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TRACTION CONTROL comes on and engine loses power

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239K views 227 replies 100 participants last post by  Oggy  
#1 ·
While turning slightly right to merge onto southbound traffic from eastbound at an intersection, I gave some throttle to accelerate from the turn and suddenly the traction control light comes on and I lose throttle control.
The Renegade was still running but all power was cut from the wheels for about 5-10 seconds until traction light came off.
I have no idea what happened, no slippery or sandy surface. Good thing no one was behind me because the loss of forward momentum was pretty serious.


Brand new Jeep Renegade '16 Dawn of Justice edition with only 400 miles on it.
 
#2 ·
I've had this happen to me twice now. Once was rolling through a stop sign and making about an 80 degree left hand turn. The second was a quick turn onto a road, again, a sharp turn. Same result as the OP, traction control light flashed a few times, power to the axles felt cut out for a second or two, then the light went out and power to the driveline was restored.


Coincidentally, I read on here, in another thread where a guy had his vehicle seemingly go "dead" when making U-turns a few times. I'm now wondering if it was the same issue.


I'm not sure if it's turning too sharply while the wheels are moving in a certain direction , and that extra force on them makes the system "feel" like there is some slippage perhaps? I don't know...


I may try driving with the traction control turned off for a while and see if it prevents it from happening again.
 
#213 ·
Drivers under age 40



I've never had any problems, but I drove more aggressively at age 20 then I do now at age 46. I'm guessing that is why you probably corner harder and take less time to stop and then enter traffic at the intersection. Which is probably why the system is perceiving that the vehicle is going into an unsafe situation even if it isn't going to be an unsafe turn.
 
#4 ·
I agree, if it's acting up, it will go to the dealer. However, I want to drive with the TC turned off to see if the problem still exists. I don't think driving with it off on dry pavement would be a bad thing... I've driven cars most of my life that never had it, so shouldn't be a big deal...


Mainly, I was just curious if anyone else had experienced it. Apparently, two of us have so far...
 
#6 ·
I suspect it may be multiple things going on.

1) hard turns, open diff up front in the transaxle, combine these with romping on the gas hard, and you will try to spin the outside front wheel, even in an 80hp car (I know, becuase I've done it regularly in an 80hp FWD car).

2) Slipping wheels activating traction control isn't an unexpected thing.

So, I suspect there is an additional element contributing to it, like it's strategy rather than applying abs to the wheel is to reduce throttle input, and it does so after the TCU has used that throttle input to make a decision about how to shift, and now you have to get to the other side of being at really wrong RPMs for the gear you were shifting to and having to shift again immediately.

I'm also curious if the people having the problems are driving trailhawks or something else. Because I've set of TC, but not really with those results It seems to do the right thing. However the TH also has, in theory, some different software logic for left right torque split to the rear wheels.
 
#7 ·
I bet it is not the Traction control but the Electronic Skid Protection. Imagine the dynamics of the vehicle when doign a uturn w/ any momentum. I bet the ESC thinks the vehicle is tipping and cuts the power to the engine to make sure it does not tip. Now in reality this shouldn't happen when doing a uturn, but if you happen to lose control on rainy highway, it knows to try and correct the sideways movement of the vehicle with brakes and cutting engine power from the drive train.

See my post on turning off the entire TC and ESC controls and go do some u-turns. see if it cuts power etc etc
 
#8 ·
Some of the turns I make are not extremely harsh. I'm talking 25-35 MPH at most. Most of the time it is turning left (90 degree) against on coming traffic where you need to go give it a little gas to get across the intersection. I'm more curios if this is a problem and I need to go back to the dealership. My dealership is liking talking to a wall nothing gets done if I have a problem.
 
#12 ·
Hi,
I have a Sport, a year old now and has around 6000 miles on it. I have had numerous problems and got them fixed one by one over the past one year. From the last 3 days, I have had this problem where the traction light blinks and the car loses power. It happened twice and I have dropped it off at the dealership. They called me back and said there were no codes and they dont see any issues. I also explained to them that this happened to me while I was making left and right turns at speeds less than 20 mph. Has anyone got this issue fixed? Any advise/suggesstions will help!
Thanks.
 
#13 ·
traction control comes on everyday driving

I have a 2015 Jeep Renegade Latitude. I has 10,000 miles and 6 months old. My traction control light comes on and cuts power when I do a sharp turn on dry roads. Put it in the shop and they kept it for 2 weeks and said there was nothing wrong with it. I love my jeep but this is ridiculous. Now its doing it in areas it never has before. I'm ready to check into the lemon law. Any thoughts out there
 
#14 ·
I have a 2015 Jeep Renegade Latitude. I has 10,000 miles and 6 months old. My traction control light comes on and cuts power when I do a sharp turn on dry roads. Put it in the shop and they kept it for 2 weeks and said there was nothing wrong with it. I love my jeep but this is ridiculous. Now its doing it in areas it never has before. I'm ready to check into the lemon law. Any thoughts out there
I'm going the lemon law route with mine. I have signed a retainer agreement with an attorney but that's as far as I've got so far, hoping to hear more about the process from the attorney next week.
 
#15 ·
My car is currently in the dealership to address this issue. I've owned my Renegade Latitude since August 2015 and never had this issue until 3/29/16 after I picked it up from the dealership and the thermostat was replaced. Not sure it is coincidental, but since 3/29/16, this issue has occurred at least one or twice a day. As noted, it primarily happens when making a sharp turn into traffic or at a light. Pretty scary stuff when the engine acceleration dies...

Just received a call from the dealership and they said they have driven it for 20 miles and did not have a problem nor did they see any codes appear. Told them to keep driving it. Hopefully, they will have an answer. Really starting to loose faith in this car...
 
#16 ·
I have a Latitude and a Trailhawk. I primarily drive the Latitude and that's what I've noticed it in. having been aware of what caused this in the past, I am still playing with the Jeep a little to see if I can re-create the issue on-demand. So far, I have not... not exactly. I am able to see it more on left hand turns, and I notice it on sharp turns when I'm still moving (not a stop and pull out from a turn). My experience has been that while the vehicle is turning, and the RPMs are dropping. I'll keep trying to get more details.


With my situation anyways, I don't really think it's a problem with the Jeep, but maybe more of a sensor that has parameters that may need to be slightly modified. I don't think it's anything that will every through a diagnostic code.
 
#20 ·
I have had mine since Nov 15. The traction control interrupts on one part of the road I live on & nowhere else.

When I drive over a small bridge that has a bit of a hump, then followed by a slight curve & put my foot on the accelerator to speed up again, then the traction control kicks in, loose power for a second or two, then OK. It does not matter whether it is dry, wet, cold etc.

However, if I do not put my foot down, then all OK & just wait until past the slight curve & I can accelerate as hard as I like.

Going over the bridge the other way & no problems.

A slight annoyance, but I can live with it.
 
#27 ·
Quick question for the folks with this issue. All of you have the 9 spd automatic? correct? Any manuals having this issue? Appreciate people having problems chiming in. Just curious.
 
#33 ·
Well that is all the info I needed. Appears this issue is also isolated to that garbage 9 spd ZF.

So sorry you folks have to deal with this. Glad I am capable and healthy enought to drive a stick. Especially after reading all these stories about the Autotragic in these cars. Hey at least it is not just jeep folks. Honda, Acura, and Mercedes folks are also dealing with the same crap.
 
#38 ·
I could feel it with my cell phone because it happens so often at the same spot close to my house. Only problem is if I film the dash the camera is not going to be able to see the road, weather conditions etc. Not sure if the dealership would take that as proof. I will film it tonight post something Monday.