2017 Ford Transit Custom "Hill Start Assist Not Available" Issue 

I never did update on this, the fault continued and in the end arrangements were made for me to leave the van at the Ford dealer and I drove around in the dealers demo for a month and never saw my van again. The finance agreement was cancelled and a new van supplied with a new finance agreement. When I collected the new van the dealer said that Ford had told them the pedal cluster had become distorted on my vehicle during the vehicle production process by excessive amounts of seam sealant in the foot well area, although this was never confirmed as the van was taken away and not repaired at my dealer. New van has been perfect plus they chucked in some upgrades and I got a bit of financial compensation so all ended well.

Mine appears to be fixed now, took it to the dealer in Northampton after a recommendation. Couldn't have been more impressed with their approach to fixing the van. Turned out to be the switches on the clutch and brake pedals, all seems to be fine now plus they did the security recall that Ford have just issued which stops thieves getting in to the rear of the van by forcing the drivers door lock. You can only get in to the load area now if the key is used to unlock the van.

I have one of these, a 9 seater. Just cost me £950 to have the DPF cleaned, a new atomiser (Which even the designers would have/must have known at the time of designing it, is a disgustingly bad design). I am really fed up with this car. I have the hill assist lit up on my dashboard permanently, had no idea about the brakes locking until I saw this vid. I've been flying around in it at speeds up to 70 mph. Now I have a problem whereby the clutch pedal is more or less on the floor when I first start engine. As it warms up and I give the engine some revs the pedal slowly comes up and starts operating properly. the engine when cold and whilst driving will rev up between gear changes. its a totally crap engine system, totally, totally crap and I'm really sick of it. My overall opinion of the van after owning it for 4 months and driven 4,000 miles is that Its a gorgeous looking piece of shit! I have driven many vans in the last 30 years, mostly Renault and have never had any trouble. This engine is a fucking nightmare, by far the worst I have ever had. I use it for business and its almost costing me as much in repairs as what I earn, and its only done 100K. Its a nightmare!

I have a problem my 2015 Ford Escape came out on the dashboard HILL START ASSIST NOT AVAILABLE anyone knows this! Thank you

I had this problem yesterday, worried me so much as it kept bleeping whilst driving. I did what Tyron suggested, went out on the driveway gave it some high revs and breaked a few times and it's gone. Sorted.

I have exactly the same issue on my 2017 290 ford transit. Feels like the handbrake is up when it’s down and won’t move with the hill start assist coming up. Turned off traction control and hill start and leave engine off for a few minutes then I have to roll back a touch for it to then start again but even this solution is very temperamental and it still happens quite a lot. The answer atm is ive been leaving traction and hill start off but really annoying!

Can I join the list of owners with the same fault please. Mine decides that this function is not available after about 10 mins driving, or the first time the van stops, and is held on the brakes. Been back to Ford dealership now for 2 weeks in total, with comments that it's my auxiliary battery cable coming off the battery positive via a fuse to an isolator that feeds several usb sockets, a dash cam and a rear view camera?Fault comes on even when all of my extra parts have been isolated. TBC

The problem I had with my Hill Start Assist was due to the clutch pedal not going all the way up. I fixed it with some wd-40.

My f150 has developed this problem today whilst parked The break lights came on sometime during the day while I was at work and will not turn off ( I removed the fuse in the end to save the battery ) Hopefully Ford will help tomorrow - hopefully the extended warranty package I bought will cover it !

This issue also happens on 2020 Transits. Asked the service department and they just said, yeah a few people have told us that' but offered no fix?

2017 focus, been stuck multiple time before and after the car was taken for annual service, getting "Hill start assist not available" & "transmission malfunction service now", took the car to the Action Ford dealership, South Africa, it stayed there for days with no update, they dont know how to resolve those issues. so disappointing

We've got the same problem with our new Transit too. Currently it's with Haynes Ford Maidstone and they've lent us a little connect for the time being. I'll let you know if they find anything.

Same problem on my 2016 Ford Everest - Greetings from the Philippines.

Hey i have the same issue on my 350xlt. I took to a friend garage and he told me that its a safety issue with the thottle actuator not getting the proper voltage and its goes into safe mode. How true is it not sure be i haven't had a problem since i replace the thottle body.

i ´ve the same problem, greatings from austria - europe

My 2015 f 150 does this when its cold, "Hill start assist not available" Wont shift out of park. Ten minutes or so then i can shift. Originally only did this around -10 degrees Fahrenheit. Now sometimes happens under 48 degrees.

I even see this error now in December 2020, Focus titan model 2018 and I have no idea to fix it now

I have a 2019 ford transit..What do I do when hillstart assist comes on and cause the van to lock up and can't move ? How do I get rid of it ?

I just bought a 2016 transit custom yesterday and I had this happen today

Did you manage to get this fixed? Have the same problem on my new Transit Custom, can be OK for a few days then Hill Start warning comes on and brakes lock.

just happened to me going onto a busy dual carriaigeway,bit scary . this is the second time this has happened. seemed to sort itself out after pressing the foot brake a few times so i'm assuming it's the brake pedal switch

I’m so sorry I can’t understand😭 Could everyone explains me step by step?

I had these lights come on as well, and all i did was push the switch under the dashboard all the way with my finger. This switch is on driver side, and the brake handle pushes on it when the foot brake is in normal resting position.

Id try this but that little screen has gone blank

Hill Start Not Available cannot be reset,need to replace and repair faulty parts

Brake position switch around 32.00

Our van has the same fault had to be trailered home hill assist stuck on.

Same problem with my fiesta 🥲 still dont know how to fix it

Ours is now fixed. The dealer had the van for a couple of weeks trying to replicate the fault, but could not. Ford were telling them they would not authorise the repair without the dealer experiencing the fault. They did try replacing the pedal switches. Apparently the fault does not generate a fault code in the computer. Despite my repeated asking, no-one will tell me what the message "Hill Start Assist Not Available" is caused by. We had it back and the fault happened again that day. After returning it back to the dealer, and a lot of arguing they managed to get the authorisation from Ford to replace the master cylinder and servo. Apparently there is some electronic incompatibility between them!? Whatever that means? The removed parts have been sent for inspection. I'm happy to say it's now been over a week of use and the fault seems to have been cured.

Sadly after a couple of weeks my problems have come back again and the brakes have started to stick on again, Ford UK absolutely nothing short of appalling, have a completely couldn't careless attitude and claim know one else has a problem. My leasing company have now stepped in and issued an early contract termination notice so Ford will have to pay for the contract being terminated and the vehicle being returned early. The van is being taken away next week and my leasing company have given me a replacement vehicle whilst Ford have one more attempt to fix it, again though they can't look at it for 12 days after it is booked in. I'm a reasonable and tolerant guy but the attitude of Ford UK towards this has left me gobsmacked and Ford's strap line for the Transit as 'The Back Bone of Britain' is frankly laughable.

2:28 of my life that I will never get back.

First time ever fix it video with no voice no audio how stupid is that

I have a 13 plate custom an now an then this message comes up an it’s stalls! Just cuts out an wont start again for a few hours...no one seems to know what’s up with it..for are fucking useless 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Hi guys iv just got a custom out and iv only ad it 5 days and I'm getting that problem anyone no anything

Really help if you actually said what to do along with the video bouncing all over the place

Cant see what ur doing need to explian

You have to start your car up and rev It Up

you explain FA 🤷🏼‍♂️

Bad video your camera doesn't show what you doing and your not talking to say what your doing.

This video would be valuable if you spoke