VDC turned itself off
 

I had a wierd thing happen yesterday. The road opened up and I made a quick left then right and I noticed a strange feel on the left and the right felt like wheel spin. I looked down and the traction control light was illuminated solid and VDC off was also lighted up. I hit the button a few times but had no control of the light. I tested the car on a turn and sure enough, the wheels spun and I drifted a bit. The VDC turned itself off, and both lights stayed on until I got in the garage. I turned off the car waited ten seconds and restarted the car. No lights. I have yet to test if the VDC is working again, but I assume it will.

Anybody else have this happen?

I've been having the SLIP indicator light come on solid recently (usually after it flickers when I get a little wheel spin). I typically already have VDC already off, so that light is already on (it is dimmer than the SLIP indicator). Turning the car off fixes the light. Next time it happens, I will test the VDC button to see if it is still functioning.

That's interesting.

Gotta be honest. When I saw the thread title I thought I was walking into a "totaled my Z" thread. :icon17:

Hmm, never had that happen to me. Sounds interesting, though.:confused:

Mine was a different case. On multiple occasions during the winter, I had the traction control light already illuminated when I started the car, after having turned it off when I last parked it. I thought it may have been the snow and ice build-up, and frequency of me turning it on and off (to make it after stopping at street lights :icon17:).

Had it happen to me a few weeks ago when I went for a ride in the hill country. Both lights came on and stayed on although nothing changed in the handling of the car. Got back and checked my brake fluid...it was about half an inch low. I filled it back up and bam...no more lights.

I notice VDC is super sensitive. It has been flashing quite a bit lately on half throttle acceleration, and the tires are a couple week old!

very similar thing happened on my front loader luckygoldstarstupidtunes.
i can turn it back on by spinning the tub kinda fast after the cycle is done. :ugh2: no explanation for this...

This is basically my experience, although my brake fluid was not noticeably low. A few weeks ago I went by a nearby dealer to ask them about it, and they changed my brake fluid without even asking :shakes head: It went away for the past few weeks, but I just noticed it started happening again last week. My brake fluid is at the max line. I am getting new rotors and pads next week, so I will continue to monitor it after I do my own brake flush.

:wtf2:
















What's VDC? :ugh: ;) I drive like a pussy so all this control stuff doesn't apply to me... :ugh2:

Yup, mine does that too...it's the weirdest thing..:ugh2:

Thank goodness no. Then this thread would smell of "I actually totaled my car but I am looking for false blame."

I had tracked my car the day before but 150 miles later, what correlation is their? None I assume.

I had my brake rotors turned yesterday and needed no more brake fluid. With the 5.1 they make a big deal about adding. this statement was not true.

I think it is sick of being nannied.

Everything is working again. Just the one drive home. It is gratifying to see others have had this problem, and not just an "unconfirmed story". The bad news is this could wreck a car for the untrained. It was totally unexpected only I don't try and depend on VDC. Good thing in this case.

Brake fluid. As soon as the sensor on the reservoir is uncovered, say on rapid acceleration, the ECU responds by disabling traction control. Half way between max and min is enough to trigger it, need to be all the way to max.

Since it just happened again under the exact conditions described I will now check my fluid.

My fluid was at 50%. Now I'm an 1/8th of an inch from top. I bet this works.

Thanks ChrisSlicks.

Guarantee it was the brake fluid.

Also, I'm shocked you havent run into this at the track yet. I get it almost every time I go out, thanks to the stupid weeping bleeders.

I have had many brake fluid change outs so I guess this kept it topped off full. I had a little more than half my fluid in my reservoir. Does this happen when VDC is already off already?

I tested my traction light on our way to dinner this evening. It worked and all is well.

Yeah, that'll do it. I'm lazy with it sometimes, so I always bring an extra container of fluid with me to top off at the track.

Had the same issue after a track day. Slip and VDC stayed on after reving past 4000 and then would clear after shutting the car off. My brake fluid was a little less than half. Filled it up, no more lights! Thanks guys!

yo this ish is hilarious. :icon17: Op, your vdc just turned off?

A wild douche appears! (yo)

Sent from my Galaxy S3

Can't believe it took until post 14 for someone with knowledge to speak up. Sheesh.

Probably because the title was cryptic enough that one may not link it to brake fluid?

Not all of us can read every post lol

Sent from my Galaxy S3

Ive been battling this problem (or a very similar one) for about a year! I get intermittent brake/vdc/slip/abs lights coming on at very random times.

Ive checked my reservoir (full)
Ive tried to pull codes off computer (it does not store brake codes apparently)
Ive taken the car to brakes plus who couldnt figure out the problem

next step is to take it to (oh no!!!!) the .... dealer.

I hate the dealer. While its there I guess ill have them upgrade my SLU, but I dont like problems that cant be easily fixed at the auto parts store!

I suspect I have either a bad abs sensor, or a faulty master cylinder quantity sensor.

This thing drives me crazy cause it comes on at random lasts a few days then goes away at random. Maddening!

Download the FSM. There is a lot of good troubleshooting info plus descriptions and drawings that show what I/O the system uses.

If you suspect the brake fluid level switch, a simple continuity tester will tell you what the switch is doing.

I got my answer day one so no harm or foul.

Thanks again for your help weeks ago.