traction control fault

Hello everyone!

I appear to be having a bit of a mare with my 2001 TD4.

Traction contol kicks in when pulling off - sometimes it applies the brake o n/s front wheel to such an extent it kills acceleration when pulling out from a junction.

The TC light illuminates when this is happening and then promptly goes out. No warning lights illuminated at any other time.

This is now getting to the point it could be dangerous. I know i need to strip the car soon as it needs a new clutch so wondering if its a drivetrain problem or maybe a faulty wheel speed sensor (although this should throw up the 3 amigoes...)

Any ideas apart from a match and petrol?

TC thinks wheel is turning too fast. No warning light suggests abs sensor is OK so check the reluctor rings on the front driveshafts. Also any free play/end float can affect sensor performance.

Had the very same thing two years ago after a two month lay up. It was a snapped reluctor ring due to rust build up and it gave way when I took off. (Exactly same symptoms as you describe). There is an inspection hole on the underside front of the hub where you can see the ring. If its missing or rotating when you poke it with a finger it's goosed. A second hand drive shaft complete with attached reluctor sorted it (once the lights were re-set by a plug in to Testbook). The ring is a perforated band about 1cm wide.

Thanx guys.

Have solved the problem today - the n/s/r abs sensor was not correctly seated, the air gap was too great and as a result it couldn't read the wheel speed correctly and sent false signals through to the controller which misinterprets the signals, thinks too big a difference between front and rear, oh front must be spinnng, apply brakes.

Repositioned the sensor, out for a drive and no TC light until i try and spin away on the icy roads when the TC performs exactly as it should.

Now....on to change the clutch.....:doh: