I was at a track day at VIR today, and got a display message that said "Traction System Warming Up." That didn't make any sense to me since I was 20 or so laps in, and was just hitting 4th gear at the beginning of the back straight, and it was 95 degrees out. I took it easy for the rest of the lap and pulled into the paddock to check it out. At some point during the lap the message went away, but when I pulled into the paddock it came back on for a few seconds then "Warmed up" appeared. I may have the exact wording wrong since it happened pretty quick.

Has anyone ever seen these messages before? Any idea what it means?

 

Here is what my '04 manual says.

ACT HNDLG – WARMING UP: When you first start
your vehicle (especially during cold winter weather),
and begin to drive away (up to 6 mph (10 km/h)),
the message ACT HNDLG – WARMING UP may be
displayed in the DIC, the instrument panel cluster light
will be on, and a chime will sound. This is normal.
You can acknowledge this message by pressing the
RESET button. The Active Handling System
performance is affected until the next message
WARM UP COMPLETE is displayed in the DIC.
During hot or cold temperature conditions, this message
may be displayed in the DIC after exceeding 12 mph
(20 km/h) for 30 seconds. The Active Handling System
is off until the WARM UP COMPLETE message is
displayed.

 

Thanks for finding this. YIKES. So this means my Active Handling can just turn itself off in the middle of a high speed run?

 

I've had it come on significantly more while at the track, but never while on track, it's always been when I first started the car. I typically dont run with AH on, so its not a big deal to lose. From what I understand its a calibration procedure, so if you continue to have issues you may want to check out the sensors that go into the AH system (steerping position, yaw sensor under the passenger seat, and wheel speeds) to make sure nothing is going bad there.

 

Good info, thanks. On a related note, about a month ago my Check Engine light came on. I replaced the gas cap and the problem went away. Until I was topping off my tank yesterday on the way back from the track, an hour or two after the incident with the traction system. Left the track, drove at highway speed for an hour, stopped for gas, and the Check Engine light came on and has stayed on. Coincidence or possibly related?

 

Coincidence, the gas cap MIL is based on the EVAP system monitor. Shouldnt be anything to do with the ABS system.

 

There is no such thing as the system "Warming Up", even though that's what the message says. That's just a friendly-sounding message.

When you start driving, the EBCM (electronic brake control module, i.e. what used to be an ABS module, or could be called the stability control module) needs to calibrate the steering to zero. This requires essentially driving straight for a little bit. It looks at the steering wheel angle sensor and the yaw sensor, figures out when you're driving straight for roughly 75 ft or so, and then calibrates where zero is. If that doesn't happen within a certain time of starting to drive, you get the message.

 

Good info, thanks. What made this interesting was it came on when I was coming out of a curve at 40-50mph heading onto a long straightaway, and I didn't get the "Warmed Up" message until I pulled into the paddock to see what was going on.

 

I don't care for the implementation, personally. I would have put a timer in the logic that illuminated the brake/stability lights if straight ahead hadn't been learned in a certain time/distance after starting to drive. Nevermind that the system never tells you what's needed to "warm up".

 

It's about as helpful as a Check Engine light.
On a related question, should I be driving in Competition Mode on track days rather than leaving the default active handling on?

 

Competition mode leaves the active handling on (basically helps you not spin), and turns off the traction control (wheels spinning in a straight line). If you dont feel like this is holding you back if/when you want more rotation out of the car, leave it on.

I personally prefer to turn it all the way off, but you're far more likely to spin vs having AH stay on. Another benefit to having it off is longer rear pad life since it doesnt use the rear brakes to keep the car from spinning.

 

Very interesting. I ran autocross in competition mode and never had any problems. When I did the track day with everything on, I got the Traction System Warming Up message. Sounds like if I use comp mode I may be okay.

 

It depends.

Is the stability control being intrusive when you leave it on? If it is not intrusive, leave it on! Once you reach the point where you feel it is intrusive, then consider switching to competition mode.

 

I run my daily, a 99 FRC, in BStreet (Solo) and while negotiating slaloms and sweepers, I've had the Warming notification plus some chimes (don't count how many since I am occupied at the moment). By the end of the run, I normally see the Warmed Up message. Got me concerned the first time, because I had turned AH OFF even before I left the start and I was getting signals which are supposed to occur only when the AH system is ON. So my DIC was ghosting messages. After conferring with this forum and having been reassured that these are like courtesy messages anyway and really don't signal anything wrong or an impending meltdown, I simply ignored it.

Just earlier this week, coming off a strong start in 1st and 2nd, BOTH AH and ABS lights lit up and would not go off, regardless. The car was running fine, though, so I figured the computer was acting up again. Reached destination, turned engine off locked car, came back and everything started fine, no warning lights, everything back to normal. Someday, someone on this board will compose an exorcism ritual for that DIC. Until then, I'll drive the car the way it was meant to be driven.

I've tried disconnecting -12v and leaving it off for a minute, and then for 3 weeks. I also revisited the grounds. The result is the same. Random DIC scrolling, inoperative buttons and then suddenly normal again. But nothing in the normal engine, or braking operation, seems to be compromised. I treat it like the inoperative wonderbar on my C1 radio. Nice idea, bad execution. Some people throw money at problems like this and depending on why they bought their C5s, details may be important to them. Not to me.

Hope this helps.

Best,
MR2

PS. I run faster without Active Handling.

 

I suspect my issue is something like that. I will pay more attention to it when I am at the track next month.

 

All whining aside, the C5 is blessed with good bones: a robust engine that will run to redline over and over, a suspension system that is properly designed and easy to service and a driveline compatible with the engine's power output. The electronics may be annoying at times but never seriously get in the way of hard, honest running.

If you post any observations/questions, I'll be standing by to learn and share.

Good luck and have fun!

 

no complaints here!