Traction control light coming on when tires are not slipping
 

So in the last few days I put on new rear tires, (oem size) and then replaced the transmission and rear diff fluid with motul 300 at a reputable jiffy lube in my town. Last night and today I noticed the car felt kind of jerky on the freeway and if I change lanes slightly aggressively the traction control light will blink a few times as if the back tires broke loose, even tho they are not at all. The TCS light is the only light that comes on and them goes away quickly. I have tried googling the issue but could not find anything with similar issues. Has anyone on here heard of this issue? I'm still under warranty and will take it in if necessary, but was wondering if anybody has any insight on this issue.

Thanks in advance

It could be a problem, but it could also not be a problem. Allow me to explain:

When I first bought my car, all was fine. Then one day I put winter tires on. They are so flobbery and soft that even mediocre sawing of the wheel back and forth would cause the traction control to FREAK OUT because the car was so slow to respond to steering input (due to the tires being so willing to roll over) that the car THOUGHT it was breaking traction when it wasn't.

Today, I went the other direction, and fitted my car with 255 section Michelin PSS tires. These have way MORE grip than the OEM rubber, and are only a 35mm sidewall, so they have sharper response too. The traction control system again becomes a nuisance, because it isn't really tuned to this sort of setup. If I swerve back and forth, it again FREAKS OUT, presumably because the forces, and the way the vehicle rolls now are so much more exaggerated that it again things something has gone horribly wrong.

If that's all that is happening, it's simply a result of the fact that you've modified some of the parameters that the system is tuned for. The ideal scenario would be if it were possible to select different "traction control maps" for your vehicle, or at least have it reprogrammed, but AFAIK, that isn't something that's possible to do.

It's also possible you have a legitimate problem, but I wanted to throw this out there because it could simply be nothing at all.

Start with an alignment check. Whenever I do suspension work that throws my alignment out of whack, traction control goes bananas (usually on the way to the shop for the alignment). Especially if your car feels weird on the road. The other thing to check may be the wheel speed sensors, if those get knocked around they can cause TC to act up too.

I respectfully disagree with Stang up there, I think there's something wrong. I've had stock tires, Pilot Super Sports in stock size, snow tires (currently on), and 245 Hankook R-S3's on my car and never had traction control bug me unless I was driving rather aggressively or on very bad road surface (wet, bumpy, or snow).

Hmm. I suppose it's always possible that my car is screwed up, but I put the winter tires on a month after I bought the car. Otherwise stock, and this is a video I took.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOz-C33bloE[/ame]

My assumption was that it wasn't doing this before and that this error occurred after you took it to Jiffy lube. You shouldn't have taken it there in the first place IMHO. Why didn't you just go to the dealer for this? Getting an alignment is good idea tho

Lol @ reputable and jiffy lube being used in the same sentence.... like AAMCO and efficient transmission rebuilds... anyway, alignment should not have been affected by a tire mounting and fluid change, but perhaps a fresh alignment may be in order for further diagnosis and elimination of possibilities as others have noted.

If the front tires are pretty worn and the rears are new the difference in rotational speed of the front/rear wheels (because the rolling circumference will be quite different) may be enough that the stability control and traction control systems are getting confused when you do something that's out of the ordinary, like the quick lane changes. Somewhat normal.

Rotate your tires more often so you don't wear out just one end :)

what tire did you buy? I'm guessing it's a mix of a chinese-brand tire and the fact that it's a new tire and slick. the 1st part was a joke. don't get offended plz.

and what @DocWalt said makes sense too

Yep so the issue ended up being the tires. I had bought cheap off brand tires because I planned on burning them up at the next track event, but because they were cheap tires the actual outside diameter of the tires were actually slightly bigger than the stock tire size. (Even though they are the same spec) And since I still have the stock Michelin front tires on with about 30 percent tread left, it was throwing off the wheel speed sensors.

So I upgraded to some decent hankook tires in the rear and the issue is gone so far.

Lesson learned, don't buy cheap tires lol.

:clap:

I just had what I bolded happen this morning. I tried to recreate it but couldn't due to traffic.
I have a 2016 with under 20K miles, stock wheels with brand new Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 215/45/17 tires.
I'm not worried but thought I would add this in case someone else experiences the same thing and doesn't have a similar situation as the OP.

If the light came on then the traction control came on. Just because you didn't feel anything doesn't mean it wasn't doing it's job. In fact it shows just how smooth the TC can be if it can save your butt and you don't even realize it.

Oh yeah I totally agree.
I didn't think that the conditions (40F degrees and dry) were enough to warrant it being needed but at the time I'm thinking about the workday ahead of me and not looking for opportunities to trip the TC so I'll believe that it honestly saw a need to do something.
For a minute I thought about softer sidewalls on the winter tires, maybe there was water on one of the painted dotted lines that I couldn't see or something else but then I just let it go.

One other thing I'll note is that it was completely silent as far as I could tell (radio was on).

Or maybe that's exactly what it was. Happens to me all the time with more aggressive steering inputs. Don't forget how much more tread squirm there is on winter tires.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1vDOxXH9Pw[/ame]

I'm going to try to recreate this after work but that looks like it's going to be the answer. :thanks:

May be lumps in the road surface between lanes.
The bots dots and dugouts for reflectors can change the relative speed between tires.

My BMW bike freaks out and cuts power whenever I pull over the central rumble strip when passing. Have to be aware.

While this is indeed a case the road I was on didn't even have those.

I was able to recreate this same thing. I'm betting you can make this happen on non-winter tires as well but it's just easier with the softer sidewalls on winter rubber. Thanks again @Stang70Fastback

So to the future forum member who comes across this thread...it's most likely normal.

I also have the same thing happen with my winter tires. 215/45/17 WS80's. It has gotten better now that I have had them on a month or so. The first few nights were just like that video. It will still get confused going fast around corners in the dry but nothing to worry about I believe.

The colder it gets the less it will happen. Winter tires are SOFT SOFT SOFT so that they can harden to the proper level when cold. That is what makes them winter tires. Such things as tread pattern and deep sidewalls that people associate with winter tires are actually secondary considerations.

Sorry for knocking the cob webs off this one. I'm having a similar issue to OP at highway speeds traction control will kick on lets sway on sweeping turns and overall the car feels very sensitive to steering inputs. My alignment, suspension set up, tire pressures are all good. The problem started AFTER I installed new rear tires about 5 days ago. The front tires are worn to 4/32 and new rear tires have been on for about 5 days with about 400 highway miles. Could the new rear be causing the issue? Thanks

your car can see the difference in the speed of the tires and is reminding you that you're a cheapass.

replace all 4 tires.

lol I don't think you can put cheap and pilot sport 4s tires in the same sentence. I autocross so I figured I could get one more run out of the ones up front but I guess they are heading for burnout island tonight lol. I'll get the other two put on this weekend and report back.