No Traction Control Lights

[Ford]

Hi folks,

I've had a '99 GS400 for several years and have found LOC an invaluable resource during that ownership. I very recently was given a '93 LS400 for my daughter's first car. It's low miles, looks good, and seems pretty solid mechanically. The only thing that seems like a problem right now is the traction control system. I notice when I turn the key neither the Trac Off nor Trac service reminder indicators light up. I also believe that the Trac Off switch is supposed to be illuminated, but there's no light there. I checked the fuse in the driver side kick panel, and even though it looked fine, I tried swapping it. No dice. I took a quick test drive and tried to induce some wheel spin to see if I could feel the traction control engaging -- I didn't.

So, I don't really want my teen driving a RWD car without traction control. I came here hoping I'd get some direction, but my search didn't turn up anybody having previously reported this problem. Any suggestions for simply diagnosing this problem, or do I need to break down and take it to a mechanic?

Thanks,

TF

[dpellet]

Hi folks,

I've had a '99 GS400 for several years and have found LOC an invaluable resource during that ownership. I very recently was given a '93 LS400 for my daughter's first car. It's low miles, looks good, and seems pretty solid mechanically. The only thing that seems like a problem right now is the traction control system. I notice when I turn the key neither the Trac Off nor Trac service reminder indicators light up. I also believe that the Trac Off switch is supposed to be illuminated, but there's no light there. I checked the fuse in the driver side kick panel, and even though it looked fine, I tried swapping it. No dice. I took a quick test drive and tried to induce some wheel spin to see if I could feel the traction control engaging -- I didn't.

So, I don't really want my teen driving a RWD car without traction control. I came here hoping I'd get some direction, but my search didn't turn up anybody having previously reported this problem. Any suggestions for simply diagnosing this problem, or do I need to break down and take it to a mechanic?

Thanks,

TF

Not unusual to have burned out bulbs in the gauge cluster. Happened to me, if you were not able to get the system to kick in (you can tell) then there may be more to it. The trac off button is only illuminated when first turning on the vehicle, once system check is done 1-2 seconds it turns off and will only illuminate if you press the trac off button. If system does engage a little "trac" light comes on iin the speedo gauge.

If all fuses check out the check the ground for the system, mine was actually disconnected when perhaps a bumper repair was made, was just hanging there and once I re-attached the sysem was fine, the bulbs though required pulling the cluster out and replacing from behind.

Hope its something easy!

Cheers!