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changed front tires . now traction X light lights alot on dry pavement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Tombukt2, Jul 12, 2022.

  1. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Change my front tires put the front tires on the back and new tires on the factory rims back on the front I did not disturb any of the electric plugs for the speed sensors or anything in the front and especially not on the back I hadn't seen the traction control lights since I replaced the ABS pump and accumulator or actuator. But today after changing the tires the traction control light has been flickering on and off all afternoon and dry weather going down dry road. And when the light activates driving gets funny white traction is being shifted around or something or the electric motors are trying to balance something that's not out of balance because the car is not slipping.
     
  2. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Double check that the new tires are the exact same size as the old ones. (occasionally difference in tire brands and tread wear can be a problem, even if sizes are "the same") If sizes (or tire circumference) are just different enough, then the traction control or ABS might think something is slipping and it has to step in.

    Or maybe tire work inadvertently disturbed something for a wheel speed sensor or a tone ring.

    A scantool that has good data coverage for the braking system would be helpful- you could see if any wheel sensors went erratic or varied when the glitch happens.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  3. prius16

    prius16 Active Member

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    Double check tire pressure, tire wear, and tire manufactured date (coded on the side).

    Btw, the weight distribution is never 25% over each wheel.
    So, when the tires are rotated, if a tire was a little low on tire pressure, but in a corner with less "weight", and that lower pressure tire is moved to a corner with "more weight", that may result in enough of a decrease in tire diameter, to result in an ABS/traction-control light.
    And, of course, the same would be true for the "reverse" where a tire with more air pressure was moved form a higher to lower "weight" corner of the car.

    Hence, why tire pressures should be checked and set, after a tire rotation.


    Also, even the same exact tire/brand/model/size can vary between years.
    The Blizzak snow tire are one of the best known tire model, that seems to have model year updates every few years. That can be an issue, for people like me, that run a size of Blizzaks on a car, that barely has any wheel-well clearance.

    Good Luck!
     
  4. Another

    Another Senior Member

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    Did you balance the new tires?
     
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Because the traction control is a function of the brake/skid ECU, and that ECU knows the trick of blinking its trouble codes out on the dash lights (when you simply jumper a wire between the Tc and CG diagnostic pins), there is a really easy way to find out what issue it is reporting here, even if you don't have a suitable scan tool handy.
     
  6. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I just scanned the car with my Inova 3100 which generally reads most of the Toyota generic codes without a problem. And reads the ABS codes flawlessly. And right now I have no ABS codes in the car and I've had many and my check engine light is on for two instances of p 0420 the cat low threshold. That is always here on this car and I don't worry with it. I just went for a ride down the highway trying to maintain 63 mph the traction control light is flashing pretty steadily I don't know 1/6 of a second intervals or something and it's making the car do something try to regain traction that it's not lost trying to go faster seems to be wasting fuel and causing the traction control to maybe work itself to death. Getting off the highway and riding 50 miles and 53 mph around town invokes no traction control and the car feels as normal. So I guess I need to have a look at the wheel sensors I don't think I knocked anything loose I did look at the wires and feel them to make sure they felt like they were guided as they were stock and everything seemed okay. The tires are the same from the same manufacturer cheap junk that I've had no prior problems with. My tire guy at the place I go to knows the car I just put four TPMS sensors of the same Pacific brand on all four of the wheels and he usually keeps me at 40 I rotate them myself at his place so I put the fronts on the back He mounts the new fronts fills them to 40 I blast them on the car with my DeWalt electric impact gun they are balanced. The car drives fine goes straight down the road with no hands on the steering wheel even if I touch the brakes straight.
     
  7. Another

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  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Both the stock 185 65 15 I think whatever goes on the factory alloy rims one is the solara and the other is a solara Plus as the regular solara's were out of stock so one's an 88H and the others in 84 or vice versa I might just wait 200 mi and see if everything settles in which would be like the end of today but even when the traction control light is not on it feels like something is monitoring my every move a lot more than it ever has like the traction control is after ready and it's really kind of weird.
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The traction control's "signal check" mode can make it easier to troubleshoot some kinds of elusive issue like that; it lowers the error-reporting thresholds, so problems are easier to catch. More info in the repair manual.
     
  10. Another

    Another Senior Member

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    I only mentioned it since you said, "The tires are the same from the same manufacturer cheap junk that I've had no prior problems with."
    Could be a bad lot?
     
  11. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Measure the circumference of the tires. Or watch wheel speed sensor signals while on the highway- see if any are showing faster than the others.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.