trac control light, 2000 mgm

just picked up 2000 gm, while driving, once i get to about 40-45mph the trac control light starts flashing, then i loose all power. the manual says this is normal during wheel spin but i am driving on dry roads. i shut off trac control button and the car ran normal. what turns on the trac control to make it do this? any ideas what to look at? thanks

It is a possibility one of the wheel speed sensors is reading wrong. This will make the computer think there is a wheel that is not going at the same speed.

thanks for the info. is there a special scanner to check witch side might be bad?

The wheel speed sensor is likely the problem, although the ABS self-test is supposed to detect that before you ever experience traction control issues. Usually the ABS will engage during normal stops if it does not detect that a problem exists. I disabled mine because I don't want to replace the sensor plus it's much more fun.

A normal code scanner will not read the Ford Engine/ABS specific PIDs/codes such as this one. There are software utilities and computer interfaces you can use to diagnose these Ford-specific PIDs and do other useful features. I use ScanXL Professional with an ELMScan5 (superseded by OBDLink) USB device.

If you wish to just disable the system at engine start up, you can disconnect one of the wheel speed sensors by lifting up the rear seat cushion, and disconnecting one of the connection points (one on each side of the vehicle). ABS and Traction Control will be completely disabled, and the ABS and Traction Control indicator lights will be permanently on. You can cover it up with tape, however.

Any quality scan tool will read the ABS sensors. I use OTC products and have had re4ally good luck. There are lower cost tools that will read ABS. You just have to search them out. I would not disable the ABS or traction control for reasons that might have a legality issue to them. Also if family is riding in the vehicle, don't you want them to have all the safety features on the vehicle?

thanks for the info!! i have a cheap scanner, i'll try it and see if any codes come up, if not i'll check out the rear sensors when i get to the rear brakes.

The lower end code readers usually will not read the ABS system, just ther PCM.