You don't have to wait for it to release, you just pull away and it releases automatically, if it doesn't there's a fault with it.

 

I find mine only holds it for a few seconds. My Merc e class held it until I pulled away. Is this correct on the T5? Its a manual - not DSG.

 

Yeh doesn't hold for long, only a few seconds or until you pull away whichever is first. The green light is telling you to put your foot on the brake, not that the hill hold is active.

 

The brakes remain engaged for at least 2 seconds, and they do not release with application of throttle. Gentle throttle loads up against the brakes until they release, and heavy throttle application would cause damage...I have never looked for a green light..Is your experience different? I just had recall updates done on the van and asked about disabling or resetting the hill hold but they just said it was not possible, no mention of a fault?

 

Sorry I misinterpreted you comment about the lighs turning green to mean the footbrake symbol not the traffic lights. So you sit there with your foot on the brake or the handbrake on in gear & when you release the brakes it should sit there for a few seconds or until you hit the accelerator and then move away, if it loads up against the brakes when you accelerate then that's wrong.

 

Is it fair to assume that you are using the handbrake? It will not work properly if you do. All of the braking needs to be done with the footbrake for it to work properly.

On a facelift, it's possible to change the "hold" time just with coding. It may be possible to code it out so it no longer operates. I looked at this maybe 6 years ago and posted the results here but I can't remember now. A forum search will find the details.

Please don't consider modifying the level sensor - a whole load of other things (such as ESP and the gearbox shift patterns) all depend on this data.

 

Thanks for the reply, and no, I'm not using the handbrake as I am aware this would be wrong. I am using the footbrake, buy the hill hold does not release as soon as the throttle is activated. You have to wait for the two seconds to pass. You can lightly load throttle against the hill hold brakes but the vehicle doesn't move for two seconds or so. Obviously applying throttle under these conditions is far from good. The previous owner managed to destroy the clutch pack in the DSG violently taking off and I'm guessing he booted it without waiting for the brakes to release on an incline.
So the brake should immediately release as soon as the throttle is touched?

 

One thing I would be thinking about investigating is the brake switch. It has two sets of contacts, and I'm wondering whether it's not operating correctly. The main use for the setup is to detect how fast you're pressing the brake pedal - so it's used by the Emergency Braking Assist feature. But it's possible that incorrect operation could have other consequences. You can "live log" the status of both the contacts, so I'm thinking that may be worth doing to see if it shows up anything odd.

I know for sure that there must be something wrong, because I've got a similar van with DSG box and Hill Hold works perfectly on mine.

I should add that yours is not the first time this problem has been reported. Unfortunately IIRC the last time did not get updated with an outcome by the originator.

 

Google suggests it could be an ABS fault 🤷‍♂️ and that Hill Hold can be disabled permanently with VCDS

 

and that Hill Hold can be disabled permanently with VCDS

Does Google tell you how to do it on a T5? I looked a few years back but there didn't seem to be a documented way then...

 

There are loads of articles about adjusting VW, Audi DSG ABS settings, some are in Ross Tech tweeks, there's 3 settings on how much the clutch slips before the brakes release, another % setting, don't know what that's all about and how to turn it off, none were specifically T5 but I wasn't that interested to find out to be honest as mine works perfectly. Apparently main agents aren't interested in disabling it as VW see it as a safety feature!

 

Agreed, there are settings that control the timing delay (early, normal and late) and also another 3 settings related to "engine on" and "engine off", but I've never located one that allows you to disable it.

I may take another look if I have time later, but the problem is that if Ross-Tech don't document it in the Labels file for that module then you won't know that it's there. Sadly the T5 is not sold in the US (in any significant numbers) and VCDS is a US-made product, so there is no great pressure on for them to do any updates...

 

You can always raise it as a tweak on the Ross Tech forum if you post a full scan, they can then say if it's possible with the modules fitted and hopefully list some adaptations to try.

 

If I thought that the problem was due to Hill Hold alone then perhaps I would. But I don't - Hill Hold generally works so well that most people don't even seem to be aware that they have it. It works flawlessly on my van and has done for the 7 years that I've owned it. So it seems reasonable to assume that it's a combination of Hill Hold and a fault.

It might help a small amount for the OP to change settings to "early", but I think that would just be a compromise. There definitely seems to be an underlying problem, if only he can find it. I have trouble believing it could be an ABS pump/controller problem, because you would expect to see it whenever moving off from rest, and not just on hills - and you would expect it to be logging fault codes which the dealer who looked at it would have seen?