traction control light always on

[barnabyho]

First things first... Hi everyone Have been a member for a while but haven't been on for a while due to some numpty lorry driver writing off my old audi coupe 2.3e.

Good news is i'm back as an audi owner with a A3 1.8t 2001 plate, woo-whoo. Got to love Audi's

Enough rambling though as i do need some

The traction control warning light stays on all the time. I read somewhere that it could be the MAF sensor. The car was a bit rough at idle and having checked the MAF i found it was faulty. However this has now been changed and after a run down the dual carrige the warning light turned off BUT as soon as drove the car again (about an hour later) the traction control light was back on and stays on

Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be?? I've got a VAg reader and will carry out a scan on the weekend but thought someone on here might be able to give me a heads up of possibilities. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[NickPicks]

I wouldn't have thought the MAF would trigger the traction control light, but Crasher's post below sets me right about that.

Are you sure you haven't got the traction control turned off? When I turn mine off, the light comes on constantly - when it's activated by wheelspin, it flashes.

A fault code read might help. You could also go into the ABS system measuring blocks and check that the wheel speeds are all the same (get someone else to drive while you do this). The ABS sensors are what triggers the traction control, so a faulty one might activate the light. I'd have thought that would also make the ABS kick in every time you brake though.

[Crasher]

Certain engine faults can cause the ABS to store code “01314 Engine control unit” and I have seen AMM faults do this.

[barnabyho]

Thanks for the responses.

When i press the ESP button nothing changes, which leads me to believe the traction control is turned off and in safe mode (not 100% if that's a correct assumption though).

Nickpick - could you explain the ABS measuring blocks please? i've never heard of this before. Is it a simple test you do at home or would i need to go to a garage? I have the previous years mot with brake testing which shows that one side was braking slightly more than the other (do you mean this?).

Crasher - what's the AMM?

[NickPicks]

Measuring blocks:

What type of vag reader do you have? To use measuring blocks, I think you need vag-com or VCDS (the new name for vag-com). For your car, you could get a cheap cable for about £15 from ebay, and use the shareware version of vcds light. Depending on your reader, it might be able to measure blocks.

If you're using vag-com / vcds, then you open the ABS module, and click on 'measuring blocks'. I can't remember which one, but one of the blocks is wheel speeds - you then get someone else to drive slowly forwards in a straight line, and you can watch the speeds of each wheel sensor.

My comment about ABS speeds might be a red herring though. If it's that, then I'd expect the ABS to moduilate and vibrate the pedal every time you brake.

I'd say your first thing to do is to read the fault codes with vag-com / vcds, and see what codes are stored. then clear the codes and see what comes back.

The AMM is the Air Mass Meter (also called the Mass Air Flow meter or MAF)

[barnabyho]

Thanks for that.

I've got a coder reader from a link on this forum. Here's a link to the product: http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_GDEOBD.html

Think the best thing is to read the codes tomorrow and take it from there. Will post the results a.s.a.p.

[porterxx]

Check out this link 'bout all VAG-COM codes.

Cheers


Edit: The info is in 3 different languages, including English (or maybe American?).

[Crasher]

Or you could try this which is at least in English, well sort of-it is American.

http://wiki.ross-tech.com

When it works that is!

[barnabyho]

THanks for the comments.

Crasher - that's a seriously helpful site and has provided quite a bit of information to look into.

Thanks guys!