Weird traction control issues

[hoss08]

In the last few weeks my 04 Escalade AWD has developed a weird traction control issue. When I come to a complete stop and try to accelerate traction control kicks in and decreases power making accelerating nearly impossible. It doesn't matter if the road is completely dry or covered in snow I get the same result. I am NOT putting the pedal to the floor either, just enough to accelerate at a normal rate. The truck used to do this at only one intersection near my house but it has become progressively worse. If I turn traction control off I can accelerate with no problem at all, no odd noises or anything negative happens either. Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is my tie rod ends are bad and accelerating from a dead stop is making the front wheels turn out in the opposite direction of each other and causing traction control to activate. The tie rods are going bad but they aren't that bad, I just checked them a couple days ago and they don't have all that much play in them.

 

[Justinj360]

Mine does this occasionally as well. Not sure what it is. Are you sure you can turn your traction control system off? And not just the stability system? My 04 will only disable the stability when I hit the stabilitrak button. They're two different things.

 

[Sasquatch]

I had the same problem and it turned out to be a wheel speed sensor in the front hub bearing. If the sensor is bad the computer reads the wheel speed incorrectly and it thinks that the vehicle is losing traction and activates the traction control.

The hard part is figuring out which of the four is bad. When mine went bad it was still under warranty so luckily the dealership had to find which one.

 

[Justinj360]

I had the same problem and it turned out to be a wheel speed sensor in the front hub bearing. If the sensor is bad the computer reads the wheel speed incorrectly and it thinks that the vehicle is losing traction and activates the traction control.

The hard part is figuring out which of the four is bad. When mine went bad it was still under warranty so luckily the dealership had to find which one.

Interesting. I've noticed mine do this ever since I had a shop replace a hub assembly...

 

[hoss08]

Mine does this occasionally as well. Not sure what it is. Are you sure you can turn your traction control system off? And not just the stability system? My 04 will only disable the stability when I hit the stabilitrak button. They're two different things.

Your right its stability control that I'm turning off. I guess I just call it traction control because if I turn it off I can break traction in a snow covered lot and have some fun. The wheel speed sensor idea sounds pretty promising, guess ill have to start looking into that.

 

[hoss08]

Actually just noticed that when I turn off my stability control the message board on the dash says stability control disabled, but a light showing a tire with T/C lights up on the dash as well. Maybe the Escalade has a different system than your truck.

 

[Justinj360]

Actually just noticed that when I turn off my stability control the message board on the dash says stability control disabled, but a light showing a tire with T/C lights up on the dash as well. Maybe the Escalade has a different system than your truck.

Yeah mine shows the same message and the T/C light (which is probably why everyone is always so confused!). I know my traction control always stays on though because when I slide around an icy corner and stay on the gas trying to do a longer slide I can hear and feel the traction kick in. This is when the stability system is disabled.

 

[hoss08]

Yeah mine shows the same message and the T/C light (which is probably why everyone is always so confused!). I know my traction control always stays on though because when I slide around an icy corner and stay on the gas trying to do a longer slide I can hear and feel the traction kick in. This is when the stability system is disabled.

I've heard that weird springy type sound during a longer slide in my truck too but I've never felt traction control kick in. Im thinking the sound is coming from something in the steering components or something. I live in NE Ohio and we are getting slammed with snow right now, I drove up our long driveway earlier today with about 1.5 feet of snow maybe more, I know its over 2 feet where it meets the road. When I got to the steepest section I had plenty of wheel spin during the climb and not once did I hear that sound. Maybe someone with more knowledge on this can answer what exactly is shut off when we hit that button.

 

[electro]

You can test the WSS (wheel speed sensor) with the right type of meter. Remove tire generally and unplug sensor connector atop shock and connector Meter. I believe.

 

[Justinj360]

You can test the WSS (wheel speed sensor) with the right type of meter. Remove tire generally and unplug sensor connector atop shock and connector Meter. I believe.

What kind of meter would that be?