Posted by: Taz123
Disclaimer - I have an appointment next week to have my mechanic take a look.
Over the past two weeks or so, while driving our Hyundai Santa Fe (manual), the traction control will suddenly come on in 2nd or 3rd gear (randomly, not every time we drive), the wheels brake suddenly, and the tachometer stops reading (drops to zero). You can continue to drive, and the traction control light will stay on, the tac stays at zero, and its now almost like there is a rev governor...it won't let you rev higher anymore, and forces you to up-shift.
It feels like a faulty traction control sensor, but I'm curious if anyone has experience with this? The voice in the back of my head is saying "your transmission is toast"...but I'm trying to ignore that possibility.
Cheers,
Gord
Whats your mileage and how are your tires looking? Do you have any dash button for a DSC/ESC type function? If you do have a button, press it and see if its the same result. If I launch my car with the DSC on, the TC grabs and jolts the car back for a (violent) split second and then regains control as it detecting wheel spin and no control. If you have balding tires then it'd be something similar. Start with the dash button and see if it replicates or doesnt. It sounds more like a sensor issue than an actual mechanical one. I once plugged a DashHawk (scantool) into a rental Malibu to randomly monitor the engine and it instantly put the car in limp mode.
You should also google your make and model and TSB or technical service bulletin.
Good luck Gord and hope its not expensive.