Weird problem...traction control light....

[Eastcoast318]

every once in a while my traction control light wil come on and stay on and I can't shut it off. Sometimes it is when I start the car and others it will be when I'm driving. This is NOT under slippery conditions.

Anyone else get this?

[bmvw]

I have the same issue, at least one of the traction control sensors on the wheels are faulting & need to be replaced.

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by bmvw

I have the same issue, at least one of the traction control sensors on the wheels are faulting & need to be replaced.

Could also be dirty.

[marko]

I have had that problem for the past year & a half... 3 different mechanics are simply stomped & have no resolution for me.
I changed the the speed sensor on the diff & the throtle actuator (twice) to no avail...

I hear it is a problem of electrical nature - but I never got too good of an explanation... one mechanic 'raised the voltage of my idle' or so he stated - problem went away, but it came back 3 months later.

it is f-ing driving me up the wall - and so I'm planning on ASC delete mod pretty soon.

[ShortE36]

Now this may seem from left field but when I bought my 98Ti w/152K miles, I had the same problem, especially in the mornings. I'd back out of my driveway and when I put it into 1st and take off, it would come on. Sometimes within seconds, sometimes within minutes but it would come on, guaranteed.

I had two broken motor mounts that needed to be replaced and after that, the issue cleared up. My engine had actually shifted over about an 1.5" to the right (passenger side) and not only seemed to be causing this but also causing an exhaust rattle that sounded like pebbles in a tin can. And after driving the car for about a day, I realized both had stopped. No problems since. I can turn the ASC on and off when I feel like and light it up regularly.

Of course the real reason I replaced the motor mounts is because I had a terrible grinding/banging sound eminating from the floor of the cabin.

[marko]

thats interesting... my problem started (somewhat shortly) after I changed my motor mounts.

crap, now you got me thinking of this problem again - damn it, I was so close to just taking out the ASC+T altogether

Originally Posted by ShortE36

Now this may seem from left field but when I bought my 98Ti w/152K miles, I had the same problem, especially in the mornings. I'd back out of my driveway and when I put it into 1st and take off, it would come on. Sometimes within seconds, sometimes within minutes but it would come on, guaranteed.

I had two broken motor mounts that needed to be replaced and after that, the issue cleared up. My engine had actually shifted over about an 1.5" to the right (passenger side) and not only seemed to be causing this but also causing an exhaust rattle that sounded like pebbles in a tin can. And after driving the car for about a day, I realized both had stopped. No problems since. I can turn the ASC on and off when I feel like and light it up regularly.

Of course the real reason I replaced the motor mounts is because I had a terrible grinding/banging sound eminating from the floor of the cabin.

[ShortE36]

Hmmm... Did you replace with OE mounts? I did. I figured they lasted 150+K miles, why not? Mine were totally severed. The top bolt was just basically resting on the rest of the mount. As soon as I took it out the fluid just came pouring out. It was BAD. I figured the reason the ASC and exhaust rattle went away was because the engine being shifted over probably threw the driveline & exhaust out of line and was causing a mis-match or misalignment (if that's a word) of the driveshaft it to the rear diff and of course, flexing the length of the exhaust too much.

[marko]

ebay ones... I'll buy OEM & try again.

I had a hard time getting the old ones out - & I think I may have jacked up the motor just a bit too much - probably bending something down there.

I never thought that it could have caused the asc+t light, though...

Originally Posted by ShortE36

Hmmm... Did you replace with OE mounts? I did. I figured they lasted 150+K miles, why not? Mine were totally severed. The top bolt was just basically resting on the rest of the mount. As soon as I took it out the fluid just came pouring out. It was BAD. I figured the reason the ASC and exhaust rattle went away was because the engine being shifted over probably threw the driveline & exhaust out of line and was causing a mis-match or misalignment (if that's a word) of the driveshaft it to the rear diff and of course, flexing the length of the exhaust too much.

[ShortE36]

Well before you do that - let me clarify. I ordered mine from AutoPartsWarehouse.com. They were the Mahle brand. I suppose what I meant by OE is that they weren't some racing or autocross type as I can't comment on those - I've never used 'em. These were full rubber and looked 99.9% like the ones I pulled out. The only difference is 1 of the mounts (i think the passenger side) had a threaded bolt that was tapered to a cone on the bottom which made it easier to slip into the groove to sit it down. It was definitely no easy job and I actually forgot to put the heat shield back on but after the sh!t I had to go through to get that job done, I just said f&#k it.

[marko]

did you have to jack up the motor at all, to get the weight off?

Originally Posted by ShortE36

Well before you do that - let me clarify. I ordered mine from AutoPartsWarehouse.com. They were the Mahle brand. I suppose what I meant by OE is that they weren't some racing or autocross type as I can't comment on those - I've never used 'em. These were full rubber and looked 99.9% like the ones I pulled out. The only difference is 1 of the mounts (i think the passenger side) had a threaded bolt that was tapered to a cone on the bottom which made it easier to slip into the groove to sit it down. It was definitely no easy job and I actually forgot to put the heat shield back on but after the sh!t I had to go through to get that job done, I just said f&#k it.

[ShortE36]

OK I was hoping not to get into this but here's why mine was a b!tch of a job to do. If just 1 was broken, this would have been a breeze. Hope you got time... lol.

Since both were broken and I didn't know, I was on this forum for 3 months trying to troubleshoot the problem. I had great success troubleshooting with all the people here but meanwhile they were broken, I had been driving around for 4 months like this. Effectively the entire engine shifted over to the left (driver side) about 1.5". This ultimately caused my DASC problem and exhaust rattle but thats secondary.

So I finally diagnosed it and ordered the parts. Figured it couldn't be too bad, I drove the car up on my ramps, jacked the back up and put it on jack stands. Then used my floor jack and going in from the front of the car, I jacked the motor up on against the oil pan (using some wood a big bath towel wrapped around it for cushioning). Once I got the motor up in the air, the only thing that forcefully disconnected itself was the line going to the EGR valve. No problems. I proceeded to jack it up further until I saw the highest I was going was when the rear intake manifold bolt was just up against the plastic housing just in front of the cabin air filters. I pushed it as high as it could go and as much as my nerves could take before I thought I was going to break something. Nothing else was really in the way or stretching.

So go the motor up and one problem I ran into was that when going up on the oil pan, it tended to lift the driver side up higher than the left side. So I said no biggie - I'll just do one at a time. I pulled the driver side out (which was the easiest) after taking a trip to the parts store to pickup two 3/8" drive extensions and a swivel socket. So then I put the new ones in and the problem I saw immediately is that the top of the motor mounting surface didn't line up at all with the top bolt of the motor mount. This is when I said 'sh!t' (loudly). So I brainstormed for a few minutes while killing some brain cells with a can of Rolling Rock.

Came up with the seemingly brilliant idea of going with the floor jack from the passenger side of the car. This way I could 'pull' the motor to the right using the floor jack. *yeah right*. I don't know what I was thinking but it seemed like a good idea. But this would mean i'd have to ditch the ramps I was on as it would be in the way. So dropped the car back down, left the back chocked and raised the car with the floor jack, put it on jack stands and put the jack in from the site, lifted the motor again and tried to pull it using the floor jack. That sh!t wasn't going ANYWHERE. I might have moved it like 1mm using all the brawn I had, which isn't alot to begin with.

So that idea was shot to hell. Nevertheless I persisted. I went again from the front of the car and used a 2x4 pressed against the side of the floor jack and attempted to 'walk' the jack over to the right side of the car by banging on the other end with a mallet. This was pointless as all i was doing was moving the jack as the motor itself was just too heavy to move this way and the jack was just sliding against the towel I was using. So the brainiac in me said 'hmm...maybe if I create friction by removing the towel, this'll work.' *another Rolling Rock moment* I did this and damn near dropped the motor as the piece of maple I was using as insulation was so hard that 1. barely made an indentation in the jack head and 2. the jack practically slid more than the towel.

So it became clear that what I needed to do was to raise the motor from the top. Brilliant I was. I called up a couple autoparts stores to see if they had an engine hoist - the kind that mounted inside the engine bay by going on the inside of the side fenders and were triangular and had a bar between both sides with a chain. NONE of them carried it and one even spitefully said - "sorry man - we just stopped carrying that last week." What he really meant to say is "We knew your dumb ass was going to try this this weekend so we said let's just stop carrying it so we can laugh at you when we hang up." Needless to say this was a dent in my plan.

So saying 'f&*ck you all' in my head, I remembered there was a local rental place nearby that might have this kinda thing. I called up and sure enough, they had one. Sped my ass over there and was so excited to throw it in the trunk of my 5 series, my hands were basically sweating. So the guy takes me back to their barn where all the stuff is stored. THIS SH!T WAS LIKE THE EIFFEL TOWER BIG. I sarcastically asked - "so you think it'll fit in my trunk?" He goes - well what are you driving - I shamefully pointed to the 5 series. He chuckled. I didn't find it funny. It was one of those ones that were rectangular, and were on rolling casters like 8 foot tall. Another avenue closed... This was a major F*CK moment.

Realizing I had forgotten about 1 major parts store, I called up the local NAPA. The guy said - sorry dude - I don't carry them but I know what you're talking about. I was on the verge or saying - "look prick - don't patronize me that you think you know what i'm talking about, just say you dont have it and that's it" UNTIL he said - but I have one personally that I could loan you. My mouth dropped to the floor not only cuz I was the prick but that nice people still existed. So I drove over and it was basically a hollow bar that bolted to the shock towers and had a hook on it that would connect up to the front eye hook on the motor. I never unbolted the bolts on the shock tower only because it wouldn't have been enough clearance to lift it any significant height. So I piled up bath towels (props to the wifey) on both sides and attempted but it still really couldn't get it high enough and after getting to a certain height, it fairly evident that this still wouldn't allow me to move the motor to align it again. Another attempt shot to hell and I gave the dude $20 just cuz that was the right thing to do.

So with 2 days commited to this already, I was at a loss this time and conceded to the fact that I'd have to take this to some place to let them do this. I called up a body shop just around the corner from me as they work with collissions and all. The guy said - well bring it down and I'll see what we can do. I popped the old mounts in there, sans the top part of it as that was pointless to get back in. I basically left the motor just 'sitting' on the bottom part of the old mounts. When I fired that baby up it was an eyeopener. I think because the top part was missing, the motor was now sitting lower and resting on some part of the chassis. I seriously felt every cylinder firing. It was like being in a stripped down race car with metal mounts. LOL. My 2MPH adventure to the body shop felt like an eternity. So I got it down there and he said - "well why don't you bring it back tomorrow morning and i'll let you use my lift and and engine hoist and the guys here can give you hand if you need anything." I was again floored by the nice-ness of this situation. I couldn't believe it so of course, I jumped on it. Took the next day off of work (Sorta - calling in sick is acceptable in most states). Drove my ass down there first thing in the morning, the guys drove it up on the lift, raised it up, hooked up the engine hoise which was on a chain (didn't need to remove the hood thankfully). It was like a crane that slid on the floor and had an extension into the engine bay. Lifted the engine as high as it could go using the eyehook on the front. Then used a separate hugely high bottle-type jack to raise each side of the motor separately to give me more room to get in there and replace the mounts. Did both sides and the guys gave me a hand to lower the engine while I pushed it over by hand by the oil pan to line it up as it came down. In less than 1hr I had them both replaced and bolted it back on. However I did forget the heatsheild on the passenger side one as I mentioned earlier. Nevertheless I was thrilled that this was over. So I basically bought all the guys in the shop lunch and went on my merry way not realizing right away that the ehxaust rattle and ASC light problem had disappeared.

And so ends my b!tch of a motor mount replacement story.

[marko]

wow.. that was probalby the most detailed description I think I have ever come across.

I got my car up on jack stands & placed the jack (with a 2x4) right under the oil pan (from the front, just like you)... started jacking up!
I must say stuff was crackling and warping, but I just kept lifting the motor till I cleared the old mounts.

I know it was not the ideal way of doing it & I'm sure I f-ed up something cause I had a small oil leak from the drive shaft seal (+ asc problem later).

[ShortE36]

Thanks. Just cuz sometimes - "replaced the motor mounts this weekend..." doesn't quite sum it all up......

Well to be sure - do you recall the leak being there before you started this or had you never looked? Don't add your own fuel to your own fire... If you look for something, you'll probably find it.

No - that's actually the way most of the garage/home mechanics do it. I see you also have the DASC - I'm not sure how that affects your clearance but is it possible that you developed a leak somewhere before or after the ASC throttle body in any of the rubber hoses? Never seen a DASC installed in person so can't say - just using my imagination.

[Mallard]

Originally Posted by marko

wow.. that was probalby the most detailed description I think I have ever come across.

I got my car up on jack stands & placed the jack (with a 2x4) right under the oil pan (from the front, just like you)... started jacking up!
I must say stuff was crackling and warping, but I just kept lifting the motor till I cleared the old mounts.

I know it was not the ideal way of doing it & I'm sure I f-ed up something cause I had a small oil leak from the drive shaft seal (+ asc problem later).

you know, i felt like i was there with him also

But Kudos to the top story, shame that it wasnt as easy as my swap

2 engine mounts, 2 gearbox mounts, 1 prop donut, rear section fitting set swapped ( there was a leak ) and the fan clutch swapped , in 2 hours...

but then they had a garage with all the tools

[ShortE36]

You know Mallard.... here in the states there's a few words that I could call you right now. Luckily for you I have accepted my garage defeat and accepted the fact that some sh!t just isn't gonna get done @ home. Now... had you made this statement during my period of agony and distraught that was the 'motor mount replacement week' - I would have dropped my ratchet and been on a plane to the vast Nordic region faster than it would have hit the floor.

Much praises to Mallard however who helped me diagnose the issue in the first place.