VT Calais "Trac Off" Light coming on

[stirringaxe]

Frustrating aye. I have always loved the VT & I think it's a bloody good looking car. I wouldn't sell it, but boy do they get some werid stuff happening to them. LOL

 

[Sphinx]

had the same hassle in my '00 WH. Turned out to be a dodgy ABS component. replaced under warranty. first time they reset the computer and said all is ok, lights came back on, took it back again and they obviously looked harder and found it to be a hassle with the ABS.

 

[stirringaxe]

Hi guys, a follow up to this trac light coming on issue. Seems to have stopped happening now. ABS module checked but fine. The only comment I have got back which seems very plausable.

Holden dealer locally advised this senario. I have replaced all the factory stereo gear with custom system. Now this system isn't extremely flash compared to some I have seen but does have amps 15" sub etc etc. It is capable of flattening the cars standard battery in an hour or so if left on without the engine running.

They said if the battery is near flat or flattened by such a senario then I will be getting all sorts of ghost faults & messages. So to solve that I have fitted a much more capable battery with much more cranking amps & life. Seems to have cured the problems all together.

So before chasing ABS module faults it might be adviseable to check the charging of the battery or look at uprating it if you have stereo gear that can flatten it easily.

 

[scrano]

Picture 1 is your ABS module.

Sorry about digging up an old post, but I'm having a similar issue where every now and then the traction control off light comes on, and can't be switched off, and once the car is turned off, and then back on, it works fine again.

I'm just wondering here in this post, where Doctor Bob is quoted as saying, that theasiest way too diagnose if an ABS module is faulty, is too unplug the big connector and see whether the oil light goes off. Whether this could actually b used too diagnose the traction control light off issue as well.

So what I'm basically saying is, can I wait for the traction control light off, too come on and stay on again, and then unplug the big plug on the ABS module, too see if it's actually the ABS module that's causing this problem, or won't it work like that?

If not, then what's the best way too actually test what's triggering that traction control off light, when it appears next?

 

[scrano]

Originally Posted by Doctor Bob
the easiest way to find out if it has a faulty ABS module is
start the car & when the lights come on, is the oil light on?
if so unplug the big connector on the ABS & see if the oil light goes off.
if it does it will need a new ABS module, now there have been a few people say to remove the connector & clean it will fix it, i have never seen this as a long term repair, the fault is a known electronic issue in the module & no amont of cleaning the connector will fix it permanently

Rob

Sorry about digging up an old post, but I'm having a similar issue where every now and then the traction control off light comes on, and can't be switched off, and once the car is turned off, and then back on, it works fine again.

I'm just wondering here in this post, where Doctor Bob is quoted as saying, that theasiest way too diagnose if an ABS module is faulty, is too unplug the big connector and see whether the oil light goes off. Whether this could actually b used too diagnose the traction control light off issue as well.

So what I'm basically saying is, can I wait for the traction control light off, too come on and stay on again, and then unplug the big plug on the ABS module, too see if it's actually the ABS module that's causing this problem, or won't it work like that?

If not, then what's the best way too actually test what's triggering that traction control off light, when it appears next?

 

[accentstencil]

My trac off light used to come on occasionally too and the go out after a restart. Hasn't happened in a long time, it seems to have fixed itself. After saying that, it will probably happen again tomorrow.

 

[scrano]

What did you do too address the issue mate? Did you just give the plugs/connectors a clean up, or did it just go away?

I saw a thread where someone was told by a mechanic, that it was an issue with the ABS module on these cars, and was caused by people starting their cars up, and putting it into reverse, before the ABS module had fully done its systems check, but I can't see how that'd be right.

I also read where a couple of guys mentioned that they just unplugged it all, and cleaned all of the connectors, and plugs, and that fixed the issue, and then I even saw someone mention that you can fix a dodgy ABS module, by removing it, opening it up, and re-soldering the joints, which become dry, and brittle after a while (I think someone said after around 130,000 km's), which is a hell of a lot cheaper than replacing the module.

Most of everything that I'm reading though, suggests that this problem is caused by the ABS module, so I'm just wondering whether the same test mentioned above, about unplugging the big plug, when the oil light is on, would work on testing what's causing that trac off light?

 

[accentstencil]

I think it went away by itself but I did unplug the ABS module at one stage, perhaps there was a bad connection which was fixed when I plugged it back in. It couldn't hurt to spray the terminals with contact cleaner.
Usually a faulty ABS module results in a whole host of warning lights coming on.

 

[scrano]

Yeah I'm just thinking now, that it may have been the thing that tripped the last few error codes that came up when I had it on the diagnostics machine a couple of weeks ago, because I've seen some people mention similar types of system errors, coming from the ABS module, which might mean that it's not functioning properly. I'm not saying all of them are coming from a dirty ABS plug connection (or dry solder joints, or whatever), but I've seen people definitely mention similar types of errors, and they've all tied back too that module.

These are the error codes that came up:
P0151 Oxygen Sensor Circuit Low Voltage (which could just have been knocked loose, but I've gotta get around too checking it)
P0174 System Too Lean (Bank 2)
P0523 Engine Oil Pressure Sensor High Voltage (which I've fixed)
P0719 Torque Converter/ Brake Switch B Circuit Low

So now I'm wondering how many of these may have been triggered by the ABS module playing up?? Maybe none, but maybe all of them, just by reading some of the posts, and info that I've come across

 

[TI3VOM]

Mine does this but has the ABS light come up at the same time, turns out it's a wheel speed sensor that's faulty.