As a victim of intermittent ABS/Traction Control error warnings, I've been following the threads on cleaning the corrosion from grounding connections and the like. I never thought too much about it though, because whenever I got the warnings, I could simply turn the car off and back on and the error codes would clear.

Well....now I have a good idea of what may have been causing this. I'm driving around the beltway yesterday and the ABS/Traction Control warning comes on... first time when I'm just cruising. Interesting... Then suddenly I lose all power, comes back on for a second, and then the car shuts off. I managed to get to the side of the road before the steering was completely out. Turns out, the positive terminal on the FACTORY battery corroded all the way through the terminal bolt and it dislodged from the battery. In the past I've noticed small amounts of corrosion on the outside of the terminal bolt, which I've cleaned from time to time, but with the wiring cover and the way its assembled, its impossible to tell the extent of corrosion, so I never thought much of it. Well, you guys might want to check your batteries before you're left on the side of the road.

And now looking back, I think this will explain the intermittent TCS errors. As soon as I get the corrosion off the cars wiring terminal, get the new battery hooked up, and log some miles, I'll see if the TCS warnings come back.

2000 Cpe

 

If your battery has been leaking you should also check the computer under the battery. It's accessible from the panel behind the front wheel. There have been a few that have had this problem. Good luck with the repair.

 

Low voltage can cause havoc with these cars generating all sort of codes. If this is the original battery, you may want to think about replacing it with an Optima Red Top. Just my .02

 

Optima Red Top is the way to do!