Traction Control Operation - GMC 2003 Yukon Owner's Manual

®
Stabilitrak and part of the traction control system can
be turned off or back on by pressing the
®
Stabilitrak button. All-wheel drive vehicles must be in
all-wheel drive mode to turn the system on or off.
When the system is turned off, the traction off light will
illuminate, and the STABILITY SYS DISABLED
message will appear on the DIC to warn the driver that
both the stability system and part of the traction
control system are disabled. Your vehicle will still have
brake-traction control when Stabilitrak
will not be able to use the engine speed management
system. See "Traction Control Operation" next for
more information.
®
When the Stabilitrak system has been turned off you
may still hear system noises as a result of the
brake-traction control coming on.
It is recommended to leave the system on for normal
driving conditions, but it may be necessary to turn
the system off if your vehicle is stuck in sand, mud, ice
or snow, and you want to "rock" your vehicle to
attempt to free it. It may also be necessary to turn off
the system when driving in extreme off-road conditions
where high wheel spin is required. See If You Are
Stuck: In Sand, Mud, Ice or Snow on page 4-52 .
When the transfer case is in 4 low, the stability system
is automatically disabled, and the STABILITY SYS
DISABLED message will appear on the DIC. In 4 low,
®
the Stabilitrak button only turns the traction control
system on and off.

Traction Control Operation

The traction control system is part of the
Stabilitrak
reducing engine power to the wheels (engine speed
management) and by applying brakes to each individual
wheel (brake-traction control) as necessary.
The traction control system is enabled automatically
when you start your vehicle, and it will activate
®
is off, but
and display the TRACTION ACTIVE message in the
Driver Information Center (DIC) if it senses that any of
the wheels are spinning or beginning to lose traction
while driving. If you turn off Stabilitrak
brake-traction control portion of traction control will
work. The engine speed management will be disabled.
In this state, engine power is not reduced automatically
and the driven wheels can spin more freely. This
can cause the brake-traction control to activate
constantly. For more information on the traction active
message, see Driver Information Center (DIC) on
page 3-53 .
Notice: If the traction off light comes on due to
heavy braking and/or because the traction control
system has been continuously active, do not
allow the wheel(s) of one axle to spin excessively. If
you do, you may be causing damage to the
transfer case. This could lead to costly repairs not
covered by your warranty.
®
system. Traction control limits wheel spin by
®
, only the
4-13