When you see the “Hill Start Assist Not Available” error message in your Ford Fusion, you may think there is a problem with your brakes or any other important system. But in some cases, this warning message is all about some minor problem that can be repaired quickly and even without going to the repair shop.
Actually, there are about a dozen reasons why the “Hill Start Assist Not Available” message may appear on the dashboard in the Ford Fusion. It may be the ABS system or the braking system.
It also may be one of the sensors that control your wheelspin. Also, there is a sensor that figures out whether your car is on the hill or not.
What is Hill Start Assist in your Fusion?
In short, this is the system that allows you to comfortably start driving if your vehicle is on the hill. It’s activated automatically in your Ford Fusion or you can deactivate it manually in order to stop it from helping you on the hills.
Basically, this function just holds your brakes on for two or three seconds after you release the brake pedal in order to help you start driving from the hill.
Common reasons for the “Hill Start Assist Not Available” warning
- ABS system fault. ABS sensors take part in Hill Start Assist. They actually hold breaks for some seconds before you start driving. If one of these sensors is broken or not responding, the whole system of Hill Start Assist will not work.
- Problems with brake lights. This may sound weird but actually, your Hill Start Assist may not be working because of the faulty stop light. The stop light is one of the components of the Hill Start Assist and if it’s not working properly, your Fusion is going to send you a message that the Assist is not available.
- You have manually deactivated the Hill Start Assist. In this case, the warning message shouldn’t appear on your dashboard. But in some cases, it may still get on your nerves. Just check if the Hill Start Assist is activated.
- The brake light switch is broken. Your Hill Start Assist will obviously rely on the brake light switch that is located near the brake pedal in your Ford Fusion. This switch will actually let the Assist know that you release the brake pedal and it should jump into action. If the switch is broken, the Assist just can’t know when and how it should work.
- Snow or ice on the road. If it’s winter and the road is slippery, your Hill Start Assist may not be working properly. Once sensors feel that the traction is not perfect, the assist will not help you with hill starts.
- The traction control system is malfunctioning. Your traction control is obviously connected with the Hill Start Assist. So, if the traction control is not working or is deactivated, the system will not be able to work properly.
- Just a random error message. The problem was the Hill Start Assist can be just a random message that you may get when the battery is low or dying or when the reason is another problem with some electronic assists and control systems. In this case, the Hill Start Assist problem message will not reappear the next time you are trying to start driving your Fusion from the hill.
- The road is uneven and the traction is bad. This may happen when your Ford is located on a rocky road and it’s hard for the sensors to correctly assist you in starting from the hill.
Now, these are the most common reasons why the “Hill Start Assist not Available” warning can pop up on the dashboard. It’s not always connected with some problems with your vehicle, sometimes it’s just about the quality of the road or even about the weather.
What should you do if the Hill Start Assist is not working in your Fusion?
The Hill Start Assist is one of the features in your Ford sedan that allows you to comfortably start driving from a hill. It actually makes your safety better and makes sure that you don’t hit any other car that is parked around your Fusion.
So, when this Assist doesn’t work, it may create some problems just because you know it should work and you are relying on it.
The first thing you should do when you see the Hill Start Assist error message is to press the brakes so that your car doesn’t move down the hill unintentionally. This will let you avoid any collisions and other road accidents.
After that, you can continue driving because the Hill Start Assist system doesn’t affect all other safety systems in your vehicle. But I recommend that you arrange the visit to the dealership or to the repair shop in order to have the problem fixed.
There are still some things that you can try doing on your own:
- find another hill with better road on it and see if your Hill Start Assist will work properly in that place;
- turn your engine off and then on and see if the problem disappears;
- check the battery health because in some cases this may be just a random error message that tells you about the dead battery;
- use any OBD II scanner to help you identify possible error codes that are active in your ECU right now;
- try deactivating the Hill Start Assist and then activating it back – this may help you reset the sensors and get the system working.
If none of these works, you should probably just let the professionals do their job and let them inspect your vehicle and find the problem.
Software glitches in Ford Fusions
I decided to make it a separate topic in this article because i know a lot of cases when Ford Fusion ECUs were pretty faulty. This means they could just glitch and send different error messages on the dashboards. Also, they may activate and deactivate different functions in your vehicle.
Unfortunately, there is no all-purpose treatment for all these problems with glitching brains in Fusions. So, if you suspect that the reason for your problem is the glitchy software, you should go to the dealership and ask them to check this. In some cases, they may even reprogram your ECU because there were several service bulletins covering this issue.
Can you keep driving your Ford Fusion if the Hill Start Assist is not working?
Yes, you can continue driving. What’s more, you can drive as much as you want without repairing this problem. Just remember that your Hill Start Assist is not working and it’s not going to help you start driving from the hill. The only problem I can see is that it will be sending these annoying error messages every time you start driving from the hill.
I still recommend you have this problem fixed as soon as possible. I know how annoying it is to get all those warnings every time you are in your car.
Also, you should know that the Hill Start Assist is connected to some other important systems, and this error message can tell you about a more serious problem with your braking system or with the ABS system. So, a thorough inspection is needed
How can you activate and deactivate the Hill Start Assist in Ford Fusion?
- First, you need to enter the main menu in your Fusion. For this, press the arrow button on the right side of your steering wheel.
- Then, choose the Setup menu and enter it by pressing the OK or the right arrow button.
- After that, find the Hill Launch menu and enter it.
- It will offer you three options: Off, Auto, and Manual.
- Choose Auto and press the OK button.
- To return to your trip computer screen, just press and hold the left arrow button.
Why shouldn’t you rely on the Hill Start Assist in the Ford Fusion?
You shouldn’t completely rely on the electronics when it comes to the safety of you and your vehicle. The Hill Start Assist has several limitations. For example, it will not work properly if you go out of the car. Also, it may malfunction once one or two sensors fail.
If this happens right at the moment when you are using the Hill Start Assist, this can lead to problems. Like your Ford Fusion may go down the hill and just hit the car that is parked near yours.
Also, the Hill Start Assist can just turn off because it doesn’t get the information from one of the sensors. And it will stop working even though you’re trying to start driving from the hill.
So, you may and should be using this technology but be careful and always keep control of your car. Be ready to take full control over your vehicle if the Hill Start Assist fails in your Ford Fusion.