Traction Control Problem

[SkyBluGT3]

I have a 2012 Mazda 3 Grand Touring with the SkyActiv engine. 7,000 miles on it.

So I was driving on the freeway today in heavy traffic doing about 70-75. I had just gone down a grade and began going up the next (foothill area on the 60 freeway if you are familiar with LA) when I realized my car was losing power and slowing down--despite my pushing the gas harder. I notice the traction control malfunction light has come on--and despite my pressing the manual button, it will NOT turn off. It was acting like a brake or throttle on my car--at a very bad time. I was in the high speed lane and had to go over several lanes while not being able to accelerate--by the time I got over, I am now going less than 50. Not fun and dangerous! I was able to get off at a nearby exit and then shut the car off. When I restarted it, the light was no longer on. I was then also able to manually turn off the traction control. I have now left it off, and am afraid to use it. Never had it on my last car and so am thinking it is a stupid thing that is better left unused--but I have to remember to turn it off every time I get in the car. We sure dont need traction control in Los Angeles, where it rains like 10 days per year and never snows. Is there a way the dealership can permanently disable it? What is wrong with this dumb thing? Seems like a hazard to me.

Interesting, just saw two complaints to the NHTSA that describe the exact same problem.

 

[chimmike]

pressing it while driving pretty much does nothing. IF you want to disable TCS, press and hold the button before you crank the car. The light will flash off then back on letting you know it's totally disabled.

 

[SkyBluGT3]

pressing it while driving pretty much does nothing. IF you want to disable TCS, press and hold the button before you crank the car. The light will flash off then back on letting you know it's totally disabled.

But you have to do that every time you drive, right? How do you disable it permanently? Something is wrong with it for it to have malfunctioned in the first place. I called the dealer and the guy said, "sounds like it did what it is supposed to". Um, no, it did not. And the light came on saying something *was* wrong. Sure, it is out now but there is obviously a problem that caused it to come on in the first place. I am pretty sure that taking away your ability to accelerate at all is not how it works. Are there sensors that can be bad?

 

[SkyBluGT3]

Update: Dealer has had the car for three days. They drove it about 70 miles trying to replicate it, on the exact road. Nothing (of course!). Then sent all the data to Mazda, where supposedly some engineers looked at it. No clue there either. All the thing says is TCM: COMMUNICATION FAULT. Which I guess means nothing, according to Mazda. Or it means something and they dont know what. I guess it does confirm that I didnt make it up.

I am going to take it to the awesome mechanics at my local shop and see if they have any idea. If they do, I will then have to fight with Mazda to get it paid for, I suppose. I just get the feeling that because 1. they dont know what is wrong and 2. the computer doesn't tell them, they just throw up their hands and shrug. That seems a piss poor way to work on a car. What happened to actually knowing how to fix a car? What happened to replacing stuff until you find it? Oh, yes, that might cost money. Well, it will also cost money if I am hit because my car wont accelerate in 5 lanes of traffic and I sue. I am so disappointed in this whole situation, I really liked this car a lot. Not so happy with it now and certainly not happy with Mazda's "I dunno" approach.

 

[mtpomrink]

My son had the same issue earlier this week in a 2012 Touring HB (Skyactive w/11,000 miles). The problem stopped after the car was restarted and it has not happended since (in several hundred miles of driving).

We will be taking in for regular servicing soon and will have them look at it.

Do you have a link for the NHTSA complaints? I could not find it on their web site.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

subbing for future reference. are all of these automatic transmission vehicles?

 

[haharryha]

TCS Problem 2012 Mazda 3 Skyactiv Automatic

Yesterday I had the same problem with the TCS light coming on waiting for the light to turn green in a left turn lane. The TCS light came on, gas pedal depressed, started very slow, hardly any power, would not come out of 1st gear, shifted to the manual mode - no difference, and engine revving but no power. Only had few blocks to get home home. Got home turned the engine off and back on. TCS light went off. Took it down the street and everything seems normal. I took it out this morning and everything is fine. Made appointment with Mazda dealer since it was due for a oil change soon. This Mazda 3 is 4 months old and has 4500 miles on it.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

ok, harry here has an auto, but what about the others? just wondering if this seems to be something with just auto transmissions or it it could be any skyactiv 3.

 

[cjevang]

2012 i grand touring a/t. I have now had the same issue twice, having it towed to dealership today. Original diagnosis was comm issue with PCM at approx 4500 miles, now at 8600 miles. I'll update with results when I have them.

 

[Rockin03mp5]

Thanks, and please let us know. This problem seems to be sporatic, so I'm sure it is hard to diagnose for the techs. Maybe get a video of the problem while it is happening with your phone if it happens.

 

[Avenger_MZ3]

Happened to me once in my 08 after fueling up. Pulled out of the station, upon hitting accelerator the TCS light popped on for about 5 seconds, car was slowing down. After that it seemed to kick into gear and hasn't happened since, but did worry me for a while.

 

[mjb2002]

2012 Mazda3 s i grand touring with SkyActive engine & automatic ---Driving to work this morning...just got off the Interstate going 70 mph when the car slows waaaay down and the tach jumps to 3-4. luckily only had a few block left to get to work. I called Mazda dealer who claims to have never heard of this issue. Has anyone ever figured out why this is happening & the fix?

 

[color0]

2012 Mazda3 s i grand touring with SkyActive engine & automatic ---Driving to work this morning...just got off the Interstate going 70 mph when the car slows waaaay down and the tach jumps to 3-4. luckily only had a few block left to get to work. I called Mazda dealer who claims to have never heard of this issue. Has anyone ever figured out why this is happening & the fix?

You can probably get your dealer to reflash your car up to 2013 spec. The 2012's have a bunch of weird software bugs (including my last one) but the 13's so far have been reliable.

 

[mjb2002]

You can probably get your dealer to reflash your car up to 2013 spec. The 2012's have a bunch of weird software bugs (including my last one) but the 13's so far have been reliable.

UPDATE: dropped my car off at the Mazda dealership this morning & they just called back....they said I had a nail in my left rear tire that caused a leak and (according to the mechanic) they called Mazda who said that when one wheel turns slower than the others, it will cause the Traction Control system to automatically turn on and hence the car slowing down "on its own" and the little icon popping up on the dash. I didn't mention that when I drove the car after the incident, the TC icon was gone and it hadn't turned on automatically since or slowed down automatically since and I've been on the Interstate numerous times. If that's the reason, wouldn't Traction Control kick in each and every time? I will ask about the software updates next time I take it in. Thanks everyone...great forum...very helpful

 

[fam]

A nail in a tire wont cause it to spin at a slower speed than the rest of the tires. I had a nail on the inside of my left rear for a couple weeks before noticing it (slowly losing air every 3 days) and not once did it ever kick on the TCS. (2010 3 HB GT) ...The nail wont cause a rear tire to spin slower on the end of the car that just "rolls". Even if the nail stuck out so bad it wanted to slow the tire, the tire would still roll at the speed of the car and quickly grind down the extruding part of the nail. You need the tire fixed\replaced but I dont think the TCS issue has anything to do with that nail.....unless your TPMS was telling you your tire was super low but even then im still not buying it.

my .02c

 

[flatlander937]

UPDATE: dropped my car off at the Mazda dealership this morning & they just called back....they said I had a nail in my left rear tire that caused a leak and (according to the mechanic) they called Mazda who said that when one wheel turns slower than the others, it will cause the Traction Control system to automatically turn on and hence the car slowing down "on its own" and the little icon popping up on the dash. I didn't mention that when I drove the car after the incident, the TC icon was gone and it hadn't turned on automatically since or slowed down automatically since and I've been on the Interstate numerous times. If that's the reason, wouldn't Traction Control kick in each and every time? I will ask about the software updates next time I take it in. Thanks everyone...great forum...very helpful

A nail in a tire wont cause it to spin at a slower speed than the rest of the tires. I had a nail on the inside of my left rear for a couple weeks before noticing it (slowly losing air every 3 days) and not once did it ever kick on the TCS. (2010 3 HB GT) ...The nail wont cause a rear tire to spin slower on the end of the car that just "rolls". Even if the nail stuck out so bad it wanted to slow the tire, the tire would still roll at the speed of the car and quickly grind down the extruding part of the nail. You need the tire fixed\replaced but I dont think the TCS issue has anything to do with that nail.....unless your TPMS was telling you your tire was super low but even then im still not buying it.

my .02c

It's not that the nail causes the tire to spin slower... it's the fact that it's low on air and the flat-er tire has a smaller rolling radius, giving a variance in wheel speed readings and enabling the traction control, which works by limiting the throttle.

I do however call BS if the TPMS light was not on. Even if it was on, it usually takes a VERY wild difference in tire pressures left vs right to cause the TCS to kick on.

The only POSSIBLE explanation MIGHT be(grasping at straws here...) that the steering angle sensor is not properly calibrated... meaning it "thinks" your wheel is turned 45 degrees driving down the highway(when it's really not) and combined with the wheel speed difference could make it think a wheel is slipping.

Here is a link to the relearn procedure for an EX8... should be the same for a Mazda3 I'd imagine.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...hymnEyWcF-Lc4gJjQ&sig2=ctBeG3ZD00-74RqwNU-VRg

Keep in mind that is highly unlikely IMO because frankly I think it would be causing you problems all the time if that were really the case... but figured I'd mention it regardless.

 

[rdMazda3]

Yesterday I had exactly this problem with my 2012 Mazda3 (auto, Skyactiv engine, hatchback, about 20,000 miles). Has anyone had any satisfaction from Mazda on this one? Or worse experiences, including having to tow the car?
My experience: Coming off the freeway, bottom of the ramp, engine revs but no power or very little. Idiot lights for traction control comes on steady. So too the AT light (for automatic transaxle). Shut the car down and restart it. Idiot lights stay on, but the car drives. I reach freeway speed, and lose power again. Pull over and stop, turn the engine off, wait a bit, start it back up, and the engine works normally. Rest of that trip, the idiot lights stayed on. Next day, car works fine, and the idiot lights are off! One more detail: When I lost power, I moved the shifter to manual and the small m showed up on the dash, but it did not show any gear indicator at all (where the D or 1 or 2 or 3 usually displays -- nothing). Thanks.

 

[rdMazda3]

Update! Took my car to the dealer where I bought it (Open Road in New Jersey) and it turns out they actually had a service bulletin on this. They "reflashed" the transmission module. Which means, I assume, they updated the flash memory, basically updated the software, to fix the bug. Quick and easy and no charge (and I turned them down on the other service items they offered to sell me!). So far, working just fine. So... get this fixed everyone who has a 2012 3 with automatic transmission and traction control! Cheers.

 

[concept]

Thanks for updating. It's always good to see what the solution ended up being, especially when it involves no cost to the owner.

 

[begwi]

I had the same thing happen four times in a row while driving on the highway 350 kms from home in my 2013 European Mazda5 diesel with 6 speed manual transmission. The car basically forced me over to the side of the road because it seemed to be erroneously detecting a spinning condition and was applying brakes and engine reduction. I assumed it must be some kind of electronic failure, so after the 4th episode, I temporarily disconnected the battery to clear whatever fault signal was present. It worked, and I was able to drive another 3 hours without having the failure happen again. I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do or not, but keep that in mind for future reference if you get repeated TSC failures and you still need to get somewhere. I'm taking it to the dealer soon, but all the lights are off now.