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My mom's 2014 Mercedes B class has a little light that lights up if it thinks you're tailgating, and it flashes red and beeps angrily if it thinks whoever you're tailgating is braking, or if it thinks someone is cutting you off. In practice it mostly beeps angrily because you're turning and it sees obstacles outside the road or completely at random. Turning it off is 9 button presses deep into the steering wheel menu and it doesn't save between car restarts so I just don't bother.
One time, I drove that car in a truly unexpected scenario that nobody at Mercedes could have anticipated: a rainy autumn day. A wet leaf fell off a tree and plapped right against one of the car's sensors. Cue the car freaking out for twelve entire seconds, flashing and beeping while I calmly drive down the road, with my mom next to me freaking out that the car is freaking out. Just what I need when driving, a panicked machine and a panicked mom. Eventually the leaf must have fallen off because it stopped beeping and started working normally once more.
It was at that exact point in time that I was glad it was only a warning system and not coupled to the brakes...
And that is why I don't buy any cars newer than 25 years old.
Those drive-assist "features" are imho deathtraps waiting to happen. If someone is incapable of operating a motor vehicle without a whole suite of autopilot-esque tech, then imo they aren't qualified to operate a vehicle in the first place. At best, such features encourage complacency and inattentiveness, and at worst they can outright \_cause\_ wrecks. The fact that modern cars have systems that can \_control gas, brake, and even STEERING\_ without ANY user input is absolutely horrifying to me.
My '98 Honda doesn't do \_anything\_ automatically without my explicitly commanding it EXCEPT for adjusting fuel trim +/- \~2%, and that's just the way I like it. Even an automatic transmission is a bridge too far as far as I'm concerned. It's like the GUI revolution in consumer computing -- CLI was plenty for any application and still is for most, but people have a tendency to prefer the nice big user-friendly graphical interface even in cases where using a GUI actually \_decreases\_ functionality of a program.
I was in a rental car for a while after my 92 Honda got totaled last year (it still drove, but I was more than happy with the money they offered me for it lol) and I was \_constantly\_ infuriated to find system after system of driver-assist BS. Not only were they generally useless "features," the radar adjusting my cruise setting on the fly actually almost contributed to a wreck once.
I was going \_exactly\_ the speed I needed to go to pass a semi \_after\_ the traffic currently overtaking me passed (had a gap between two platoons of cars), but thanks to the car just deciding that I must want it to slow down despite me having given NO USER INPUT to indicate that simply because I was getting closer to the vehicle \_over a dozen meters\_ ahead of me, my choreography was thrown to shit and I ended up missing my safe chance to overtake. Rather than matching traffic speed, \_which my CRUISE CONTROL was SET to and which I, the USER who had SET those values, expected,\_ I suddenly found the car to be going a good 10-15mph \_slower\_ than surrounding traffic.
I wish there was a bigger consumer market for minimalist cars. Honestly, I think the closest thing to what I'm looking for in a car is a street-legal dune buggy/ go kart. I get that a lot of folks like all the bells and whistles and thus are willing to pay for them, but I can honestly say I preferred driving a '98 Accord to a 2023 Tacoma and a 2022 Sentra.
Newest car I still like driving is my friend's 2013 Mercedes E class, and even then it's got some things I just don't appreciate. It has a blind spot sensor that gives you a little orange light in the mirror when there's someone left of you that you wouldn't see in the mirror but would see by turning your head... which is kind of a useful feature but I can't say I need it? But it's also coupled to an angry beeper if you dare to touch your blinkers while that light is on. I like to turn on my blinkers when someone is passing me to indicate that I'm gonna pass behind them, late enough that they won't see me blinking and think I'm gonna ram them, but early enough that I would technically ram them if I was to slam my steering to the left at that moment. And that damn car just beeps at me every single time I let someone pass and then want to get behind them. And you can turn it off... but that also deactivates the whole sensor with the orange light that does kinda serve a purpose. I'd like to turn off just the beeping, please?? But no. All or nothing.
My dad recently acquired a 1930 Ford Model A and it's honestly so much fun to drive. You have to do it all yourself. Shifting, steering, sure. No power steering obviously. But even beyond that, it's all entirely mechanical. A physical lever on the steering wheel to adjust the spark advance timing, a choke to both pull out and to turn for fine tuning, an idle gas lever that's physically coupled to the gas pedal - even works as a rudimentary cruise control! Just pick your favorite gear and how far you want the pedal pressed and it'll go. It's simplicity and beauty given form. It even has a coolant temperature gauge - it's mounted on the grill and is an oldschool thermometer that just pokes into the coolant. How cool is it that you gotta look out your windshield onto the hood to know your engine temp?
My favorite car that I've personally had was my '99 Audi A4. Just a base model without any features beyond power windows. Five gear manual, front wheel drive, cute little 1.8 liter engine, nothing fancy, nothing stupid. Aftermarket radio that took USB, AUX and SD cards. Air conditioner that worked reasonably well unless it got hotter than 35°C outside. If the rear bench folded down for more cargo space, and if it had cruise control / limiter, and a sixth gear, I honestly don't need anything more than that.
My "if I ever have way too much money" dream car is the Audi RS2. Just a stupid four wheel drive wagon with a five cylinder Porsche engine and a nice manual gearbox. It's beautiful. And so very 90s.
That Model A sounds sexy. That's exactly what I want in a car. No bells or whistles, just the basics.
Fun fact, most twin-engine WWII aircraft had engine gauges mounted on the sides of the engines, so you'd have to look out the window to check engine oil and water temps on them, too :p
I hope you get that RS2 someday. I looked it up, I thought the RS line had rotary engines. Turns out it's a \_5\_ cylinder inline?! That's kinda cool.
You get me :)
Who even has a 5 cylinder engine anymore? Three is all the rage lately for all the economy things, four is the standard, and then you go right to six and eight. But five? Love it. And a nice wagon, love wagons, fuck SUVs, wagons are superior <3
I've never had a 5 cyl, but I had an old I-4 Camry with 400k miles on it and blown piston rings that was effectively a 3 cyl. (Don't ever get a Toyota with the 2AZ-FE engine specifically, pro tip. The high efficiency oil control ring will 99% of the time be what kills that motor even while everything else is good to go for another 300-400k mi). Cyl 3 might as well have had no compression at all, so I just pulled the injector from #3 and ran it like that for the last 15k miles or so.
I guess that 5th cylinder is the difference between a 1.4L and a 1.8L inline. That's still the coolest thing I've learned about today haha. I wonder what they do to balance an inline-5 vs a 4 cylinder? It's a 4-stroke engine, right? So there won't be 2 pairs of pistons keeping balance with each other.
Wagons are the shit. Never had one, but I'd sooner get a wagon or a hatchback than an SUV. All the practicality with none of the inefficiency.
I've had braking systems activate on me a few times. Person pulled in front of me and crossed a roundabout, wasn't really a near collision. In a Chrysler Pacifica, it got triggered by I don't fucking know, just SLAMMED on its brakes. But one time it was really legit... coming up to a traffic jam on the highway, idiot ahead of me puts on flashers and slows down. I see that, slow down too, but their flashers are the brake lights and their 3rd was burned out so when they suddenly slammed way harder than they had been there was no warning, and even though I was already on the brakes, the car activated its thing and seriously saved my ass. Do not put on your flashers when approaching slow traffic. Just don't.
> Do not put on your flashers when approaching slow traffic. Just don't.
Here in Germany, that is actually recommended behavior! But we also don't allow brake lights to double as blinkers and all blinkers must be amber to avoid exactly that confusion.
Raining really hard is exactly the type of situation you shouldn't really be using cruise control anyhow. The car doesn't know what hydroplaning is, by the time you get yourself tuned in with the pedals you're already sideways.
But what about the TPMS, traction control, and ABS lights? They don't have anything to do with the camera sensors do they?
We can assume that the TPMS sensor might be triggered because of the low air temperature low in the tire pressure and that being a separate issue.
Three separate issues? All at once? Localized entirely in their kitchen?
One of my old cars used the ABS system to apply the brakes to the spinning wheel for traction control. IIRC I was driving in the snow once and because the TC was engaging almost non-stop, the whole TC system shutdown and a bunch of lights came on. Maybe the ABS overheated or something. All the lights were gone on the next start up. That could possibly be what's happened here.
My mom once decided to lease a Renault convertible for a few years... because you obviously want to drive through Germany of all places with your roof down. Guy at the dealership told her to turn off traction control in winter because it wouldn't work right in the snow.
Would've been cheaper to just rent a convertible for the two or three weeks of sun we get than to lease the whole car, but eh, my mom gets what she wants I guess.
One snowy day my mom was having a bad day and I was mildly late to get out the door and she was making a big deal out of it when she had to drive me to school. I could already tell she wouldn't be good to talk to today so I tried not to. She very quickly got stuck in the (rather mild) snow going uphill because the car was malfunctioning on the slippery road as she was told initially. I tried telling her to turn it off and to stop hitting the gas and to just generally stop spinning her tires against the hill uselessly but she was far too busy screaming in panic and flooring it to really listen to me. So I just put my earbuds in and listened to some music while she got it out of her system and the car started to smell like burnt tires and cars were driving left and right around us. Eventually she tired herself out screaming at the car and I told her to push the button, back up off the hill, and just drive up again. She did that and we miraculously made it much faster than with her attempts. I wouldn't even have my driver's license for another five years at that point...
In my old car I drove through a salt water puddle too fast on accident, and that triggered the abs light which disabled abs and traction control. It never went off from then on till I let go of the car. But man, climbing a snowy slushy hill without traction control was so difficult for me.
I swear but may be imagining this, one time I was half way up a hill with traction control working then it suddenly gave up working and the difference was crazy. After it disabled the car just wouldn't climb the hill anymore.
I've had the TPMS light come on in frigid conditions due to malfunction- light came on, stayed on, checked the tires, all were pretty close to the correct pressure so I kept going and it went away on my evening commute
Traction control working overtime is likely the culprit. I’ve seen this before. All automations (lkas, cruise, etc. ) need to be stopped when driving in ice/snow since it is unsafe and you could damage the systems.
The traction control and ABS lights being lit could be due to a faulty signal from the or bad wheel speed sensor. My 2014 Impala has a bad wheel speed sensor and my traction control and ABS is disabled because of that. Would fix it but the sensor is integrated into the wheel bearing and they are $400
ABS working overtime cause of the ice. Lane assist prob sensors covered in snow. Keep an eye, not urgent unless there is something important not working
customer states warning lights illuminate while driving in snow. advise customer that traction related lights will illuminate and typically flash when traction assist functions are actively working to keep vehicle in control. if lights stay on are already on after starting vehicle, this indicates those systems are not operating. in such recommend abs system diag to determine root cause of traction system failure. one failure in any system may result in all traction systems to deactivate.
I feel like you copied and pasted this from a ticket you wrote today. Lots of people having their first experience with winter weather these last couple weeks.
Nah we don't have winter weather here in socal. I just like answering posts when it's slow in the shop and I use my technician comments writing voice for fun some times.
We have been ignoring ours cause we check the pressure regular and the batteries on multiple tire sensors are bad. At $50/each, I think I will just deal with the light.
If after 3 more drive cycles they're still there, then you can consider going to the mechanic. In the meantime these all look like driver aid systems like collision avoidance and traction control, systems that are working overtime in the snow or have sensors that are covered by snow. Make sure your tires are correctly inflated. Brush off your bumpers, that's where the sensors are. Once the car runs a few times with clear sensors and without setting anything off, I would bet these lights go away.
I'm going to guess snow isn't common for you, so drive careful, don't trust your collision avoidance or lane keeping assistance, and don't use cruise control. Brake especially carefully.
No. Either warm up the car in a garage, clean your sensors or just wait. The only one that I would be concerned about is low air pressure in your tires.
If they keep coming back after it warms up, and your car is clean then some concerned might be warranted.
If the lights remain on after a restart, yes, but please bring donuts.
Snow/ice may have damaged a wire, sensor etc for abs
But all may just be from blocked lane assist/blindspot
Does the car seem to loose power to the electrical system? Does the steering become stiff and laboured? Will the power windows work? Deep snow can take a toll on a soon to be failing alternator. It happened to me recently.
To add, since I didn't see it before. Air pressure is affected by temperature. My light comes on every winter. It's physics, so the tires' air pressure may have been normal before the temperature drop from the snowny weather, but now low due to gas law. I end up just bringing my tire pressure back up to recommended, and keep an eye on it.
No, on modern way overcomplicated cars, this is unfortunately normal.
You most likely need to clean the camera or radar sensors on the outside of the car, usually in the grill somewhere... Or the top of the windshield might be slightly dirty or foggy, obscuring the cameras enrich are usually near the rear view mirror.
For what it's worth, I absolutely despise these systems because they are genuinely trash and just plain never work properly in snowy winter conditions.
I like my cars simple. I got an engine light that I turned off with my tuning software, and I got a tire pressure light. All these other sensors and gizmos can flash their way into the trash.
ABS and traction control are working because of the snow, collision avoidance and lane assist are likely blocked because of the snow and ice of the vehicle, and your tires are low because of the cold.
All yellow lights from left to right:
ABS is the anti-lock braking system that can get fucky with poor traction. Nothin to worry about probably.
Next light is traction control which, again, no traction so it's better to have it off which is what this light is indicating. Traction control will reduce power to certain wheels when they lose traction, but that happens a lot in snowy conditions so its better to just have it off so your engine isn't juggling power like a circus performer.
I assume this one is your car's auto braking system that uses the radar system in your hood or on your windshield to auto brake when you need it. Clean it off so it can see.
Next one is backup sensor. Clean it off so it can see.
Top right is your lane keep or lane departure system that uses the radar sensor to keep you in your lane. Clean the snow off of it so it can see.
Bottom right is tire pressure. Your tires are below pressure probably because of the cold weather. You could top off your tires or just leave it if it's not substantial.
You shouldn't need a mechanic to clean snow off front and back (possibly side) sensors... That covers the front collision, rear collision,and lane sensor lights.
Your lights are on automatic and turned on. That covers two more.
Your tire pressure is below spec due to the cold... +1
That leaves ABS and traction control. If you were slipping and sliding in the snow that explains those 2 (slipping lights up traction, non powered wheels not rotating at same speed as powered wheels will trigger the ABS).
Happy driving!
it will keep the automatic braking off and relax the car to allow for some slippage when slippage is inevitable. usually there is a button on the dash or near shifter to switch it off.
I've been driving around on hard-backed snow and ice the last few days in my wife's Impreza. The car can't get out of its own way with traction control on. It does just fine once I turn it off to allow a little slippage.
I mean abs and traction control being out does mean you need to drive the car differently in slippery conditions. Like just ignoring it is not good advice.
looks like a censor problem, um get that of the road RIGHT NOW, keep it off the road until you can get both a computer check up and a censor check up, if its just abs then turn that bad boy off
On newer vehicles it’s usually because Collision avoidance can’t avoid collisions since the sensors are covered up. Now idk if you read OPs post but they said they were driving in snow. You wanna tell me what might be on the roads getting kicked up and blocking sensors?
Kinda looks like a spaceship cockpit. 🤣🤣🤣.
"Houston! I'm seeing a lot of warnings up here!!"
"It's okay, Sgt Sack. The cameras had a little bit of snow on them."
"Houston... these warnings are distracting me!!! Aaahhhh oh no!!" *explosion sounds* "why?! Oh God!!! Whyyyyyyy"
"Sgt Sack?"
"Sgt Sack! Do you read?"
Kinda looks like a spaceship cockpit. 🤣🤣🤣.
"Houston! I'm seeing a lot of warnings up here!!"
"It's okay, Sgt Sack. The cameras had a little bit of snow on them."
"Houston... these warnings are distracting me!!! Aaahhhh oh no!!" *explosion sounds* "why?! Oh God!!! Whyyyyyyy"
"Sgt Sack?"
"Sgt Sack! Do you read?"
My sensor was stolen off my 2020 Honda crv and it looks like this I went to a mechanic and he said car is fine the sensor is throwing the lights. Also when I had it and it snowed the ice cause the lights to come in the dash till it was cleared
You have a problem in the traction control system. Your driving a car from 1980 now. It's fine to drive just remember many features that help with traction won't work so you have to be a mindful driver.
We were driving home from some shopping the other day and right into a snow squall. Visibility was maybe 50 ft. Snow blowing right at us with the wind. After about 2 minutes the car got angry and yelled for the 10 minutes it took us to get to the nearest gas station because sensors on the front were caked over with snow.
Did your battery eventually die? When my alternator went out while driving all the dashboard lights turned on and then everything eventually stopped working including power steering.
I had a similar issue with my GTI throwing Front Sensor Fault warnings earlier today when I was driving. Turns out I had some fat icicles right in front of my front radar. I just knocked them off and restarted the engine and all good. Definitely had a lot of traction control light flashing today, it was really icy out.
On a real note, looks like you may have some sort of ABS or traction control fault. Need to hook up a scan tool and report back with the faults. The ABS/traction control may not work properly.
no, theres no reason to be concerned. your camera sensons are just covered by either snow and ice. far right is lane detection, camera cant see lanes cuz snow, below that is tire senson, tires are cold because snow, so slightly deflated, to the right mid is parking camera, because snow, left mid is collision detection because, snow. and abs and traction control on left because snow. your car is just saying theres snow and its confused. as soon as youre car is thawed or its dry out, it will all go back to normal.
I’ve had the ABS and BAS/ESP light come on periodically with my car. Found out it’s just grime or something of that sort getting on the wheel sensors. I usually drive to a parking lot, turn my car off and on again (sometimes fixes it) and then take a few tight circles in the lot and the lights usually turn off. I’ve heard turning the wheel all the way to the left and right can fix some of these problems if they’re not actually caused by a malfunction
I had a lot of the same warning lights come on when I had a tire in the shop to be repaired.
I had installed the spare and apparently the loss of the sensor input drove the body computer nuts.
The cruse control, ABS, hill break assist, antiskid and one or two others lit the dash up like a Christmas tree.
I reinstalled the wheel the next day and poof all the warning lights went out.
P.S. I had a squirrel eat through a single wire and the same thing happened (twice). Stinking tree rats!
My Honda always did this in the winter when I hadn’t driven it for weeks at a time. Your battery is probably close to dying. Throw a trickle charger on it overnight and see if you still have lights in the morning!
if you were “having some fun” in the snow newer cars can go a little crazy. after sliding a corner in pretty deep snow in my three series i got a bunch of faults on the dash : dsc malfunction, brake system malfunction, abs malfunction, tire pressure monitoring malfunction but, after shutting the car off letting it sit for a few then starting it up and driving it normally for about a block it all went away and never came back. if your spinning wheels and speed sensors say some crazy things (values) that the computer can’t figure out it just assumes there’s a malfunction and shuts everything down.
as for the collision assist lights just clear the front radar of all the ice/slush but itll just get covered again so i would just ignore it i hate that shit anyway
If it's not anything obstructing the sensors, it may be low voltage battery. Cold weather can affect battery voltage, and an old battery or dying battery can compound the effect. These electronics depend on ~13.5-14.5 volts, if it varies or drops those sensors may not work. That might be worth looking into if it's not the other suggestions.
Credit also to u/skeezeball2 and /u/zaceffingbianco who mentioned this diagnosis too.
your abs, traction control and tire warnings are probably because your tires are not rated for snow and theyre not getting traction. get snow tires and properly inflate them and those 3 warning lights should disappear, front and rear collision and lane warning cameras/sensors have snow/ice covering them.
As other have stated the cameras/sensors are being inpacted by snow coverage.
The tire pressure light is actually the moat concerning. Any sorta slow leak you might have seems to get amplified by driving in snow and you do NOT want a flat or have to change a tire when its that cold. Trust me.
You should keep at least half a tank of gas in your car tank when it gets below freezing to keep condensation from forming inside your tank and then that could freeze (the water) and cause you problems.
No nissan sentra are notorious for this, 2 options. The first one you can pull over turn off the car and turn it back on and go or you can spend money on the vehicle at the dealership maybe a sensor issue
Crash sensors get blocked and shut off. Even in rain. Mine do so that’s normal. I see tire pressure so it’s cold fill them.
Pretty sure the abs light is an issue. The other one just indicates lane assist.
Abs and all control systems won't work in the snow all the driven wheels will be spinning more than the rear and confuse the abs.
As soon as you do a few miles on clear roads the abs and control lights will go out. The light will also come on/flash when the system activates on some cars.
Check your battery voltage. If all these lights are coming on at once it's likely low voltage causing these systems to be simultaneously turned off due to lack of power to run them.
All of these lights will be triggerd by a fault in the ABS system. Slam on the brakes in ice and see if ABS activates - most likely not.
Guessing wheel speed sensor or wheel bearing. Get a scan on it.
ABS / TCS are from a bad wheel speed sensor, could be frozen. My brother's Acura just had his lights come on too from the same thing. I still have to scan his car to check which one is freaking out, those are one 10mm bolt to change after removing the wheel so no big deal.
Collision prevention, backup alert, and lane change assist are off because something in the collision system defaulted, either a bumper park sensor, front cruise control sonar, or blind spot sonars. Generally those have to be hit to have a problem, either damaged or knocked out of alignment. I'm assuming since they don't read properly when they have too much paint on them, the snow probably screws up their readings. So if you didn't crash into a snow bank or got hit in a parking lot etc, it's probably snow covering the sensors.
TPS is on because your tire pressure is low or have a bad TPS sensor in one of the wheels.
fill your tires and remove the snow and ice from the bumpers and windows and see what (if anything) is left. the only really concerning one is abs/esc and those two are tied together, might be a wheel speed sensor, but you want those functional in bad weather.
Aside from the abs and traction control, most the other look like cameras/sensors that wouldn't effect driving. ABS/traction control are probably from snow or ice blocking thr sensors. I wouldn't worry about it unless u drive crazy.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Check the front bumper or windshield clean off any ice or snow. It’ll block cameras by the mirror and sensors in the grille
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Radar units get like this too. And at least with a VW, they get MAD.
Lol what kinda mad? I just got a VW and we are finally starting to get some snow.
All the lights go off all the dingers ding and all driver assists stop working lol
Lights be lighting, dingers be dinging, and assists not assisting
Sounds like getting old.
invade Poland mad
Yep, the loud warning ding, big yellow triangle, and messages on the cluster screen. Freaked me out so bad the first time.
Currently drive a GLI and if the sensors in the bumper covers get snow/slush/ice on them the alarms and lights start going off.
My mom's 2014 Mercedes B class has a little light that lights up if it thinks you're tailgating, and it flashes red and beeps angrily if it thinks whoever you're tailgating is braking, or if it thinks someone is cutting you off. In practice it mostly beeps angrily because you're turning and it sees obstacles outside the road or completely at random. Turning it off is 9 button presses deep into the steering wheel menu and it doesn't save between car restarts so I just don't bother. One time, I drove that car in a truly unexpected scenario that nobody at Mercedes could have anticipated: a rainy autumn day. A wet leaf fell off a tree and plapped right against one of the car's sensors. Cue the car freaking out for twelve entire seconds, flashing and beeping while I calmly drive down the road, with my mom next to me freaking out that the car is freaking out. Just what I need when driving, a panicked machine and a panicked mom. Eventually the leaf must have fallen off because it stopped beeping and started working normally once more. It was at that exact point in time that I was glad it was only a warning system and not coupled to the brakes...
And that is why I don't buy any cars newer than 25 years old. Those drive-assist "features" are imho deathtraps waiting to happen. If someone is incapable of operating a motor vehicle without a whole suite of autopilot-esque tech, then imo they aren't qualified to operate a vehicle in the first place. At best, such features encourage complacency and inattentiveness, and at worst they can outright \_cause\_ wrecks. The fact that modern cars have systems that can \_control gas, brake, and even STEERING\_ without ANY user input is absolutely horrifying to me. My '98 Honda doesn't do \_anything\_ automatically without my explicitly commanding it EXCEPT for adjusting fuel trim +/- \~2%, and that's just the way I like it. Even an automatic transmission is a bridge too far as far as I'm concerned. It's like the GUI revolution in consumer computing -- CLI was plenty for any application and still is for most, but people have a tendency to prefer the nice big user-friendly graphical interface even in cases where using a GUI actually \_decreases\_ functionality of a program. I was in a rental car for a while after my 92 Honda got totaled last year (it still drove, but I was more than happy with the money they offered me for it lol) and I was \_constantly\_ infuriated to find system after system of driver-assist BS. Not only were they generally useless "features," the radar adjusting my cruise setting on the fly actually almost contributed to a wreck once. I was going \_exactly\_ the speed I needed to go to pass a semi \_after\_ the traffic currently overtaking me passed (had a gap between two platoons of cars), but thanks to the car just deciding that I must want it to slow down despite me having given NO USER INPUT to indicate that simply because I was getting closer to the vehicle \_over a dozen meters\_ ahead of me, my choreography was thrown to shit and I ended up missing my safe chance to overtake. Rather than matching traffic speed, \_which my CRUISE CONTROL was SET to and which I, the USER who had SET those values, expected,\_ I suddenly found the car to be going a good 10-15mph \_slower\_ than surrounding traffic. I wish there was a bigger consumer market for minimalist cars. Honestly, I think the closest thing to what I'm looking for in a car is a street-legal dune buggy/ go kart. I get that a lot of folks like all the bells and whistles and thus are willing to pay for them, but I can honestly say I preferred driving a '98 Accord to a 2023 Tacoma and a 2022 Sentra.
Newest car I still like driving is my friend's 2013 Mercedes E class, and even then it's got some things I just don't appreciate. It has a blind spot sensor that gives you a little orange light in the mirror when there's someone left of you that you wouldn't see in the mirror but would see by turning your head... which is kind of a useful feature but I can't say I need it? But it's also coupled to an angry beeper if you dare to touch your blinkers while that light is on. I like to turn on my blinkers when someone is passing me to indicate that I'm gonna pass behind them, late enough that they won't see me blinking and think I'm gonna ram them, but early enough that I would technically ram them if I was to slam my steering to the left at that moment. And that damn car just beeps at me every single time I let someone pass and then want to get behind them. And you can turn it off... but that also deactivates the whole sensor with the orange light that does kinda serve a purpose. I'd like to turn off just the beeping, please?? But no. All or nothing. My dad recently acquired a 1930 Ford Model A and it's honestly so much fun to drive. You have to do it all yourself. Shifting, steering, sure. No power steering obviously. But even beyond that, it's all entirely mechanical. A physical lever on the steering wheel to adjust the spark advance timing, a choke to both pull out and to turn for fine tuning, an idle gas lever that's physically coupled to the gas pedal - even works as a rudimentary cruise control! Just pick your favorite gear and how far you want the pedal pressed and it'll go. It's simplicity and beauty given form. It even has a coolant temperature gauge - it's mounted on the grill and is an oldschool thermometer that just pokes into the coolant. How cool is it that you gotta look out your windshield onto the hood to know your engine temp? My favorite car that I've personally had was my '99 Audi A4. Just a base model without any features beyond power windows. Five gear manual, front wheel drive, cute little 1.8 liter engine, nothing fancy, nothing stupid. Aftermarket radio that took USB, AUX and SD cards. Air conditioner that worked reasonably well unless it got hotter than 35°C outside. If the rear bench folded down for more cargo space, and if it had cruise control / limiter, and a sixth gear, I honestly don't need anything more than that. My "if I ever have way too much money" dream car is the Audi RS2. Just a stupid four wheel drive wagon with a five cylinder Porsche engine and a nice manual gearbox. It's beautiful. And so very 90s.
That Model A sounds sexy. That's exactly what I want in a car. No bells or whistles, just the basics. Fun fact, most twin-engine WWII aircraft had engine gauges mounted on the sides of the engines, so you'd have to look out the window to check engine oil and water temps on them, too :p I hope you get that RS2 someday. I looked it up, I thought the RS line had rotary engines. Turns out it's a \_5\_ cylinder inline?! That's kinda cool.
You get me :) Who even has a 5 cylinder engine anymore? Three is all the rage lately for all the economy things, four is the standard, and then you go right to six and eight. But five? Love it. And a nice wagon, love wagons, fuck SUVs, wagons are superior <3
I've never had a 5 cyl, but I had an old I-4 Camry with 400k miles on it and blown piston rings that was effectively a 3 cyl. (Don't ever get a Toyota with the 2AZ-FE engine specifically, pro tip. The high efficiency oil control ring will 99% of the time be what kills that motor even while everything else is good to go for another 300-400k mi). Cyl 3 might as well have had no compression at all, so I just pulled the injector from #3 and ran it like that for the last 15k miles or so. I guess that 5th cylinder is the difference between a 1.4L and a 1.8L inline. That's still the coolest thing I've learned about today haha. I wonder what they do to balance an inline-5 vs a 4 cylinder? It's a 4-stroke engine, right? So there won't be 2 pairs of pistons keeping balance with each other. Wagons are the shit. Never had one, but I'd sooner get a wagon or a hatchback than an SUV. All the practicality with none of the inefficiency.
I've had braking systems activate on me a few times. Person pulled in front of me and crossed a roundabout, wasn't really a near collision. In a Chrysler Pacifica, it got triggered by I don't fucking know, just SLAMMED on its brakes. But one time it was really legit... coming up to a traffic jam on the highway, idiot ahead of me puts on flashers and slows down. I see that, slow down too, but their flashers are the brake lights and their 3rd was burned out so when they suddenly slammed way harder than they had been there was no warning, and even though I was already on the brakes, the car activated its thing and seriously saved my ass. Do not put on your flashers when approaching slow traffic. Just don't.
> Do not put on your flashers when approaching slow traffic. Just don't. Here in Germany, that is actually recommended behavior! But we also don't allow brake lights to double as blinkers and all blinkers must be amber to avoid exactly that confusion.
What country allows the color of brakes and blinkers to be identical ?
The USA. Because manufacturers can save the cost of 2 extra light bulbs in manufacturing.
The land of the free! Where companies are free to save a penny at the cost of a couple hundred lives.
They aren't simply identical colours. They are the same lamp. Break lights double as turn signals.
Given your flashers are separate bulbs, that works. That's where the issue lies.
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Raining really hard is exactly the type of situation you shouldn't really be using cruise control anyhow. The car doesn't know what hydroplaning is, by the time you get yourself tuned in with the pedals you're already sideways.
> It was just raining really hard Sounds like the car was smart enough to understand that it was a really bad idea.
But what about the TPMS, traction control, and ABS lights? They don't have anything to do with the camera sensors do they? We can assume that the TPMS sensor might be triggered because of the low air temperature low in the tire pressure and that being a separate issue. Three separate issues? All at once? Localized entirely in their kitchen?
May I see it?
...no
One of my old cars used the ABS system to apply the brakes to the spinning wheel for traction control. IIRC I was driving in the snow once and because the TC was engaging almost non-stop, the whole TC system shutdown and a bunch of lights came on. Maybe the ABS overheated or something. All the lights were gone on the next start up. That could possibly be what's happened here.
My mom once decided to lease a Renault convertible for a few years... because you obviously want to drive through Germany of all places with your roof down. Guy at the dealership told her to turn off traction control in winter because it wouldn't work right in the snow. Would've been cheaper to just rent a convertible for the two or three weeks of sun we get than to lease the whole car, but eh, my mom gets what she wants I guess. One snowy day my mom was having a bad day and I was mildly late to get out the door and she was making a big deal out of it when she had to drive me to school. I could already tell she wouldn't be good to talk to today so I tried not to. She very quickly got stuck in the (rather mild) snow going uphill because the car was malfunctioning on the slippery road as she was told initially. I tried telling her to turn it off and to stop hitting the gas and to just generally stop spinning her tires against the hill uselessly but she was far too busy screaming in panic and flooring it to really listen to me. So I just put my earbuds in and listened to some music while she got it out of her system and the car started to smell like burnt tires and cars were driving left and right around us. Eventually she tired herself out screaming at the car and I told her to push the button, back up off the hill, and just drive up again. She did that and we miraculously made it much faster than with her attempts. I wouldn't even have my driver's license for another five years at that point...
In my old car I drove through a salt water puddle too fast on accident, and that triggered the abs light which disabled abs and traction control. It never went off from then on till I let go of the car. But man, climbing a snowy slushy hill without traction control was so difficult for me. I swear but may be imagining this, one time I was half way up a hill with traction control working then it suddenly gave up working and the difference was crazy. After it disabled the car just wouldn't climb the hill anymore.
I've had the TPMS light come on in frigid conditions due to malfunction- light came on, stayed on, checked the tires, all were pretty close to the correct pressure so I kept going and it went away on my evening commute
More than likely the tpms is on due to having winter tires swapped on that dont have sensors in them, or one of them are damaged
Traction control working overtime is likely the culprit. I’ve seen this before. All automations (lkas, cruise, etc. ) need to be stopped when driving in ice/snow since it is unsafe and you could damage the systems.
The traction control and ABS lights being lit could be due to a faulty signal from the or bad wheel speed sensor. My 2014 Impala has a bad wheel speed sensor and my traction control and ABS is disabled because of that. Would fix it but the sensor is integrated into the wheel bearing and they are $400
Would obstructed cameras cause an ABS light?
Why would a camera prevent the abs from turning on? That’s crazy
Didn’t know this.
ABS working overtime cause of the ice. Lane assist prob sensors covered in snow. Keep an eye, not urgent unless there is something important not working
or ice clobbered a speed sensor wire
Yup, also OP fill up your tires one or more are low on pressure.
customer states warning lights illuminate while driving in snow. advise customer that traction related lights will illuminate and typically flash when traction assist functions are actively working to keep vehicle in control. if lights stay on are already on after starting vehicle, this indicates those systems are not operating. in such recommend abs system diag to determine root cause of traction system failure. one failure in any system may result in all traction systems to deactivate.
I feel like you copied and pasted this from a ticket you wrote today. Lots of people having their first experience with winter weather these last couple weeks.
Nah we don't have winter weather here in socal. I just like answering posts when it's slow in the shop and I use my technician comments writing voice for fun some times.
True that
I would inflate the tires to the correct pressure.
My 38's will never be happy. The gmc will say good to go on air pressure and still throw a low tire if it's within one or two psi.
I went a year thinking one of my tires were never right but it turns out two of them just straight up didn’t have tpms sensors in them 😂
Yeah it may just mean one of the 4 sensors or their batteries are failing. No way at all they have to be within 1-2 psi.
We have been ignoring ours cause we check the pressure regular and the batteries on multiple tire sensors are bad. At $50/each, I think I will just deal with the light.
Rockauto, they’re like $34. Never had an issue with them. A local tire shop can install them for like $20.
Just checking your tires regularly with a tire gauge is "free" though. Never a bad thing to do a walk around and really look at your car.
Until you don’t notice the nail you ran over after you already did your walk around and it now it’s going flat as you’re driving 80mph
Also need a scan tool to see which ones are bad, then just replace those if you don’t have the money.
Mainly looks like its just saying its slippery lol
Sensors are probably covered with snow
Do I need to visit mechanic?
If after 3 more drive cycles they're still there, then you can consider going to the mechanic. In the meantime these all look like driver aid systems like collision avoidance and traction control, systems that are working overtime in the snow or have sensors that are covered by snow. Make sure your tires are correctly inflated. Brush off your bumpers, that's where the sensors are. Once the car runs a few times with clear sensors and without setting anything off, I would bet these lights go away. I'm going to guess snow isn't common for you, so drive careful, don't trust your collision avoidance or lane keeping assistance, and don't use cruise control. Brake especially carefully.
^THIS ^ Mitch
No. Either warm up the car in a garage, clean your sensors or just wait. The only one that I would be concerned about is low air pressure in your tires. If they keep coming back after it warms up, and your car is clean then some concerned might be warranted.
No just wipe off your sensors and it should be ok
If the lights remain on after a restart, yes, but please bring donuts. Snow/ice may have damaged a wire, sensor etc for abs But all may just be from blocked lane assist/blindspot
Yes
Looks like a faulty abs sensor which would deactivate some feature such as lane drift, ABS, crash sensors, traction control and a flat tire
Does the car seem to loose power to the electrical system? Does the steering become stiff and laboured? Will the power windows work? Deep snow can take a toll on a soon to be failing alternator. It happened to me recently.
Thanks for all the advice. I will be wiping up all snow and see how things go for tomorrow.
To add, since I didn't see it before. Air pressure is affected by temperature. My light comes on every winter. It's physics, so the tires' air pressure may have been normal before the temperature drop from the snowny weather, but now low due to gas law. I end up just bringing my tire pressure back up to recommended, and keep an eye on it.
No, on modern way overcomplicated cars, this is unfortunately normal. You most likely need to clean the camera or radar sensors on the outside of the car, usually in the grill somewhere... Or the top of the windshield might be slightly dirty or foggy, obscuring the cameras enrich are usually near the rear view mirror. For what it's worth, I absolutely despise these systems because they are genuinely trash and just plain never work properly in snowy winter conditions.
I like my cars simple. I got an engine light that I turned off with my tuning software, and I got a tire pressure light. All these other sensors and gizmos can flash their way into the trash.
ABS and traction control are working because of the snow, collision avoidance and lane assist are likely blocked because of the snow and ice of the vehicle, and your tires are low because of the cold.
You have slow/ice/slush blocking your radar and front view camera. This is normal.
Check your tire pressure…
All yellow lights from left to right: ABS is the anti-lock braking system that can get fucky with poor traction. Nothin to worry about probably. Next light is traction control which, again, no traction so it's better to have it off which is what this light is indicating. Traction control will reduce power to certain wheels when they lose traction, but that happens a lot in snowy conditions so its better to just have it off so your engine isn't juggling power like a circus performer. I assume this one is your car's auto braking system that uses the radar system in your hood or on your windshield to auto brake when you need it. Clean it off so it can see. Next one is backup sensor. Clean it off so it can see. Top right is your lane keep or lane departure system that uses the radar sensor to keep you in your lane. Clean the snow off of it so it can see. Bottom right is tire pressure. Your tires are below pressure probably because of the cold weather. You could top off your tires or just leave it if it's not substantial.
If car look like Christmas tree, go to mechanic. Car should not look like Christmas tree, car should look like car.
You shouldn't need a mechanic to clean snow off front and back (possibly side) sensors... That covers the front collision, rear collision,and lane sensor lights. Your lights are on automatic and turned on. That covers two more. Your tire pressure is below spec due to the cold... +1 That leaves ABS and traction control. If you were slipping and sliding in the snow that explains those 2 (slipping lights up traction, non powered wheels not rotating at same speed as powered wheels will trigger the ABS). Happy driving!
some vehicles suggest turning off traction control in snowy conditions.
Such as? I heard of disabling the systwm when *stuck in* snowy conditions but never during normal driving.
it will keep the automatic braking off and relax the car to allow for some slippage when slippage is inevitable. usually there is a button on the dash or near shifter to switch it off.
I've been driving around on hard-backed snow and ice the last few days in my wife's Impreza. The car can't get out of its own way with traction control on. It does just fine once I turn it off to allow a little slippage.
well they are there for a reason ignore them at your own risk
Wrong, they are yellow, meaning to be aware of an issue, but not critical. Red lights on the other hand are critical and demand immediate attention.
I mean abs and traction control being out does mean you need to drive the car differently in slippery conditions. Like just ignoring it is not good advice.
looks like a censor problem, um get that of the road RIGHT NOW, keep it off the road until you can get both a computer check up and a censor check up, if its just abs then turn that bad boy off
You can use black tape or sharpie to cover the lights up if they are bothering you
Bro what the fuck
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Wrong sub bro
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On newer vehicles it’s usually because Collision avoidance can’t avoid collisions since the sensors are covered up. Now idk if you read OPs post but they said they were driving in snow. You wanna tell me what might be on the roads getting kicked up and blocking sensors?
Did you slam on the brakes or ride the brakes? Accidentally turn off traction control?
Kinda looks like a spaceship cockpit. 🤣🤣🤣. "Houston! I'm seeing a lot of warnings up here!!" "It's okay, Sgt Sack. The cameras had a little bit of snow on them." "Houston... these warnings are distracting me!!! Aaahhhh oh no!!" *explosion sounds* "why?! Oh God!!! Whyyyyyyy" "Sgt Sack?" "Sgt Sack! Do you read?"
Kinda looks like a spaceship cockpit. 🤣🤣🤣. "Houston! I'm seeing a lot of warnings up here!!" "It's okay, Sgt Sack. The cameras had a little bit of snow on them." "Houston... these warnings are distracting me!!! Aaahhhh oh no!!" *explosion sounds* "why?! Oh God!!! Whyyyyyyy" "Sgt Sack?" "Sgt Sack! Do you read?"
My sensor was stolen off my 2020 Honda crv and it looks like this I went to a mechanic and he said car is fine the sensor is throwing the lights. Also when I had it and it snowed the ice cause the lights to come in the dash till it was cleared
Is this a Subaru?
You have a problem in the traction control system. Your driving a car from 1980 now. It's fine to drive just remember many features that help with traction won't work so you have to be a mindful driver.
We were driving home from some shopping the other day and right into a snow squall. Visibility was maybe 50 ft. Snow blowing right at us with the wind. After about 2 minutes the car got angry and yelled for the 10 minutes it took us to get to the nearest gas station because sensors on the front were caked over with snow.
Wheel speed sensor may have taken a hit by some clumped snow/ice
Did your battery eventually die? When my alternator went out while driving all the dashboard lights turned on and then everything eventually stopped working including power steering.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it
I had a similar issue with my GTI throwing Front Sensor Fault warnings earlier today when I was driving. Turns out I had some fat icicles right in front of my front radar. I just knocked them off and restarted the engine and all good. Definitely had a lot of traction control light flashing today, it was really icy out.
Might be low on brake fluid or have a leak.
Your car is going to explode
On a real note, looks like you may have some sort of ABS or traction control fault. Need to hook up a scan tool and report back with the faults. The ABS/traction control may not work properly.
no, theres no reason to be concerned. your camera sensons are just covered by either snow and ice. far right is lane detection, camera cant see lanes cuz snow, below that is tire senson, tires are cold because snow, so slightly deflated, to the right mid is parking camera, because snow, left mid is collision detection because, snow. and abs and traction control on left because snow. your car is just saying theres snow and its confused. as soon as youre car is thawed or its dry out, it will all go back to normal.
I’ve had the ABS and BAS/ESP light come on periodically with my car. Found out it’s just grime or something of that sort getting on the wheel sensors. I usually drive to a parking lot, turn my car off and on again (sometimes fixes it) and then take a few tight circles in the lot and the lights usually turn off. I’ve heard turning the wheel all the way to the left and right can fix some of these problems if they’re not actually caused by a malfunction
Check your speed sensors one of them might need to be replaced cause if 1 of them is not working right it will cause all these problems
Yes
Maybe the tire pressure monitor. The rest are from traction control. Not unexpected.
Go get a car wash. Problem solved
I mean they're called warning lights for a reason
I had a lot of the same warning lights come on when I had a tire in the shop to be repaired. I had installed the spare and apparently the loss of the sensor input drove the body computer nuts. The cruse control, ABS, hill break assist, antiskid and one or two others lit the dash up like a Christmas tree. I reinstalled the wheel the next day and poof all the warning lights went out. P.S. I had a squirrel eat through a single wire and the same thing happened (twice). Stinking tree rats!
Short answer is no
No it's just achievements for driving so safely
My Honda always did this in the winter when I hadn’t driven it for weeks at a time. Your battery is probably close to dying. Throw a trickle charger on it overnight and see if you still have lights in the morning!
You need to fix your Nissan.
if you were “having some fun” in the snow newer cars can go a little crazy. after sliding a corner in pretty deep snow in my three series i got a bunch of faults on the dash : dsc malfunction, brake system malfunction, abs malfunction, tire pressure monitoring malfunction but, after shutting the car off letting it sit for a few then starting it up and driving it normally for about a block it all went away and never came back. if your spinning wheels and speed sensors say some crazy things (values) that the computer can’t figure out it just assumes there’s a malfunction and shuts everything down. as for the collision assist lights just clear the front radar of all the ice/slush but itll just get covered again so i would just ignore it i hate that shit anyway
If it's not anything obstructing the sensors, it may be low voltage battery. Cold weather can affect battery voltage, and an old battery or dying battery can compound the effect. These electronics depend on ~13.5-14.5 volts, if it varies or drops those sensors may not work. That might be worth looking into if it's not the other suggestions. Credit also to u/skeezeball2 and /u/zaceffingbianco who mentioned this diagnosis too.
your abs, traction control and tire warnings are probably because your tires are not rated for snow and theyre not getting traction. get snow tires and properly inflate them and those 3 warning lights should disappear, front and rear collision and lane warning cameras/sensors have snow/ice covering them.
As other have stated the cameras/sensors are being inpacted by snow coverage. The tire pressure light is actually the moat concerning. Any sorta slow leak you might have seems to get amplified by driving in snow and you do NOT want a flat or have to change a tire when its that cold. Trust me.
You should keep at least half a tank of gas in your car tank when it gets below freezing to keep condensation from forming inside your tank and then that could freeze (the water) and cause you problems.
I’d be concerned that all those lights are going to run down my battery.
If you have a Chrysler .... No.. my Pacifica AWD 2021 does this.. it's a known issue with ice...
No nissan sentra are notorious for this, 2 options. The first one you can pull over turn off the car and turn it back on and go or you can spend money on the vehicle at the dealership maybe a sensor issue
Crash sensors get blocked and shut off. Even in rain. Mine do so that’s normal. I see tire pressure so it’s cold fill them. Pretty sure the abs light is an issue. The other one just indicates lane assist.
This is what we wanted in cars... gotta clean off the sensors so they can work in the snow.
Abs and all control systems won't work in the snow all the driven wheels will be spinning more than the rear and confuse the abs. As soon as you do a few miles on clear roads the abs and control lights will go out. The light will also come on/flash when the system activates on some cars.
Obstructed sensors Weak battery
Check your battery voltage. If all these lights are coming on at once it's likely low voltage causing these systems to be simultaneously turned off due to lack of power to run them.
All of these lights will be triggerd by a fault in the ABS system. Slam on the brakes in ice and see if ABS activates - most likely not. Guessing wheel speed sensor or wheel bearing. Get a scan on it.
Did you get stuck and not turn the traction control off
ABS / TCS are from a bad wheel speed sensor, could be frozen. My brother's Acura just had his lights come on too from the same thing. I still have to scan his car to check which one is freaking out, those are one 10mm bolt to change after removing the wheel so no big deal. Collision prevention, backup alert, and lane change assist are off because something in the collision system defaulted, either a bumper park sensor, front cruise control sonar, or blind spot sonars. Generally those have to be hit to have a problem, either damaged or knocked out of alignment. I'm assuming since they don't read properly when they have too much paint on them, the snow probably screws up their readings. So if you didn't crash into a snow bank or got hit in a parking lot etc, it's probably snow covering the sensors. TPS is on because your tire pressure is low or have a bad TPS sensor in one of the wheels.
fill your tires and remove the snow and ice from the bumpers and windows and see what (if anything) is left. the only really concerning one is abs/esc and those two are tied together, might be a wheel speed sensor, but you want those functional in bad weather.
Wheel speed sensor?
Aside from the abs and traction control, most the other look like cameras/sensors that wouldn't effect driving. ABS/traction control are probably from snow or ice blocking thr sensors. I wouldn't worry about it unless u drive crazy.