Traction control

Indout96

May be a silly question but will having a non funtioning traction control cause any long term damage ?
Basically my traction control light is now perminently lit (since Friday) and the manual says OK to drive but should be diagnosed by Vauxhall which I assume will not be cheap, as I am not bothered about having it will it cause any long term damage by leaving it unfixed.
Car is a 1.8 Tigra B (2005 model)

skiddlydiddly

Myabe a bit if extra wear on the tyres, nothing to worry about.

LandyAndy

Will it be an MoT fail?

skiddlydiddly

I can't see why it would, a large proportion of cars on the road won't even have it in the 1st place.There are some MOT testers on here who can give you a definitive answer.

colino

No its not currently part of the MOT (most cars that do have it have means of adjusting it or turning it off anyway) and it wont cause any harm. Better way of thinking about it though is that your car is flagging up a fault and you really should have it checked. It could be anything from a duff ecu to a sensor or, with some cars, the system noticing a difference between two tyres on the same axle, say if you have put on a borderline spare when the other side is a healthy 8-9mm tread.

Indout96

Thanks for the replies guys, I will get it sorted after our holidays then, I was just worried I would cause any more damage by driving around for a few weeks.
Sorry i could not reply last night but my home computer had logged me out of the site and I could not remember the password so had to wait for work.

kaya

many traction control lights double as abs lights also(they use the same sensors) , it could be that your abs isnt working rather than traction control, that is an mot failure

stampede

kaya wrote: »

many traction control lights double as abs lights also(they use the same sensors) , it could be that your abs isnt working rather than traction control, that is an mot failure

That's true, it is a legal requirement that if you have abs, it must be working, so well worth getting it checked ASAP.

rodenal

The above is correct, in many cases a traction control light actually relates to an abs fault. It's more than likely your abs is also inactive for the moment.

Not a huge worry if you know this is likely to be the case and don't go skidding off into the nearest ditch/car in the wet, but still needs resolved before mot time.

Indout96

Thyanks Guys, it has a sperate ABS light wich goes out no problem, I have been told that traction control was an extra on the Tigra, not that it really needs it. I will book it in for looking at, better safe than sorry.

zappahey

kaya wrote: »

many traction control lights double as abs lights

Are you sure about that? Do you have an example?

It seems odd that critical safety warning (ABS) would share a warning lamp with a relatively minor alert.