defacto traction control?

Question

I have a 2000 OBW with the 5 MT, which has the completely visco-mechanical AWD system (i.e. not computer controlled). Yesterday there was freezing rain here in town and I was moving my cars around on the driveway. There was a smooth layer of glare ice on the driveway, going up in a slight incline (I'd estimate maybe a 1%-3% incline). All four wheels were on ice, so no real traction anywhere. As I was crawling up that driveway, I assume all four wheels were slipping to some extent. Then I saw the ABS light come on, even though I hadn't pressed the brakes. So it looks like the ABS comes on when all four wheels are slipping? I'm sure the ABS did actually come on because I could smell some burning rubber afterwards. So is this plausible? I don't have the VDC or any traction control options on this car other than the AWD itself.

Yousuf Khan

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Jim Stewart · Accepted Answer

The ABS light indicates a fault, not activation.Presumably, the ABS computer somehow got confusedwith wheels slipping at different rates.

mulder · Answer

The burning rubber was probably just the tires slipping on the ice.The ABS light presumably came on because the wheel sensor readings didnot coincide with the vehicle speed sensor.

Carl 1 Lucky Texan · Answer

How very unexpected. I assume you're certain the handbrake was completely disengaged? That's the only think I can think of. I wouldn't expect a burning rubber smell from tires on an actual layer of ice. You'd see steam(vapor) before the surface got hot enough to scorch rubber. I dunno

Carl

1 Lucky Texan

Yousuf Khan · Answer

That sensors things seems to make some sense to me. However, could the tire rubber burning be possible when it's slipping on a nearly frictionless surface?	Yousuf Khan

Yousuf Khan · Answer

I didn't pay nearly enough attention, but I do believe that I did see steam coming out the back, through my mirror.

But I've seen that sort of steam before, it usually involves puddle water hitting one of my very hot brake rotors and steaming off. I believe sometimes it even happens when it hits the exhaust system, as my car's undercar heat shield is gone.

Yousuf Khan

wiz561 · Answer

I had a saturn with traction control years ago. It snowed a lot (about

6 inches) and while pulling out of the driveway, my saturn got stuck. I thought to myself "hey, i'll just hit the gas to get out"...well, that didn't work. With my tire(s) spinning, I smelt burning rubber as well.

You would think that the rubber wouldn't burn because it's on a slippery surface...but I wonder if it does it because of the friction or something... I'm not a physics expert...but I can at least say the same smell happened to me on snow/ice!

Michael Pardee · Answer

My SWAG is that the tires melt through the ice until they start touching the hard surface underneath. That little contact patch might smoke while the actual weight is still mostly on the ice.Mike

JD · Answer

Tires will most definitely heat up on ice if you spin them fast enough because the heat generated by the friction exceeds the ability of the ice and snow to cool the tire. Up here, it is fairly common to have them build up enough heat to blow when spinning on ice and snow. Many people run lower pressures in the winter to get better traction, but the cost is that heat will build up faster if the tire is slipping.

DANIEL HUBER · Answer

I've spun tires on ice a number of times, and in snow, and began smoking them on my Acclaim that I used to have.  Certainly possible due to friction.

defacto traction control?

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