05gtgreen

Hello everyone, I am new to the mustang's and the new styling caught my eye. Didn't think i would ever buy a ford, lol. This is the first car I have ever owned with traction control and I was wondering if grinding is alright when the system kicks in? I live in Saskatchewan and we have a bit of snow on the ground and when the car starts to slid a little the light will blink and it will make a little grinding noise and if it keeps slipping it just looses all power. I am just wondering if this "grinding" noise is something to worry about? Thanks for any help, and for the couple of days I have owned the car, all I can say is I love it!

gkosin

I'm not an expert but the traction control uses the Anti-lock brake system and would modulate the brake to the wheel that has started to spin. In my experiance with the anti-lock brake systems you hear a pulsating type noise as the computer tries to reduce spin. On the new mustang I think I have herard that since the throttle is a drive by wire that it may reduce throttle as well. Check out the owners manual for all the details.
Greg

Gprice20

It's not somthing to worry about. It says in the owners manual that any noise from the brakes you here when the traction contol is activated is normal.

dima4

sam_abuelsamid is a member of this website who worked on the team who developed the traction control system for the 05-06 Mustang. Here's some of the info he wrote in another string:

RE: Driving in Snow Experiances - 12/9/2005 3:02:03 PM

ORIGINAL: wildabouthorses

I was very impressed how well the Mustang handles compared to my extended cab long bed truck! My hubby even insisted that I take the Mustang instead of the truck because he thought it would handle snow better since the weight is more evenly distributed. Couple of times the car skidding/slipping light came on I guess to tell me the wheels were starting to spin or the car was starting to slip around but it kept right on course as I let off the gas. I couldn't tell if the wheels were spinning as I accelerated those couple of times except when that light came on as I was going slow to begin with. Soon as I let off the gas some it went off. Was that the traction control light? I do have traction control. (that light shows the rear end of a car with wiggly skid marks)
Only one time did I feel the Mustang slide, I had to come to a stop kinda quick on solid snow when the light turned yellow. But even then she kept a straight slide for only a few feet.



The warning light with the sliding car is the traction control active light. When it is flashing it means the tcs is actively controlling the wheel slip at the rear. It does this by a combination of engine torque reduction and some brake application on the rear wheels. I got to try out my tc for the first time over thanksgiving and then even more today after we got 6 inches of snow last night. The car worked like a champ. If the tc is active it is a good idea to back off the gas a bit, particularly at higher speeds. If you start losing traction at higher speeds it is a lot harder to recover. The tc can be disabled by pressing the tc off switch to the right of the power outlet int eh middle of the dash. I'm glad you were pleased with the performance of the tc. I work for the company that supplies the mustang brakes and slip control system and I worked on some of the software in the abs/tc system.

sam_abuelsamid

The grinding sound you hear is the pump in the abs/tc hydraulic unit running and the solenoid valves cycling to build pressure in the rear brakes as part of the tcs. It is perfectly normal.

05gtgreen

thanks for all your help guys! Just waitin now for the snow to melt so I can test this thing out!

GTowner4life

Tonight was my frist night trying to do dounts in my roush. I atempted twice and just went in a circle with complete traction. I heard that "grinding noise" also. I was like wtf i just bought a roush and I cant even get the tires to break loose? Stupid me left the traction control on. But damn it worked like a charm no matter how hard i tired to do a dount. Next time it wont be on =)

Shard Phoenix

Traction control can Defuel, retard the igniton and even reduce throttle on these cars. Thats in addition to engageing the ABS to varing degree's depending on how much slippage you have.
Want a little better fuel economy? Turn the traction control off, just remember that its off and the cars gonna be squirrely!

GTowner4life

Thats great information. Does any of that have a negative effect on the vehicle such as damage?

Shard Phoenix

It wont really damage anything as far as I understand. However it may cause your ABS systems/brake pads to get normal wear faster since they are of course being used. And it can hurt your fuel economy slightly since your effectively brakeing while accelerateing around corners etc, and retarding ignition under hard acceleration.