Traction control button does nothing

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Baconator

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First post. Recently bought a 2014 JK after owning a TJ forever.
My traction control button does nothing. A quick push or holding it in with not turn on the light. The light does work, fuses are all good, no codes?
Searched the web and found nothing but a million threads about the light staying on, nothing matching my issue.
Anyone have this issue before?
Thanks in advance.
 
I know some people put in a bypass switch to over ride the traction control system. Seems like most people put a button down by the shifter on the side as I believe that is where the wires go. If someone did bypass it that may be why the button doesn’t do anything.

You can put the Jeep in 4H and push and hold the traction button for about 5-8 seconds and it should display “ESSCCC” (or something similar) off in the mileage area of the display. This might help you know if the system activates or not. I know if you put it in 4L the traction control system is off but I can’t recall if the light comes on.
 
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Danarch said:
I know some people put in a bypass switch to over ride the traction control system. Seems like most people put a button down by the shifter on the side as I believe that is where the wires go. If someone did bypass it that may be why the button doesn’t do anything.

You can put the Jeep in 4H and push and hold the traction button for about 5-8 seconds and it should display “ESSCCC” (or something similar) off in the mileage area of the display. This might help you know if the system activates or not. I know if you put it in 4L the traction control system is off but I can’t recall if the light comes on.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I’ll have to look for a switch. I found a video where a guy installs a switch to complete disable TC, but while in the off position two dash lights will illuminate. I have none, but the bulbs are operational.
I’ll dig around until I find the culprit and post my findings.
 
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This is my dumb ass question for today. What exactly does the traction control do when it's activated? Or is it deactivated when the light is on. It's something I never paid much attention to.
 
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SteveF said:
This is my dumb ass question for today. What exactly does the traction control do when it's activated? Or is it deactivated when the light is on. It's something I never paid much attention to.
Click to expand...
When traction control is active and your rear tires start to spin, the Jeep will cut power to stop the spinning. When traction control is deactivated, you can smoke off the tires and not lose power to the wheels.
 
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I searched and found no added switch anywhere. It turns off in 4 low & the dash illuminates, but the factory TC button does nothing in 4H or 2H.
The light on the dash does flash if I spin the tires on a loose surface, so it appears to work fine, it just cannot be “disabled” by the button.

The mystery continues…
 
Baconator said:
I searched and found no added switch anywhere. It turns off in 4 low & the dash illuminates, but the factory TC button does nothing in 4H or 2H.
The light on the dash does flash if I spin the tires on a loose surface, so it appears to work fine, it just cannot be “disabled” by the button.

The mystery continues…
Click to expand...

Have you taken the switch panel off to check the wires on the back of the switch? Have you looked at this?

wranglerjkforum.net

How to fully disable traction control and other electronic nannies on your Jeep Wrangler JK

Why would you need to disable the traction control and other electronic nannies on your JK you might ask? When turning off the traction control using the switch on the dashboard, it's not actually fully disabled. The electronic nannies will still kick in in off-roading situations. The issue with...
wranglerjkforum.net wranglerjkforum.net
 
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BLACKJKU said:
Have you taken the switch panel off to check the wires on the back of the switch? Have you looked at this?

wranglerjkforum.net

How to fully disable traction control and other electronic nannies on your Jeep Wrangler JK

Why would you need to disable the traction control and other electronic nannies on your JK you might ask? When turning off the traction control using the switch on the dashboard, it's not actually fully disabled. The electronic nannies will still kick in in off-roading situations. The issue with...
wranglerjkforum.net wranglerjkforum.net
Click to expand...
I have not. That’s my next step.
Prob should have been my first step.
I’ll post up what I find.
 
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JeepJeezy said:
When traction control is active and your rear tires start to spin, the Jeep will cut power to stop the spinning. When traction control is deactivated, you can smoke off the tires and not lose power to the wheels.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that info.
 
SteveF said:
There is no chance of smoking the tires on a jeep
Click to expand...

You can as long as you go straight in a line, it's when the rear fishtails the traction control takes over. It's just the ABS doing braking on the rear tires to get the Jeep out of a slide. The part that picks up the motion is under the center counsel.
 
I'm guessing it's the switch. Find an empty parking lot that's wet, or a dirt road and stomp on the gas. You should see the driving on bacon icon flash momentarily as traction control kicks on and off. If it doesn't do that, I think you need to take it to a dealer to have it scanned. But again, I'm betting it's the switch.
 
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JerryD said:
I'm guessing it's the switch. Find an empty parking lot that's wet, or a dirt road and stomp on the gas. You should see the driving on bacon icon flash momentarily as traction control kicks on and off. If it doesn't do that, I think you need to take it to a dealer to have it scanned. But again, I'm betting it's the switch.
Click to expand...
I tried that on the gravel part of my driveway. It does kick in and the light will flash. It won’t illuminate when the button is pushed.
I’ll pop the switch out and see it came disconnected this afternoon when I get home from work.
 
BLACKJKU said:
Have you taken the switch panel off to check the wires on the back of the switch? Have you looked at this?

wranglerjkforum.net

How to fully disable traction control and other electronic nannies on your Jeep Wrangler JK

Why would you need to disable the traction control and other electronic nannies on your JK you might ask? When turning off the traction control using the switch on the dashboard, it's not actually fully disabled. The electronic nannies will still kick in in off-roading situations. The issue with...
wranglerjkforum.net wranglerjkforum.net
Click to expand...
Well I popped the switch panel off and didn’t expect to find what I found if I’m honest.
No pigtail going to the switch, & no place for it to plug in if there were a pigtail. I guess it’s a dead dummy switch?
Only one pigtail directly behind the hazard switch and I would assume that’s it’s just for the hazards. (3 wires)
Who would have guessed?
Looks like I’ll be adding my own TC off switch.

270A5C23-BECC-4121-A831-FD063EDCE74F.jpeg
 
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BLACKJKU said:
So does it disable the ESP when in 4 hi or low?
Click to expand...
The switch does nothing in 4hi, when shifted into 4low the system disables itself.
I found some used switch panels on eBay and from what I’m seeing they all have just the one plug
Even rubicon panels with heated seats have one plug, so…. Maybe I was to quick to judge in my last post?
IDK…?
 
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I knew my 08 disabled it in 4 lo and also I have the button that disables it. Right now it's permanently disabled because I have a problem with my ABS.
 
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Interrupting the accelerometer ground to disable the traction control worked to fully disable stuff on my '08. On my '16, I found I have to press the traction control button AND THEN hit the fun button to fully disable. Not sure why... never delved in to it. I don't recall what it did on my '13, but it seems like it acted like the '08.

For non Rubi's or those that don't have a rear locker, Jeeps Brake Lock Differential is actually pretty useful. See this video


If you fully disable the TCS & ECS by interrupting the accelerometer circuit, you also lose BLD and Hill Descent Control (and ABS, but whatever on that one). That being said, I do have it, I just use it judiciously.

You might be able to use jscan to see if the switch is working, but I haven't explored that.
 
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