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 rockotman...Blown On The Steel BreezeEmerging Research
join:2000-08-06
DSotM
kudos:2 | "Service Traction" Message on DIC and ETS Warning Ligh 2007 Chevy Cobalt
My daughter was out shopping this evening with my granddaughter, and when they went to leave the shopping center, when she started the car, she got a "Service Traction" message on the Driver Instrumentation Center (DIC) as soon as she started the car.
She called me, and I asked her if everything else seemed OK, such as is the engine running properly, is the parking brake fully released, etc... She said yes. She already tried shutting the car off and restarting it to see if the message recurred, and it did. Nothing else seemed amiss, so I told her it was probably OK to make the 3 mile drive home to her house (about a mile away from where I am).
She called again a few minutes later and said that the Enhanced Traction System Warning Light came on, after she had made it about 1/8 of a mile. I told her to go ahead and drive home, and if it gave her any problems to give me a call, I would come get her.
She called again to let me know that she made it home fine, with the warning light on and the message being displayed the entire time. What is interesting is that after parking, she shut the car off, and then restarted it, and the message is gone and the light is off.
I did some automotive repair whizzard research (Google  ) to see if there is any hints as to what may have caused this.
The internet is full of "helpful Hannas" and their hair-brained solutions; everything from "have the dealer check your catalytic converter" to "you're low on brake fluid" to "check your spark plugs".
There were a few suggestions that seemed moderately plausible, such as a loose connector or worn wire in the wiring to the trans-axle, or the possibility of RFI due to a nearby source when she was starting the vehicle at the mall (there IS a cell tower right behind the strip mall where she was parked).
If the problem occurs again, I told her I would take a look at it for any obvious wiring or connector issues prior to her taking to the dealer.
Any thoughts from this august body of shade tree and professional mechanics?
This one has this old mechanic stumped. I miss the days when you could fix just about anything on a car with a good set of combination wrenches, a ratchet set, a set of allen keys, some screw drivers, a hammer, and a matchbook. 
p.s. the temperature here is mid-to-low 30's, no rain since Saturday.
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Shine on you crazy diamond... | |
| Re: "Service Traction" Message on DIC and ETS Warning i dont know about the cobalt, but the car it replaced, the sunfire and cavalier i had more than my fair share, i remember a couple of times dirt getting into the little gear on the wheel bearing that the wheel speed sensor used to judge for ABS and ETS. one puddle later and a restart and the light went off. but like i said, i dont know how much they changed after the killing of the J body, but my 4 cavaliers and sunfires all had this problem | |
 mattmagPremium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois
kudos:3 | reply to rockotman
I'll second telco_mtl  .
A little bit of debris can cause one wheel speed sensor to not indicate, which causes the warning you noted above. Debris falls out a short time later, and error is gone. As long as it does not occur again within a short (less than a week) time, I'd say you're fine. Another repeat, and time to get it in for some diagnostic work.
Of course, it may just be a little low on blinker fluid..... | |
rockotman...Blown On The Steel BreezeEmerging Research
join:2000-08-06
DSotM
kudos:2 | reply to rockotman
Thanks.
I had a similar experience with my son's '96 Firebird about 10 years ago.
It took me a few weeks to figure out what was going on. I even when as far as taking it to my buddys shop and using his tools to check the signals coming from the sensors. Everything seemed OK. That was when my son mentioned that he had changed the spark plugs and plug wires recently. It turns out that the wires that he put on the car had straight ends instead of 90 degree ends (like the originals) going to the spark plugs. Because of the change in the angle, the wires were routed slightly differently. One wire was about 3 inches away from the shielded wire coming up from the right front ABS sensor. When I moved the sensor wire further away from the spark plug wire, the problem went away. 30 seconds and 1 zip tie later, problem fixed permanently.
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Shine on you crazy diamond... | | |
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| reply to mattmag
said by mattmag:I'll second telco_mtl .
A little bit of debris can cause one wheel speed sensor to not indicate, which causes the warning you noted above. Debris falls out a short time later, and error is gone. As long as it does not occur again within a short (less than a week) time, I'd say you're fine. Another repeat, and time to get it in for some diagnostic work.
Of course, it may just be a little low on blinker fluid.....
i also one time found one on my car full of tar from a recently paved road i drove on | |
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