Traction Control Light Blinking; Why?
If you see the traction control on your car’s dashboard blinking, then it means that there is some problem with your car’s traction control. In simple words, it is not safe to drive as the wheel is losing contact with the track because the road may be slippery.
There is a slight chance that instead of your traction control, there can be a problem with the car’s computer responsible for blinking the lights in your vehicle.
Thus you should immediately take your vehicle to the mechanic to have the proper diagnosis of the issue in your car to fix it.
Table of Contents
- What Is Traction Control?
- Why Is The Traction Control Light On?
- How Does Traction Control Work?
- When To Use Traction Control?
- Can You Drive With Traction Control Light On?
What Is Traction Control?
Traction control adjusts how much power is delivered to each tire as it rotates. This allows cars to have much better traction on slick surfaces like ice or snow. Traction can also be dynamically adjusted for a more constant driving experience on wet roads with puddles of water or rain.
Traction control is a system that limits wheel spin due to loss of traction, most often by reducing engine power.
Traction control has been implemented in different forms on all modern production cars and is an alternative to full-time four-wheel-drive systems or the older limited-slip differential.
The system uses either a central computer or, less commonly, wheel speed sensors and individual wheel braking to detect when one or more tires leave the driving surface.
The idea is to prevent wheel spin by decreasing engine power to the wheels with no traction. The traction control system prevents your vehicle from skidding while accelerating on the wet or slippery tracks.
It automatically gets on when the sensors sense that the wheels are losing traction.
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Why Is The Traction Control Light On?
If you’re driving at high speeds and you notice the traction control light coming on, there’s a chance that your problem is with your tire pressure sensors.
These sensors on each tire send information to your car’s computer about how much pressure there is within the tire. If it detects a low enough pressure, it will activate the traction control light to let you know that it needs some air as soon as possible.
The car’s traction control system provides stability and prevents the car from losing track on wet and slippery roads. There could be several causes of your traction control light turning on. Some of the causes are discussed below.
- Bad sensors can cause traction lights to be on
The sensors are located in the back wheels, and they help the ECU control engine. These sensors monitor tires for slippery conditions as well as control traction functions. If one of your sensors is bad, it can cause traction control to turn on.
- Faulty computer
A computer in every vehicle collects the information and then processes it. The computer makes the light turn on if the sensors predict that the road is wet. So any fault in the computer itself can be the reason for faulty traction control light on.
- Bad or loose connections
If there is a loose connection at the sensor, it can cause the engine to be signaled anti-lock brakes lights, which will make the traction control indicator light up.
- Faulty ignition system
If there is a problem with your ignition system, it can make the traction control light turn on and other warning lights on your dashboard.
How Does Traction Control Work?
Traction control helps prevent a vehicle from slipping and skidding on the road. Working by converting some of the engine’s power into torque, traction control keeps a car from sliding off the road by using throttle and brake inputs to maintain or increase traction.
Several factors affect how much torque can be created with each input, including tire width, drive ratio, the ratio between an axle’s front and rear output, engine rpm, engine speed, suspension height adjustment, and spring rate.
This means that a car performs traction control varies based on different conditions. Simply put, it will apply braking to the appropriate wheels to keep a proper level of traction at all times or increase one’s ability to accelerate on slippery surfaces.
Traction control maintains a constant drive force and tire surface pressure when traveling on slippery surfaces.
This means that if one wheel spins due to lack of traction, the other three wheels will have their torque reduced to compensate for any loss in acceleration. Therefore, the driving force will remain relatively constant.
Although traction control allows a vehicle to travel at a constant speed, it is not used as an accelerator pedal but rather as a supplement for acceleration on loose surfaces.
When To Use Traction Control?
Traction control can save your life should you ever be involved in an automobile crash. However, when do you use it? If you are driving along and notice that your power steering is getting jittery or your tires are slipping, it’s time to apply some tension manually.
You want to use traction control right before the situation gets much worse rather than too late.
You’ll need the extra assistance of the system while turning into a parking lot or maneuvering through an obstacle course on dirt or mud.
It can help you drive out of mud, sand, or snow. While driving off-road or in the snow, don’t try to save your wheels by not engaging traction control.
Traction control is a computerized system that senses when the vehicle is about to skid, reduces engine power, and applies the brakes to the wheels individually.
This allows you to continue driving steadily and safely turn corners with spinning tires but don’t have traction. It does this by reducing engine power and applying individual brakes when needed.
Can You Drive With Traction Control Light On?
Yes, you can drive with the traction control light on if there is a fault in the light instead of traction control.
Sometimes traction lights get turned on even if the weather is good or the road isn’t wet and is perfect for driving. In that case, there is not any problem continuing to drive to your destination.
But if you see that the road is wet and the tires are losing traction, you must think of getting the vehicle fixed if there is a fault in engaging the car’s traction control.
