TRACTION CONTROL
 

I started my car just a minute ago , and for the first time ever , i noticed the traction control was off??!! i tryed to switch it on and it wouldn't ! so anyway , i turned it off , grabbed a couple of things from the store , started the car , and it was on ! i put it in drive and accelerated and noticed that after i eased of the gas , there was this ''grrrrrrrr''
kinda noise .
No ''SES'' light .
any suggestions? and also , is it better to drive with T/C off ? and was is the advantage of driving with it on?

thnx guys :D

Well if your always hauling ass you may want your Tc off. All it does is hit the brakes until your tires slow down, try doing a burnout like that! I'd say it sounds like obviously something is going wrong. I would have said maybe its just the little light indicating that its on burning out (LED's usually last a LONG TIME) but with that grrr sound.. Quite possibly one or more of your sensors is out, that would explain it. I'm thinking the broke sensor is sending back an almost constant signal that the tires are slipping. If your moving (fake slipping) you can't turn the tc on, your computer probably thinks this is the case. It would also explain the GRR sound which would be the TC hitting the brakes for you. The sensor would be the hotspot to check, you have on (I believe) on each tire.

Ah yes. The "Traction Off" light. That's how mine started...then came the ABS light and the SES light soon after. Hopefully your problem isn't as severe as mine has become (New PMV, Wheel Sensor...$1700 so far). See http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...pic.php?t=4993

Sounds like a speed sensor going bad......

Hey Bonnycrazy,
I have a similar problem with my 96 SSEI. First started with ABS&Tracion lights coming on during the winter. Only once in a while at first and then more frequently.Recently when ABS/traction lights were off it would make the grrrrr sound with light aceleration or braking and then lights would come on. This was very annoying so I removed the fuse under the hood. Now lights are on all the time but no noises.
The car also makes a droning or buzzing noise above 70kph from the front sounds like you have snow tires on but no looseness or vibration.
I checked with Canadian Tire today and they have front bearing assembly's in stock with the wheel sensor atatched for $197.00 made by SKF.
Has anyone used these SKF parts and is this assembly easy to change?

that is so true Siver96 i have that buzzing sound over 70mph too :x i new it was a wheel bearing. does it come with the sensor ?

later man :canada:

Al

The guy at Canadian Tire showed me the part and it had the wheel sensor atatched.
I will have a closer look at the car today to see if I can tell which side is making the noise.
It is hard to tell when driving.
Will let you know.

The speed sensor is inside the wheel bearings on the front wheels. I would still have the codes retrieved so that you know exactly which speed sensor is bad. Just because you have a bad bearing does not necessarily mean that you have a bad speed sensor in that bearing.

that's true too :D i haven't had that problem ever since :shock: i aint bitchin' !

Fuddy, you are right, you should realy have the codes read & eliminate the guesswork, but I thought I could just remove the bearing assembly and look at it. Wrong! I don't think you can remove this thing without destroying it. After removing the axel nut & 3 torx bolts the assembly is so rusted on to the steeering knuckle that it took a long time to separate them, and when I did, part of the speed sensor remained in the knuckle and I had to pry and chizle it out. Fortunatly I bought a replacement bearing. Cleaned everything up, put it in and everything works! ABS & Traction! It was a lucky guess, but this bearing seemed loose compared to the other one so I wanted to replace it anyway.