goatee Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 I have owned both an 08 and 11 AWD Edge models. Before that several 4WD Explorers with never any problem in the snow. This past winter seemed especially snowy here in the northeast. For the first time ever, I ended up being stuck in the snow, the AWD system just wasn't able to overcome the mounting snow. All things being equal, I have never outfitted any of my vehicles with snow tires. The engine would rev up but seems like I could not get the tires to move. During a recent trip to the dealer for routine service, I had mentioned this to the service advisor. Her advise seemed so simple. She said to just disable the traction control and all 4 wheels would turn and drive the vehicle out of the snow. My question is Could this be true? Could disabling the traction control permit both front and rear drive wheels to spin freely? Would this be sort of like a AWD Locking mode? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Traction control prevents wheel slippage, transferring power around or reducing power or braking as needed when slip/spin is detected. Exactly what you DON'T want when stuck in the snow. From the 2011 OM: Traction control system (TCS)Traction control is a driver aid feature that helps your vehicle maintain traction of the wheels, typically when driving on slippery and/or hilly road surfaces, by detecting and controlling wheel spin.Excessive wheel spin is controlled in two ways, which may work separately or in tandem; engine traction control and brake traction control. Engine traction control works to limit drive-wheel spin by momentarily reducing engine power. Brake traction control works to limit wheel spin by momentarily applying the brakes to the wheel that is slipping. Traction control is most active at low speeds.During traction control events, the stability control light in the instrument cluster will flash. If the traction control system is activated excessively in a short period of time, the braking portion of the system may become temporarily disabled to allow the brakes to cool down. In this situation, traction control will use only engine power reduction or transfer to help control the wheels from over-spinning. When the brakes have cooled down, the system will regain all features. Anti-lock braking, RSC, and ESC are not affected by this condition and will continue to function during the cool-down period.The engine traction control and brake traction control system may be deactivated in certain situations. See the Switching off AdvanceTrac with RSC section below. Switching off AdvanceTrac with RSC If the vehicle is stuck in snow, mud or sand, and seems to lose engine power, switching off certain features of the AdvanceTrac with RSC system may be beneficial because the wheels are allowed to spin. This will restore full engine power and will enhance momentum through the obstacle.To switch off the AdvanceTrac with RSC system, select traction control off in the message center. Full features of the AdvanceTrac with RSC system can be restored by selecting traction control on, or by turning off and restarting the engine.If you switch off the AdvanceTrac with RSC system, the stability control off light will illuminate steadily. Selecting traction control on will turn off the stability control light. In R (Reverse), ABS and the engine traction control and brake traction control features will continue to function. However, ESC and RSC are disabled. Edited July 13, 2015 by WWWPerfA_ZN0W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatee Posted July 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Yes that's exactly what I mean. Turning the system off just when in a situation such as getting stuck in a high snow drift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted July 14, 2015 Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 This is nothing new. It's been common knowledge that turning off traction control is the way to get unstuck in snow ever since traction control became common like 15 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWWPerfA_ZN0W Posted July 14, 2015 Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Not so common, I think. The further along we get in automotive design, the more we take things for granted, i.e., the vehicle will auto-handle the situation. I haven't had ONE salesman yet point out these things during the sales process. BUT, I WILL say that since the Owner's Manual is so easy to get to in PDF form, it is worthwhile checking/searching for answers first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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