Noise when losing traction

I’m sure it’s completely normal, but I’m curious what it is. We got some snow here in Texas and I’ve lost traction a few times. When it happens, I hear a noise for a very brief moment. It almost sounds like something electronic “winding” up, if that makes sense.

Anyone know what it is? I’ve lost traction in cars before and never heard it, but this is my first truck.

 

Yep.

 

It's probably just the traction control kicking in.

 

Thanks. Lol.

Question was, what is it though?

 

I’m assuming you’re right. What I was thinking as well. I’m just curious why I’ve never heard it on any car I’ve ever owned (probably like 15 different cars over the “years”) and what is actually “winding” up.

I’m more so just curious as to what it’s doing.

 

It's the ABS actuator doing doing it's thing, and yes, it can be quite noisy doing it.

You can do a search in the upper right if you'd like to read entire threads on it.

 

Trucks lose traction easier in the snow with no weight in the bed.

There is a noise where the abs is braking individual wheels to maintain control so you don't spin out.

I'm not sure about the winding up noise you're talking about though since I've never heard it. I only hear the loud clicking noise from the abs.

 

Thanks for the info! Makes sense. I didn’t want to read through 37485895 posts and filter through some people’s smart ass responses just to find this. Lol.

Thanks again!

 

Yeah, “winding” may have been the wrong description. Sounds like the ABS thing is what’s going on, which makes sense.

I was just curious since I’d never heard it on any other car.

Thanks!

 

Idk, when i'm on icy roads, and lose traction while in 2wd i don't hear anything unusual, but i use to see this stupid yellow led flash on the dash.

 

imo the traction control is very loud on the tacoma, louder than any other vehicle I have owned or driven. loud enough Ive had passengers ask what the noise was

 

Yeah. That’s what I was thinking since I’ve never heard it on any other car. I mean, it’s not obnoxiously loud, but you can definitely hear something going on.

I was just curious what was happening when I heard the noise.

Thanks for the input!

 

Huh. Here I thought the trac control was relatively quiet compared to the others I've owned.

All of my previous cars were damn primitive, their ABS was not wheel selective. Slide on the ice in my frontier and it was a loud, indiscriminate, and violently jerky bratta-ratta-tat.

The quiet electric whrr on the 3rd gens is luxury to me.

 

Im specifically talking about traction control, not ABS, never heard ABS really. What Im talking about is giving it gas and the wheel slips and you get a loud sound as the traction control kicks in and stops sending power to the wheel. I never hear much when braking or sliding.

edit** I guess I should say, i dont know if its Traction Control or ABS (since they probably work hand in hand) , but the sound is specifically when trying to accelerate not at all on braking. Driving in the snow I get the sound practically any time I try to accelerate hard and the truck senses wheel slip. I also see the traction control light flash when this happens.

 

The antilock brake system, traction control system, and vehicle stability control system all use the same mechanical system that rapidly pumps the brakes. When it is
operating, you will here a tap-tap-tap sound. The volume varies based on the context. The system on the off-road and pro trims is considerably louder and also more aggressive. Here in snow country, we have been well aware of these systems since they first became common in the 1990’s(?). It’s hard to get through a winter without the ABS activating at least once. Before the advent of ABS, we were all taught to pump the brakes rather than lock em up.

EDIT: this article suggests ABS was not mandated until 2013 in the US, but I know I had it on my 2001 Subaru and I thought pretty much all models had it then too. I might have the wrong impression.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system

 

I’ve gotten so used ABS brakes that the other day, when I was driving in 4lo on ice, I locked up the brakes and slid 10 yards. Apparently I have completely lost the instinct to pump the brakes. I also didn’t realize ABS is disabled in 4lo (or maybe only when the locker is engaged?)

 

Just a heads up, it’s not the “tap tap tap” of the ABS that I’m hearing. It’s almost like a whirling noise. Or a small electronic when it starts up. Not a fan type noise either. Sounds like it’s coming from underneath the truck, somewhere in between the back of the front seats and the back of the cab.

 

If not the brake systems, I have no idea what you are hearing, assuming you aren’t hearing the tires slipping on the ground.

The brake system noise can vary, like I said. In 2wd on the street the traction control system can produce a barely audible tap-tap-tap sound (a flicker like sound) when accelerating from a stop light and the wheels spin a little bit. Conversely, if you try to drift around a corner, you will hear a much more aggressive application of the brakes that ruins your fun. Is the traction control indicator light on the dash flashing while you hear this noise?

 

No. It’s not the tires. I know what that sounds like like, and had it happen as well the last few days. 100% completely different sound than what I’m referring to

 

I don't have any other ideas. I do know that at least one of the sounds you are hearing when the truck loses traction is the brakes being applied by traction control and/or vehicle stability control. I hear that sound almost every single day during the winter.