Traction Control question/problem?

I managed to get slightly stuck at the weekend while laning, but I don't think I should have.

Basically I got cross axled with one of the rear corners hung up on the side of a big hole, keeping that rear wheel off the ground. The other wheel was firmly planted.

Being a 98, I am aware that mine only has TC in the rear wheels. Now, my understanding of the traction control system is that it detects when one wheel is spinning and applies the brake to it forcing drive back to the wheel with traction. With this working, I should have been able to drive out of the hole.

Unfortunately, the spinning wheel just didn't seem to be braked, despite the TC light coming on occasionally.

Is there something in particular one needs to do in order to kick the TC system into life, or could there be a problem with it? I think it uses the ABS sensors, so I would have thought any problems would show up as an ABS fault?

Just trying to understand why it wasn't working so I'm prepared next time. I understand that you've got to give it some welly to persuade it that it is really spinning. I was in LR 1, in case that makes any difference.

Or is my understanding of the whole mechanism completely wrong?

It was a right buggr to extract!! Glad I wasn't on my own or I'd still be there.

TC is automatic Guy, but only works for a very short period to prevent cooking the brakes.

it does work as you say ,but could you see what the rest of the wheels were doing

There is a video, so I can see that the opposite wheel wasn't doing much at all. It seemed to twitch occasionally, but it certainly wasn't being driven.

Perhaps the disks were just covered in mud - it certainly was mucky.

It was suggested that I try and brake the spinning wheel manually with the footbrake, but that didn't seem to achieve anything. Quite disappointing all in all, as I was the only one to get stuck there. Actually, it's the first time I've got stuck, thinking about it. Grrr.

whats the condition of rear brake

jamesmartin said:

whats the condition of rear brake

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I was just wondering that myself.

They should be ok as it's literally just passed an MOT, but it is about time I inspected them all. It's possible the pads might be a bit low but disks were replaced last year. Not sure about the calipers, but I don't recall any issues last time I had them apart.

I'll check them this weekend.

Seized calipers on the rear maybe. TC is no substitute for a LSD.

Datatek said:

Seized calipers on the rear maybe. TC is no substitute for a LSD.

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I'll check the caliper.

Why is it no substitute? It does exactly the same thing.

This was the hole I was stuck in in case anyone's interested...



The rear quarter is just keeping the wheel out of the mud.

it works well on my td5 ,but theres allways a comprimise between use and hinderance,was a front wheel spinning too

jamesmartin said:

it works well on my td5 ,but theres allways a comprimise between use and hinderance,was a front wheel spinning too

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Yup, the opposite front wheel was in the air which wasn't helping.

The planted wheel doesnt seem to have much weight on it. But the front wheels look ok, i would have expectd it to drive out. Wot were the fronts doing?

Ahh in that case not. Dont think the tc will overcome being properly cross axled. Dont ya need a lsd or locker for that?

Maybe I'm just expecting too much.

kooky_guy said:

I'll check the caliper.

Why is it no substitute? It does exactly the same thing.

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I'm afraid it doesn't, LSD will work continuously, TC has a limit of I think 30 second, have to re-read the book on that but it is a very short duration.
It's a cheap option.

Datatek said:

I'm afraid it doesn't, LSD will work continuously, TC has a limit of I think 30 second, have to re-read the book on that but it is a very short duration.
It's a cheap option.

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30 secs would have been enough, although maybe I'm putting a bit too much faith in my ATs. They really weren't gripping well in that muck - I slid sideways into the hole in the first place whilst trying to drive around it.

Still, it was all good fun.

Can't help with your problem but nice to see a P38 caked in Sh*t, Good effort. What other vehicles were you out with?

Dave.

All ALL WHEEL DRIVES are NOT created equal. (Subaru Vs Other - YouTube

interesting video

Nickpen said:

All ALL WHEEL DRIVES are NOT created equal. (Subaru Vs Other - YouTube

interesting video

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I'd love to see the four generations of Range Rover on those ramps.

Davlyn said:

Can't help with your problem but nice to see a P38 caked in Sh*t, Good effort. What other vehicles were you out with?

Dave.

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I was out with a SIII, a couple of 90s, a Disco and a Jeep (which was surprisingly capable).

Mine does get mucky quite often. Ii was bought originally with the intention of using it off road. Previously I had a car and a SIII, but it's too expensive even owning two vehicles let alone running them. So I bought the Rangie to combine the comfort of a day to day vehicle with good offroading capabilities. It's been pretty successful.