az3579
11-04-2011, 08:01 PM
So your traction control and brake lights are stuck on. You've had all the sensors checked (steering angle sensor, wheel speed sensor, etc.) and they all test good, are free of crud, and are installed correctly. Why are the lights still on?
Simple answer. If you have had suspension work done, or have worn suspension components that could cause a misalignment, get the car aligned, then drive it for a while.
I had a badly misaligned steering wheel and these lights stuck on when I hit a bad pothole that destroyed my balljoints on my left front control arm. Replaced it and the steering wheel was still crooked but the steering was tight. I got the alignment done expecting the lights to go out and they didn't.
The key is to drive it for a little while. These lights will go out. No freaking out necessary.
What happens is that the steering angle sensor detects that the wheel has toe in or toe out, not to spec, so the traction control gets disabled. The system cannot operate as its calculations will be thrown off and it cannot effectively administer the proper countermeasures with the specs that it sits at currently. Once the alignment is done, the sensors just need a little time and mileage to "recalibrate" if you will (all of this is an educated guess that I narrowed it down to) and allow the system to detect that the specs are within the norm range again.
I thought this was the issue because I got my laptop with the dianostic software on it (INPA). I saw that the wheel speed sensors were all appropriately picking up the correct wheel speeds, and that the steering angle sensor was operating as normal (it detected all proper steering inputs as well), so I knew my sensors were fine.
That is all. An excerpt from my daily ZHP diaries.
Simple answer. If you have had suspension work done, or have worn suspension components that could cause a misalignment, get the car aligned, then drive it for a while.
I had a badly misaligned steering wheel and these lights stuck on when I hit a bad pothole that destroyed my balljoints on my left front control arm. Replaced it and the steering wheel was still crooked but the steering was tight. I got the alignment done expecting the lights to go out and they didn't.
The key is to drive it for a little while. These lights will go out. No freaking out necessary.
What happens is that the steering angle sensor detects that the wheel has toe in or toe out, not to spec, so the traction control gets disabled. The system cannot operate as its calculations will be thrown off and it cannot effectively administer the proper countermeasures with the specs that it sits at currently. Once the alignment is done, the sensors just need a little time and mileage to "recalibrate" if you will (all of this is an educated guess that I narrowed it down to) and allow the system to detect that the specs are within the norm range again.
I thought this was the issue because I got my laptop with the dianostic software on it (INPA). I saw that the wheel speed sensors were all appropriately picking up the correct wheel speeds, and that the steering angle sensor was operating as normal (it detected all proper steering inputs as well), so I knew my sensors were fine.
That is all. An excerpt from my daily ZHP diaries.