z00m-z00m

The other day when we were out on a group drive I did a U-Turn on gravel going uphill and lost traction. Immediately the traction light came on along with my BRAKE light and ABS Light, Once I gained control these lights stayed on. I had to restart the car to rid the lights.

Has this been an issue with anyone else? I lost traction a few more times that day too but only the traction light came on then and turned off once it was regained.

livitup

I read something about this in the manual, but I don't remember specifically what it said. I do remember it was bad mojo. I had a BMW do this exact same combo once, turned out to be some brake system part was failing. Though on the BMW the lights wouldn't clear for nothing, until it was fixed.

I'd give a call to my friendly service advisor and see what they have to say.

---A

kbull

All right, way to drive it like you stole it! Was this all on gravel? Maybe you should just stick to good ol' pavement...

z00m-z00m

It wasn't anything hard or bad, just taking a turn to turn around and i went on gravel with the road 2 feel in front of me kinda uphill. Put a little gas, tires slipped lights went on, was always moving though.

himitsu

IMHO, I think it has nothing to do with the car system, most likely caused by the gravel itself. If you watch WRC, youll see how notorious gravel are.
ABS helps you stop LSD helps you grip.
But they dont mean anything if there is nothing for your tire to grip.

The same way ABS and LSD wont help you if you hit an oil patch.

v300

iTrader: (1)

z00m-z00m;

Your situation happened to me before except my interior lights (map lights) turned on also. Since you are in Irvine I give you some specifics on how this occurence happened to me. I drive with the traction control off most of the time. On a normal sunny afternoon I was driving westbound on Irvine Center Dr. and crossed the bridge over the 405. Going 45-ish I made a right turn to get on the 405N. During that turn my rear wheels broke free and I understeered a bit (yee-haw!) and during the time of the loss of traction all of the warning lights came on as well as the map lights. This incident happened on a good old paved Irvine road. After I got traction, the car was back to normal. I related this occurence to Irvine Mazda and Tustin Mazda... unfortunately it could not be replicated.

hoffa

this also happened to me when i was doin some toe to toe racing with my friend down a back road, it was pretty much a 1/4 mile run w/out the timing and all. from a standstill the light went off as-well.. i got worried cuz i believe the car goes into "limp mode" after that. but i turned my car off and it was back to normal. but later on that night i was cruising not doing anything and the light went back on again hmm odd if u ask me. thats my .02

Lawerence

Yea, and they have special tires for it.

mzrx

Your situation may be a safety feature from the car as it is losing traction. It happen to me before when I was doing a spirited run in SD with a friend on the twisties. My rear broke lose and I was understeer, the traction light started to flash as soon as it happen even the ABS flash as it gently applies the brake to gain control back for the driver. It stayed solid for maybe less than a minute after it knows that the car is stable and not losing traction then the indicator turns off.

SikRedRX-8

where was this spirited run? It wouldn't happen to be over that pass by Spearfish would it? That is the best road I have ever driven.

mzrx

Sorry Sik, I meant San Diego, CA. It's a back road, I forgot what name was, near a friend in San Diego. I am not exactly sure where Spearfish is, is it in New Mexico?

z00m-z00m

I just called my service people they said it was normal and nothing to worry about. heh doesnt sound normal to me.

Len

According to the Owner's Manual, that combo of lights means the electronic brake force distribution has stopped working (and so ABS and TCS/DSC are also disabled).

I don't know what causes it, but I've seen it myself a few times - always in exactly the same spot. A few times at this one place getting on or off a parkway near my home, those 3 lights come on and stay on until the next time I start the car. I can't figure out what causes it, but for me it wasn't related to TCS/DSC kicking in.
The Owner's Manual also says it's not normal - it has a "! Warning" that when brake force distribution isn't working, the rear wheels can lock up during braking. (Not to mention that ABS, TCS, DSC are also not working.)

mzrx

Len, did you take it to the dealer to have it fix? Did they fix it, what was replaced or changed if any?

therm8

I seem to remember reading in the aftermarket forum, that this is an indication of the car going into "Limp" mode. Usually occurs after significant wheelspin.