Traction or stability control light
A car with squiggly lines beneath it, amber
Book it in when you can · Amber means get it checked
Traction or stability control light
No need to pull over right away. Keep driving normally, but pay attention to how the light is behaving, since that changes what it means.
What the light is telling you
This light means the car's stability or traction control system is doing something. Which of the two things it's doing depends on whether the light is flashing or staying on solid.
If it's flashing, the system is actively working right now. It has felt a wheel losing grip and is stepping in to help keep the car pointed the right way. That's normal on wet roads, gravel, ice, or if you accelerate hard. It's the system doing its job, not a problem with the car.
If the light is staying on steady, that's different. It usually means the system has switched itself off and isn't available. The car has detected a fault somewhere in the system and disabled it rather than let it act on bad information.
Common causes, if the light is staying on
A wheel speed sensor is the most common cause. These sensors tell the system how fast each wheel is turning, and if one is dirty, damaged, or wired badly, the system loses the information it needs and turns itself off.
Low tire pressure or a mismatched tire, one that's a different size or badly worn compared to the others, can also trigger it, since the system reads that as a wheel behaving oddly.
Less often, it's a problem with the steering angle sensor, the ABS module itself, or the wiring between them.
What it usually takes to sort out
Any of these issues will normally set a fault code, so the first step is plugging in a scan tool to see what the car recorded. That points us at which sensor or circuit is involved rather than guessing.
If it turns out to be a wheel speed sensor, that's a fairly routine repair. If it's tire-related, checking pressures and tread across all four tires is quick and often the fix. Wiring or module issues take longer to track down, since the fault might be intermittent.
Either way, if the light is on steady, the traction and stability system isn't helping you right now, so it's worth getting looked at before conditions get slippery. We do diagnostics and can tell you what it is once we've had a look, rather than guess over the phone.