What does it mean when the low trac and trac off signals turn on?

Answer 1

That's your Traction Control. It's technically called ETS - Enhanced Traction System. There are only a few circumstances where the "Trac Off" (aka traction off) light will come on, which, of course, means your traction control system is turned off.

The reasons it will come on:

If you're driving in 1st or 2nd gear (assuming your car's an automatic; I don't know if this is the same in sticks), or if you have your emergency brake on while the engine is running.

Sometimes the "Trac Off" light might come on if you're on a VERY bumpy road, but it won't stay on for long - at least it shouldn't. If the "Trac Off" light comes on and stays on and you're NOT in 1st or 2nd gears, and your emergency brake is NOT in use, then you need to get it looked at because that's not normal.

The "Low Trac" (aka low traction) light will come on when you're on slippery roads and your tires start spinning. That's normal. It helps limit wheel spin. It'll go off again when your tires find traction again. I experience this most in snow and ice. Also, on rainy roads, if I'm stopped at an intersection and then pull out a bit too fast & the tires start spinning, the "Low Trac" light will come on briefly, but will go back off once I gain traction again. Again, if this, too, stays on constantly even in dry road conditions, you need to get it looked at because it's not normal.

That answer probably did help, but there's certainly more. The question doesn't state a year model, but around the 200-2005 models the traction light will come on if (1) one of the 4 abs sensors is bad, or if the wiring harness to those sensors is broken. They are bad for broken wiring harnesses to the abs. AC Delco (and probably others) sell a plug to replace the factory plug to the abs wheel sensor and it has about 2-3 feet of wire as a pigtail. You'd be looking for the wire that plugs into the hub assembly if that is your problem, it runs along the a-frame inside a protective sheath.