that is what you have been doing - it's not quite clear from your OP so apologies if I have misinterpreted your words) could cause that, regardless of what the electronics try to do for you.