Traction control kicking in?

WJBertrand

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Tonight when I left work I was accelerating slowly and suddenly felt a loss in power. I looked at the dash and saw the traction control light blinking. As there was traffic I was accelerating very lightly, nowhere near spinning a tire. The pavement was dry and clean as well. I took my foot completely off the gas and the light kept blinking, I also felt some steering input, presumably from the advance trac? When I applied the brakes I felt several strong pulsations in the pedal and heard some clunking too.

The car seemed to settle down as I stopped for traffic but as soon as I got underway again the traction light started blinking again. No steering inputs or clunking this time and after a few more seconds, the TCS stopped blinking and the car returned to normal. No further issues then remaining 40 miles to home.

What was going on?


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WJBertrand

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Could be. I wonder if that would show up on an OBD II scan?
 

stkjock

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Could be. I wonder if that would show up on an OBD II scan?
as a DTC? not likely if you didn't get the CEL, I'm thinking of a scan with a SCT handheld, a IDS maybe
 

ox white

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A C-code will not illuminate the MIL (CEL). Scan it with a tool capable of reading these codes. An IDS, as mentioned, would be good.
 

WJBertrand

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OK, not familiar with the IDS scanner, I'll research this a little. Thanks
 

07gts197

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Its a dealer tool.

Some scanners have the ability to read abs codes. My elm327 scanner and forscan lite app can read abs codes and datalog the abs sensors.
 

msvela448

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Many auto parts stores can scan for it too. There's usually a menu for "advanced DTC's" on some aftermarket scanners.

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WJBertrand

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Thanks guys, turns out I have an elm327 WiFi scanner thingy that connects to an app on my phone. I’ll give that a go. Having said that, the issue had not recurred.


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07gts197

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I have both incardoc and dashcommand. They both work with the ELM327.


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Im not familiar with incardoc but Ive used dash command and didnt like it. As long as it has the capability to read abs codes and datalog things like the abs sensors youll be fine. Personally, I use forscan lite and I like it because it can do anything I need it to do.
 

406guy

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Im not familiar with incardoc but Ive used dash command and didnt like it. As long as it has the capability to read abs codes and datalog things like the abs sensors youll be fine. Personally, I use forscan lite and I like it because it can do anything I need it to do.

OT, but are you familar with the Torque app? Will it read these non-CEL codes?
 

Maczs007

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Thanks guys, turns out I have an elm327 WiFi scanner thingy that connects to an app on my phone. I’ll give that a go. Having said that, the issue had not recurred.


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Any re-occurrence? I had the same problem with mine years ago before I put it in storage. Would happen once every 6 months to a year. Only at low speeds within a 1/2 mile of where I originated. Was the scariest thing. Felt like the wheel was coming off.
 

WJBertrand

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Any re-occurrence? I had the same problem with mine years ago before I put it in storage. Would happen once every 6 months to a year. Only at low speeds within a 1/2 mile of where I originated. Was the scariest thing. Felt like the wheel was coming off.

I've actually forgotten about this episode and to answer your question, no it has not recurred in nearly a year. May it was stray cosmic ray messing with the ECM or something? ;)
 

Sky Render

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You might have driven through something slippery, like antifreeze or diesel fuel. If that stuff gets on the tires, they'll slip, and the stability system interprets that as a loss of traction. The "issue" disappears after the stuff is off the tires.
 

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