Traction Control???

So Ive started to do some work on my 97. Just the basic tuneup, oilchange, gutted airbox. I can already feel more power and the car is loving it. BUT...Yesterday I jump on it to see how these tires break loose and as soon as it breaks I get this horrible skipping (for lack of a better term) sensation from the front end. So I figure, oh I forgot to take traction control off. I do that.....and no difference.
Feels like something is wrong with the steering as well. Like there's more resistance than there should be, especially at the extreme right or left but this may not be related.

I plan on getting it up on a lift this weekend and having a look. Anyone else experience this? It sounds bad but feels worse.

BoattailBob wrote:

So Ive started to do some work on my 97. Just the basic tuneup, oilchange, gutted airbox. I can already feel more power and the car is loving it. BUT...Yesterday I jump on it to see how these tires break loose and as soon as it breaks I get this horrible skipping (for lack of a better term) sensation from the front end. So I figure, oh I forgot to take traction control off. I do that.....and no difference.
Feels like something is wrong with the steering as well. Like there's more resistance than there should be, especially at the extreme right or left but this may not be related.

I plan on getting it up on a lift this weekend and having a look. Anyone else experience this? It sounds bad but feels worse.

traction control is 2 things, engine cutout and braking. I found that the best thing to do to completely get rid of it is to change a bunch of the tables in the VCM. With those changed, the traction control is less willing to try and apply the breaks. I ve spun the wheels for over a quarter mile in the rain at about 65 MPH in my 06 MC with 3.9 and a 4t65e trans, bangin off 7,000 rpm

Maybe ABS is malfunctioning? That could cause the symptoms you're experiencing. Not common for ABS to fail though. Does the traction light ever come on by itself?

AA wrote:

Maybe ABS is malfunctioning? That could cause the symptoms you're experiencing. Not common for ABS to fail though. Does the traction light ever come on by itself?

better yet, does it ever not go off?

As far as I can tell when I turn it off, it stays off. at least that's what the light is telling me...yet it seems like it's still on. The traction light has never come on by itself.

brake fluid low or recently flushed?
and by skipping do you mean wheel hop?

thats how mine was, its meant for old people, Buick never intended for people like us to actually drive these. I havent gotten into my VCM yet, but assume the traction control is much more "stiff" than other cars.

Remember when the TC is turned off, it's still on, but to a lesser extent. The only way to disable it totally is to pull the fuse. The ABS one I think?

By skipping I did mean wheel hop, at least that's what it feels like, but I let off as soon as I felt it so it was pretty quick to tell for sure. I haven't changed the brake fluid yet, only had the car a few weeks but the fluids all look clean and full. I guess I could pull the fuse and see, I didn't realize it was still on when you press the off button...really I'm not out to just smoke the tires I was just testing its capabilities and then found something I wasn't expecting.
Thanks for the help guys

Careful trying to spin tires. One-wheel burn-outs = #1 killer of auto transmissions.

Yea I agree with that. Just want to find out what the problem is, if there is one at all. I'll see what it looks like underneath this weekend. There's definately something going on with the steering. gonna change out fluids this weekend too.

AA wrote:

Careful trying to spin tires. One-wheel burn-outs = #1 killer of auto transmissions.

Why is that?

too much strain on the differential for FWD cars

Mr.Riviera wrote:

too much strain on the differential for FWD cars

Is there a "safe" point for smoking them?

I read to "spin" the tires for a couple seconds at the track when you get lined up to clear off the dirt...

smoking tires is never "safe", something could always go wrong and snap! (but you could just as easily frag a piston half way down the track)
but as long as both tires spin up freely you will be fine 95% of the time. when you floor it going thru a turn or burn out only 1 wheel it puts strain on the diff. also if you try to burn out with drag slicks on stock diffs they can and will sometimes shatter due to the extra torque required to initaly start moving the sticky, wrinkled rubber.(maybe not the right set of adjatives to describe tires )
even vettes blow chunks of their rear diff at the track sometimes.

the best and safest way to do a bunout IMO, is to hit peak torque as fast as possible (either by torque braking or just jabbing the gas 3/4 way) so that the tires easily start spinning with little resistance.
it problably puts undue stress on parts when/if you hold the parking brake, so i dont do that. there is enough power you should need to either

Good advice.^^^ I use the E-brake to keep from throwing the car forward. As long as you punch it real good from a stop, both wheels should brake loose.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/6b808be8-d22f-4d07-8fee-987d00a39f34.htm like this? my car is exactly the same.

yea but at the track you cant be launching 100ft during the burnout, so it's more like this...

http://www.3800pro.com/movies/Tires_On_LSD.wmv

Mr.Riviera wrote:

yea but at the track you cant be launching 100ft during the burnout, so it's more like this...

http://www.3800pro.com/movies/Tires_On_LSD.wmv

Todd (the owner of the car) had it chained to a dumpster in the backround. I know this because of the way it pulls, and someone told me. 2 of my friends had to hold back my 06 monte 3.9, with the e-brake on, and bricks infront of the back tires just to get it to stay put. It can be done, I did a nasty burnout at the track once, and there was so much smoke that by the time i made down half track, my whole car instanly fogged up. You gotta juice that torque, or brake torque it real fast in the water.

Hope this is the place to ask but.. I have noticed this lately whenever I lost traction and especially today with the snow. Whenever I lose traction I hear a motor/mechanical noise from the drivers side of the car. It sounds like a robotic cat growling. Does anyone know what this is and if it is functioning properly by growling every time I lose traction? Is it the ABS or something to do with traction control? Anyone know what I am talking about?

Sounds like traction control/ABS doing their thing. All cars with these systems make these sounds, especially the older ones.

What exactly is it? It sounds like a motor of some sort. Where can I read/learn more about it?

So that robot cat growl is a normal sound it makes? nothing to worry about?

It's the ABS pump. It is a kind of hydraulic pimp motor, engaging and disengaging the brakes faster than you can. You notice it more in snow because the wheels are loosing traction. Nothing to worry about. Only worry if you don't hear the noise.

I believe the PCM runs a diagnostic on the ABS/TC every time you start the car. I feel it in the morning sometimes where the ABS buzzes the brake pedal for a split second.

The noise just startles me. It definitely sounds like something is not right but I guess that is just the noise the ABS pump makes? If I turn off Traction Control would that affect the ABS at all?

If that noise is the ABS pumping the breaks then what does Traction Control do that is different?
You guys should know that I am total noob by now, so please forgive my elementary questions. I just really want to get familiar with my car.