traction control not working

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Wed 22 Jan 2003 16:31
traction control not working - joe
Now that the season of ice and snow is upon us, I have discovered that the traction control on my 1996 Seat Toledo GT is not working. It is not switchable, but I have no idea how it is supposed to work. Any ideas as to what I could check myself? I do not want to spend too much cash at a garage as it is not an "essential" gadget.
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Wed 22 Jan 2003 17:28
traction control not working - borasport20
Joe

what are the symptoms that lead you to think it's not working ?

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Wed 22 Jan 2003 18:09
traction control not working - joe
Wheelspin!
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Wed 22 Jan 2003 18:52
traction control not working - SjB {P}
>>> Wheelspin <<<
Under what circumstances?

My Vectra GSI will allow quite a lot of wheelspin from a standing start if it 'thinks' I'm gunning it on purpose, but if it believes pure lack of grip is the cause (say because gentle throttle is being used but the wheels still slip), it (over)kills the party completely, chug, chug, chug!

Many systems also only work in first, or first and second gears.
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Wed 22 Jan 2003 18:49
traction control not working - Dynamic Dave
Has the fuse blown?
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Wed 22 Jan 2003 21:04
traction control not working - simonsmith_523
maybe the EDL control unit? does the ABS work?
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Thu 23 Jan 2003 09:21
traction control not working - joe
The ABS is working.
I will check my fuses tonight!
The wheelspin occurs when I pull away in first. I have no idea how sophisticated the system is, although I suspect not very, given the age and type of car.
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Thu 23 Jan 2003 09:38
traction control not working - Dynamic Dave
The wheelspin occurs when I pull away in first.


For how long? My Vectra has traction control, but if I accelerate hard, the wheels will still spin momentarily until the sensors and electronics wake up and sort it all out.
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Thu 23 Jan 2003 10:05
traction control not working - Mike H
An easy check, duplicating the circumstances under which it should kick in, is to find a quiet country road. Keep one front wheel on tarmac, the other on the slipperiest, greasest bit of roadside muddy verge you can find. Try to pull away sharply (but no frantic wheelies). If its working, you will find that initially the wheel on the mud spins, then you will prbably feel a slight juddering as the traction control kicks in - this is because the brake is being rapidly applied & released to the spinning wheel. You will then pull away off the verge. If it's switchable, try same trick with & without TCS - this will demonstrate use.

I agree that racing away in first with loads of wheelspin will probably not cause thraction control to kick in, it didn't on my Saab 9000 turbo, but it did work under the circumstances described above (which is what it is actually for).
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Thu 23 Jan 2003 11:30
traction control not working - joe
This sounds like a good crack. I am ferrying my darts team to an away fixture tomorrow night, and will try it then. Will an extra 60 stone or so in the car effect this test?!
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Thu 23 Jan 2003 12:06
traction control not working - DavidHM
You could always ask them to get out and push if the car gets stuck in the muddy verge.
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Sun 26 Jan 2003 19:42
traction control not working - timp
I find the wheels do still spin when traction control activates - it's supposed to optimise the friction between the road and the tyre. It normally applies alternately full and no braking to the slipping wheel(s).

Think of it as the opposite of ABS - after all, the wheels neither lock nor rotate at the road speed when ABS activates.

A really clever traction control system would continuously vary the wheel speed to match the speed of the car to the road, but this would be more expensive.

Utilising the ABS system is a cheap way of implementing traction control - it requires little extra hardware, but just adds a few extra bits of electronics and software.

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Tue 28 Jan 2003 23:14
traction control not working - kithmo
Traction control can't defy the laws of physics, if both wheels are on ice or snow the traction control will just keep alternately braking one wheel then the other to find grip. If neither wheel has any grip then you will just find each wheel spinning in turn. If just one wheel is constantly spinning then it is not working, if one then the other then the traction control is doing its best in the circumstances.
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