bulldog13

I was riding down the interstate and my traction control light started flash. What do i do or what does this mean? Thanks in advance

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it just keeps on flashing?! were you skidding or something?!

bchau_gt

Is it the "TRAC OFF" light that's flashing or something else? If it's continually flashing, do you also have a CEL?

I constantly get a CEL and flashing TRAC OFF lights because of either my headers or supercharger kit or both. I wonder if it's something similar. Did you recently install anything on the car?

bulldog13

yes it is my "TRACK OFF" light that is flashing and now i cant get it back to normal if the tires start to spin they jusst keep spinning. is this something i should get all worked up over cause its really got me thinkin that something is seriously wrong with my car. i mean what could of caused it to do that i was not doin anything out of the ordinary. has this happened to anyone else or is this just some freak accident??? thanks for the replies earlier guys

bchau_gt

Well, have you changed anything on your car recently before this started happening? I'm not sure what the issue may be, but if you provide any additional info, then others may be able to help. Maybe even just resetting your ECU will help.

single sho

I changed out my wedge bulbs in my head lights to PIAA LED's and shortly afterwards the traction off light came on along with my maintainence light. The maintainence light was a simple issue associated with the fact that my oil was due. Oddly enough, when the deal finished with my oil and reset the 5K oil meter, the traction control light also when out. Might be nothing, might fix your issue.

just my two cents and my experience.

single shot

bchau_gt

Ya, that's why I asked bulldog if he also has a check engine light (CEL) on, because that and the flashing TRAC OFF are usually tied together. It's probably best that he just take the car to the dealership.

bulldog13

yes my check engine light has been on for the past month due to a bad o2 sensor, from where the exhaust and intake were changed. but im saying that the track off light is flashing and the traction control is not even working. could this be caused by the bad o2 sensor. i could see that the light would flash with the cel if its tied in together but it would still work right??????? anyways im confused still why it would all of the sudden come on while driving down the interstate and then quit working all together

bchau_gt

I'm quite positive that the CEL and the flashing TRAC OFF are related. Usually that means something more has gone wrong regarding the OBD2/emissions related sensors/systems, or maybe that because your CEL has been on for so long the car is now warning you to really look at it.

I get the same thing (flashing TRAC OFF, CEL, and lack of traction control). For some reason in our cars, the CEL and TRAC OFF are tied together to highlight problems. If you have an OBDII scanner available, I'd pull the fault codes from your car. That'll give you a lot more information, because it may now be more than just a bad O2 sensor. A lot of shops should have an OBDII scanner; taking it to them would probably be a cheaper alternative to the Lexus dealer, which I believe charges about $60 or so for a 1-minute scan.

single sho

I know our local auto parts store has a hand held error decoder that they'll plug in for free if you are planning on buying the part there to fix the issue.

As far as your traction off light, when I called on it for my issue, the lexus shop said that the traction control is infact turned off, but not a big deal and will not cause any damage. But it is something that should be looked at.

bulldog13

thanks guys for all the input , is there way that i can read the codes myself just to maybe get an idea of what it is. thanks again guys

bulldog13

without using a scanner??? like maybe something simple that would only take a few minutes???

single sho

not that I'm aware of.

I took my old civic to Napa when I had a CEL light on to have it hooked up to their little hand held unit. It only took a minute to have it plugged in. It didn't tell which one of the two O2 sensors was bad, but after calling honda and talking with their mechanics I found that in most cases it was the manifold O2 that went bad first off.

What I'm getting at is if you can get it checked free of charge at a auto parts store, it's better than paying $40.00 plus an hour at the dealership (or what ever they charge now). You could simply get the part # and price and walk away saying you don't have the money right now and call around until you find the least expensive price.

single shot

bchau_gt

Sorry, but I'm pretty sure the only way to read the codes is with an OBDII scanner. If you get one, then you will want a Toyoto-specific or generic OBDII scanner.

flipside909

My friend was having the same exact problem on his 02. The TRAC OFF and CEL simultaneously came on with the TRAC OFF flashing. We reset the ECU and it hasn't come back since.