Q: ABS and Traction control light on and I lost battery power
had to replace my battery as it was at its end of life. Yesterday before I replaced my battery my vehicle starting flashing the ABS light and Traction control light when I would stop at a light but would go off when I would start driving again. Then when I got to my first destination it wouldn’t start and so I got a jump and I immediately replaced the battery. Everything was fine yesterday after that. Today when driving the ABS light came back on as well as the Traction control light and then then the battery power gauge went from normal to low and my NAVIGATION radio went off, my speedometer lights went off, I lost all interior lights but headlights worked. wrench light came on intermittently and I lost all electrical power inside the vehicle. It did have some corrosion powder on it when I replaced the battery but I cleaned it off prior to replacing the battery. Replaced all brakes and did tuneup 2 months ago if that helps. When shifting sometimes felt like I hit little bumps
My car has 134000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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In many cases, when there is a drop in electrical power in the vehicle, this may trigger the ABS light to come on as you have described in addition to causing the dash gauges to not work properly. I would suggest having the alternator checked to determine if it is receiving the proper amount of voltage from something called the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator regulates the charging voltage that the alternator produces, keeping it between 13.5 and 14.5 volts to protect the electrical components throughout the vehicle. The voltage regulator controls the field current applied to the spinning rotor inside the alternator. When there is no current applied to the field, there is no voltage produced from the alternator. When voltage drops below 13.5 volts, the regulator will apply current to the field and the alternator will start charging. When the voltage exceeds 14.5 volts, the regulator will stop supplying voltage to the field and the alternator will stop charging. This is how voltage output from the alternator is regulated. When the voltage regulator is not working properly, this may cause the alternator to allow the power the alternator supplies to drop resulting in the battery dying again. I would suggest having a professional from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your vehicle.
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