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Traction control light stays on when it rains...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Bananaman, Apr 21, 2013.

  1. Bananaman

    Bananaman Junior Member

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    Here's a good one; after I had the transaxle replaced in my 2008 I was driving on the interstate and the traction control light started blinking and a beeping came out of the dash area. A fast beep-beep-beep-beep-beep... for about a minute then stopped. I took it back to the dealer and they said it didn't throw any code plus "that shouldn't have anything to do with the transaxle".
    Everything was fine until a few days ago it rained and it did it again three times, only at highway speeds, stopping after I got under 37 mph.
    Any ideas? Is something getting wet that shouldn't be? It doesn't slow the car down or anything like a real slipping situation would.
    Thanks for any insight.
     
    #1 Bananaman, Apr 21, 2013
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    What kind of tires are you running and what is the tread wear looking like and how much tire pressure are you running?

    Traction control ecu measures rotation speed of all the tires and if one or more wheels shows more revolutions than the other it see's that as loss of traction in that wheel and TC is invoked. If you have bad tires you may not feel the tire slipping in the rain but it is.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Apr 21, 2013
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  3. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    +1

    Was it actually a minute of beeping, or was it a few seconds? It is possible that it was continuously going off for a minute. If you are on dry flat pavement and are stopped, then floor it, can you accelerate without the light coming on?
     
    #3 2k1Toaster, Apr 21, 2013
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thats a good test could be a loose wheel sensor up front but he mentioned rain which immed. pegged bad tires to me.

    Probably Integrities with 60,000 miles running 55 lbs...lol...
     
    #4 edthefox5, Apr 21, 2013
  5. morpheusx

    morpheusx Professor Chaos

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    I wouldn't be surprised if the 12v is going out either
     
    #5 morpheusx, Apr 21, 2013
  6. Bananaman

    Bananaman Junior Member

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    Tires are all good, almost brand new Michelin's 42 psi front, 40 rear. Installed 12v battery 2 months ago and according to the Scangauge never gets below 12.6v.
    Yeah it was a constant beeping, just about drove me crazy! I took a video of it with my phone, need to figure out how to post it.
     
    #6 Bananaman, Apr 21, 2013
  7. krutoyi

    krutoyi New Member

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    Any luck fixing this issue? I have the same problem, just got my alignment done, go over about 30 mph the traction control light come one and beeping noise driving me insane. pls help!
     
    #7 krutoyi, May 1, 2014
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Did it happen right after the alignment?
     
    #8 edthefox5, May 1, 2014
  9. Bananaman

    Bananaman Junior Member

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    It's so random. It'll go months without it happening, then all of a sudden it will go off. It always stops when I slow down to about 30mph. I was told it might be because I have different size tires front and back, so until they wear out enough to replace I won't know.
     
    #9 Bananaman, May 6, 2014
  10. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Well that's a key piece of info you neglected to mention.

    Of course the traction control is going off. It monitors the speed of each wheel to see if one is out of sync with the rest. You are screwing it up by having mismatched tires, therefore mismatched speeds at each wheel. Tires rarely get back into "sync" by just wearing them out. Because by the time the news ones are worn down the old ones are even more worn.
     
    #10 2k1Toaster, May 6, 2014
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  11. krutoyi

    krutoyi New Member

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    I fixed my problem, i disconnected the 12v battery for the night and plugged it in the morning and problem solved! thanks all
     
    #11 krutoyi, Jul 21, 2014
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