Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Handling, suspension, and brake tuning discussions
Post Reply
BrentC2
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:15 pm

Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by BrentC2 »

I just got a call from my college-aged daughter. She's visiting a friend in Seattle Its a 2009 Vibe GT (2.4) and she said that when she got in the car to begin her 1,000 mile drive home, the "car with squiggly lines" light started flashing, a beeping noise came on, and the brakes started shuddering so badly that she had to come to a complete stop and then limp the car back up the street to where she had parked.

Unfortunately she doesn't have a way to pull codes without going and buying an ODBII reader, since I'm about 1,200 miles away from her.

Any suggestions on what the issue might be? I'm thinking ABS sensor, but we'll need the code to determine which one (I assume the fault codes will say which wheel is the problem?).

Any advice would be welcome!
Transylvania
Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2018 3:21 pm
Location: Fort Worth, TX

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by Transylvania »

If she is close to a Auto Zone or similar store, they can pull the code for free...
BrentC
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:45 am
Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by BrentC »

Great idea. Thank you. I’m not sure it’s drivable however.
2009 2.4L | 5 spd auto | Sun & Sound Pkg | Preferred Pkg | Rear AC | Jet Black Metallic | 85,000 miles
Caretaker

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by Caretaker »

I'm sure glad it happened where it did. Not a pretty thought regarding the "what could have happened" scenarios. With a history of GM "mechanics" trying to kill me via improperly torqued axle bolts, causing a catastrophic collapse of my axle on Riverside drive in Harlem, I'm a bit of an expert on the subject. Explain what you mean by limped home. Can she start the car and see if the car:
1. backs out of the driveway safely?
2. drives down her street at slow speed with proper braking?
If so, then I'd take it to her trusted mechanic to figure it all out. I've personally never heard of a car turning all "Linda Blair" on a person, especially when it comes to brakes. Usually it is simply an "idiot light" that comes on. Nevertheless, have her trusted mechanic do the once over on it. Good luck.
I am having a similar, but not as scary a scenario happening to me this week. Kid says she is getting an evil noise which her trusted mechanic thinks is transmission trouble on the Fit. My instructions was for her to drive it until it fails and then have PBS come and tow it away for free. At this time, we are thinking of driving the HET 2000 miles and giving it to her. We'll fly home and purchase a Crosstrek. Hmmmm.....kid has car troubles and we end up buying a new car!!!
BrentC2
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:15 pm

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by BrentC2 »

Thanks. So I had the car towed on Saturday to the only shop that was open and could take it (she needed to leave on Monday - yesterday). Unfortunately they spent Saturday unable to find a problem, but did confirm that the car was not drivable. I spoke to the mechanic and he said "it was so bad I had to turn around after 50 feet and stumble back to the shop".

They took apart all the ABS sensors looking for problems and could not find anything obvious.

But now on Tuesday it is driving just fine. So I'm hoping it will be OK to get her 1,200 miles home.

The reason I got her this car is because of their reliability (and low maintenance costs). I didn't realize they had problems with the ABS sensors...
jolt
Posts: 945
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:07 am
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by jolt »

SB0205-09..........07/06/2009 Brakes - ABS Lamp ON/DTC's C0210/C0215
Applicability - 2009 Corolla/Matrix 2WD
Introduction
Some 2009 model year Corolla and Matrix vehicles may exhibit an ABS MIL "ON" condition with either one or both of the following Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs):
^ C0210 - Rear Speed Sensor RH Circuit
^ C0215 - Rear Speed Sensor LH Circuit
A newly designed speed sensor connector is available for this condition.

The above is a TSB from Toyota. There is a redesigned sensor cable to fix the problem of corrosion in the rear speed senor connector on the 2009 and 2010 Corolla and Matrix (Vibe). If the shop took the sensors out or unplugged the sensors and then plugged them back in, it may have got the connection back for now. This is a know problem as Toyota has released this "Technical Service Bulletin" and would be very high on the probable cause and should be checked.

As so most cheap code readers only read the generic "P" - power codes and will not read "C" - chassis codes.
BrentC
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jul 30, 2019 7:45 am
Location: Santa Barbara, CA

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by BrentC »

Thank you! When I asked the shop if they pulled any codes he told me something like “the ABS codes are tricky because they aren’t retained when you restart the car so we weren’t able to see the original codes” which sounds like hogwash to me but I’m 1,200 miles away and know nothing about the shop other than it was the only one I could find open on a Saturday when the problem occurred.

Shouldn’t I be able to determine whether this TSB has been performed by the VIN on the car?

I’m hoping my daughter can get the 1200 miles home without incident.

One other thing that seems odd: reading many, many posts on this issue and the TSB I haven’t seen a single person report that the ABS system kicked in while driving and made the car undrivable, only that the ABs light came on. In my daughters case she reported that the Traction control light (car with squiggly lines) came on, a warning beeper sounded, and the brakes shuddered continuously, making the car unsafe/unable to drive.
Last edited by BrentC on Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
2009 2.4L | 5 spd auto | Sun & Sound Pkg | Preferred Pkg | Rear AC | Jet Black Metallic | 85,000 miles
Caretaker

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by Caretaker »

no, I don't believe there is a website that you can enter your VIN and it gives a detailed list of maintenance performed. I looked at the NHSTA website and entering your VIN merely tells you whether the car has any outstanding recalls on your vehicle. I also went to a car history website (that you have to pay for a report) and maintenance was NOT one of the categories it would reveal anyway. If you had all your work done at one location, say Pep Boys, or a GM dealership, certainly they can pull up all your records. But if you hop around from shop to shop like I do, then I think we're out of luck.
jolt
Posts: 945
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 2:07 am
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Re: Traction control light flashing, beeping, brakes shuddering

Post by jolt »

BrentC wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 6:49 am Shouldn’t I be able to determine whether this TSB has been performed by the VIN on the car?
No, this is a Technical Service Bulletin and is not a Safety Recall. TSB are internal service bulletins to the dealerships to let them know of part upgrades and possible service procedures changes to fix problems that the manufacture has seen coming into shops at a higher then normal volumes. This is not tracked by anyone but the car owner. TSB are not government mandated recalls.
Post Reply