Tire size difference messed up my traction control

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ZZman

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I had my snow tires put on the rear of my Grand Marquis and since my front tires were looking worn, I had the tire place put on some used tires on the front.
Unfortunately they had no used 225/60-16's so I told them to try the 215/65-16's they had. Big mistake!

My traction control light would come on at times for no reason and my car would bog down. If I turned TC off it was fine.

I took it back to the same place and they swapped out the tires for some nice used Michelin tires they just got in. Problem fixed.
 
Strange, I thought T/C only controlled the drive axle on a 2 wheel drive. I have an Acura with T/C that is flawless in the snow, but it also has VSA, vehicle stabilization assist. VSA is the only module that controls all 4 wheels, or so I thought, maybe your vehicle is different?


Mine is fun, in the snow you can mash the throttle and it will just barley slip grip, slip n grip, and just keep doing it till you let your foot up. Car has 260hp front wheel drive. LSD trans. Feels un crash able.
 
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Some T/C systems monitor the difference in the driven and non-driven wheels, so if there is a difference due to tire size, the ECU will think that there is slippage going on and act appropriately.
 
Originally Posted by ZZman
I had my snow tires put on the rear of my Grand Marquis and since my front tires were looking worn, I had the tire place put on some used tires on the front.
Unfortunately they had no used 225/60-16's so I told them to try the 215/65-16's they had. Big mistake!

My traction control light would come on at times for no reason and my car would bog down. If I turned TC off it was fine.

I took it back to the same place and they swapped out the tires for some nice used Michelin tires they just got in. Problem fixed.

Originally Posted by ZZman
I had my snow tires put on the rear of my Grand Marquis and since my front tires were looking worn, I had the tire place put on some used tires on the front.
Unfortunately they had no used 225/60-16's so I told them to try the 215/65-16's they had. Big mistake!

My traction control light would come on at times for no reason and my car would bog down. If I turned TC off it was fine.

I took it back to the same place and they swapped out the tires for some nice used Michelin tires they just got in. Problem fixed.


You are talking about that button on the left-hand driver side with a picture of the tire, correct?
 
Originally Posted by ctechbob
Some T/C systems monitor the difference in the driven and non-driven wheels, so if there is a difference due to tire size, the ECU will think that there is slippage going on and act appropriately.

I'd think all of them would. I mean, tire rotational speed, any difference between the four tires indicates slippage, no? I'm not sure what is the allowable difference between tires, but it'd have to be at most the difference between new and bald.

Now I'm not sure what happens during turning. Obviously tires turn at different speeds, but since no one drives in a circle (outside of NASCAR) I'm guessing the computer registers an issue after so much time / so many full rotations.

Plus these days VSC has a steering input which would tell TC "hey I'm turning, expect wheel speed differences of X, anything outside that must be slippage". I don't think an '03 GM would have VSC so that might not be in play here, just stating that VSC probably interacts with TC.
 
I had the same thing happen on my car. Three tires were 195-65-15, one was 195-60-15. The ABS light would come on at the exact same spot during my commute. That was two sets of tires ago, never happened since.
 
Aren't you supposed to use winter tires in sets of four?

I also didn't know the non-drive wheels would matter to the TC
 
I had a C-5 Corvette and put 18's all the way around and had the traction control light up over the smallest changes in the vehicle. Incorrect tire size definitely makes a difference on 2 wheel drive cars. It's amazing those computer systems are so touchy but they do work. Best to keep correct size tires on your vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by Pelican
If the diameter was the same and it was,

But it was't.
A 215/65/16 tire has roughly 1.5% larger diameter than 225/60/16.
 
smile.gif


tires.JPG
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Pelican
If the diameter was the same and it was,

But it was't.
A 215/65/16 tire has roughly 1.5% larger diameter than 225/60/16.


Oops I must have missed that small detail! :)
 
Originally Posted by talest

You are talking about that button on the left-hand driver side with a picture of the tire, correct?


It looks like a car with squiggly lines under it
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Aren't you supposed to use winter tires in sets of four?

I also didn't know the non-drive wheels would matter to the TC


So they say. But since I normally drove front wheel cars with just all season tires I figured they would bite enough on the front but needed more traction for the back. Plus I am cheap.
 
Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Aren't you supposed to use winter tires in sets of four?

I also didn't know the non-drive wheels would matter to the TC


So they say. But since I normally drove front wheel cars with just all season tires I figured they would bite enough on the front but needed more traction for the back. Plus I am cheap.

That would be a great thread for you to start! "Is Safety Cheap"?
 
Originally Posted by Traction
Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Aren't you supposed to use winter tires in sets of four?

I also didn't know the non-drive wheels would matter to the TC


So they say. But since I normally drove front wheel cars with just all season tires I figured they would bite enough on the front but needed more traction for the back. Plus I am cheap.

That would be a great thread for you to start! "Is Safety Cheap"?

Oh no...here we go again. I'm sure the poster knows four winters tires are safer than two, let him make that decision.
 
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I hope everyone is aware that there are no regulations requiring a tire to be a certain diameter. While these tire size calculators are great, keep in mind that an individual tire manufacturer can make the tire any diameter he wants. Why any tire manufacturer would deviate from that is beyond me, but it has been known to happen!

So some AWD, ABS, and Traction Control systems may react badly to mixing tires (as was the case here!) This is not the first case I've heard about.
 
Originally Posted by CapriRacer
So some AWD, ABS, and Traction Control systems may react badly to mixing tires (as was the case here!) This is not the first case I've heard about.


I've always known that mixing different diameter wheels screws-up the AWD ABS in all cases not only some.
 
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