Trac Light stays off

I have a 2005 Off road and I just put in some 4.88 gears with an ARB locker up front. Well I took it for a test drive right after we finished putting the gears in and when I shift into 4-Lo my TRAC and ABS systems are still engaged in 4-Lo and I'm pretty sure they should be disengaged when in 4-Lo.

I just checked everything over again (wiring and all) and when I shift into 4-Hi and 4-Lo, only the VCS light comes on. With the locker engaged the ABS and "vehicle swerving" lights are added.

When I took it for a test drive both the TRAC and ABS systems are working in 4-Lo, but are disengaged with the locker on. I found a steep rocky hill and tried to creep up it in 4-Lo. All that happened was the tires started to slip and TRAC engaged and I went no where. I engaged the rear locker and was able to spin the tires all I wanted on the hill. Coming down it I pretty much flew down it in 4-Lo (diff unlocked) because the ABS system was trying to not let the wheels slip which was impossible on that surface.

 

Can somebody verify for me what lights come on as they shift from 2-Hi to 4-Hi to 4-Lo and engage the rear locker?

Thanks

 

Sounds like you're going have to go back and re-check every detail of your work.
Mark

 

Trust me I have... I'm starting to wonder if I may have damaged a wire or plug in the process but they look ok visually.

 

Thanks for the pic but your 10 is much different than my 05 I think... That could explain the lack of responses.

 

I won't rule that out haha

but here are my pics I took just now.

4-Hi:

4-Lo:

4-Lo locked:


I'm pretty positive that 4-Lo should have the same lights lit up as the locked except for the red locked light of course.

Like I said I don't know that the systems are disengaging like they should and the lights just aren't showing, but I would hate to be in Moab or something and have VSC TRAC kick in while I am locked front and rear. Hopefully it would just mean extra brake pad wear but it could potentially be damage to my gears or axles...

 

Bump... Anybody got an 05 4x4 that they can check the lights for me on?

 

24 hour bump. Does nobody have traction control in their Tacomas?

 

Almost 48 hour bump...

So I found a steep ass hill (pic doesn't do it justice) tried to walk up it in 4-Lo and the traction control just freaked out on me and beeped at me and didn't let me get anywhere, I also have ABS in 4-Lo, I'm still pretty sure that both of those systems are supposed to be disabled in 4-Lo. With the locker engaged I could spin the tires and the trac didn't freak out on me. (I actually had to lock both front and rear to walk up this.)

 

I have not. That is a good idea though. I will be right back. haha

 

Ecu reset didnt fix it. I may just live with it at this point. I'll most likely be using the locker anytime I'm in 4-lo anyway. On a side note, i have done the locker anytime mod. Maybe that affected it for some reason.

 

It seems to be somewhat of a rare option on the Tacoma's which is why I created my thread. The majority of TW didn't know anything about the 2005-2008 models.

 

Your truck is fine.

In 2005-2008 trucks (when equipped), ATRAC is on by default in 4 Low. If you had a VSC button you would disable it by holding the button for a few seconds while at a stop (ABS will still be on).

Like I said above, the truck is acting normal.

As for being worried about it engaging when you are locked front and rear, it won't. When you're locked in the rear, everything is off.

 

I'm actually kind of stunned. haha. I did a bunch of browsing on here when I first heard of ATRAC and like you said pretty much the majority of TW thinks that ATRAC is only on the '09+ tacos.

I didn't know that the traction control was so rare on them either. I was talking with guys on here and just kept getting told that they don't have it. haha

I have one more question for you, just out of curiosity, does the ATRAC system work better on the '09+ models or is it the same system as my '05?
+rep man. Thanks

Hey Whipper you were right. haha. I was just freaking out

 

Glad I could help .

2009+ ATRAC trucks you can use the locker and ATRAC together. You can't (without modification) on the 2005-2008 models.

So technically, yes 2009+ ATRAC is better than 2005-2008 ATRAC.

The point is moot though when you have lockers front and rear .

I'd let the traction nannies do their thing until they can't get you where you need to go, then lock the rear (which turns all nannies off), then when worse comes to worst lock the front.

 

I was just curious because when I was unlocked on that hill I got no where with the ATRAC. In fact I almost felt as though the ATRAC limited how far I could have got. Although I didn't get much farther with the rear locked than I did unlocked. So I was just wondering if the newer ATRAC systems would have performed a little better in that situation or if ATRAC just has advantages in a few situations and that hill just wasn't one of them. Thanks for the info