Have you been seeing the ‘Service Advancetrac’ warning light on your dashboard and wondering what could have gone wrong with your vehicle?
This is a pretty common issue with Ford F150, Mustang, Explorer, Fusion, Edge, and Expedition. Most times, the warning light is followed by a loss of power in your steering and faulty blinkers
In this post, I’ll be explaining what the Advancetrac system is all about, how it functions, the reasons why the ‘Service Advancetrac’ warning light comes on, and how to reset it.
Let’s dive into it!
Table of contents
What is Advancetrac?
Advancetrac is one of the industry-leading stability systems from Ford designed to help a driver maintain control in adverse driving situations or when making quick maneuvers. It is made up of two parts – The Traction Control and ESC (Electronic Stability Control).
Traction Control helps keep the wheels from spinning when you’re pushing the gas pedal. It also keeps them from losing their grip on the road. The ESC on the other hand helps to prevent the car from sliding sideways and skidding.
How The Advancetrac System Works
The Advncetrac system uses information from several sensors like the steering wheel angle, acceleration, and so on to sense when your vehicle starts to lose control or traction.
Once it senses this, it automatically applies selective braking to keep you safely on the road.
The Advancetrac system and Roll Stability Control monitors roll motions at least 100 times per second and adjust engine power in order to keep the wheels firmly planted.
As a driver, you don’t have to worry about the details of this system’s functions. All you have to do is focus on your driving. It only becomes a concern when you see that ‘Service Advancetrac’ warning light.
Possible Reasons for The Service Advancetrac Warning Light And How To Reset It
1. Melting Wiring Harness
When the Service Advancetrac warning light comes on on a Ford F150, it could be due to a melting wiring harness. If the wiring harness somehow drops on the exhaust manifold, it would start melting and trigger the warning on the dashboard.
In this case, you would need to either take the vehicle to a mechanic. They won’t need to replace the entire wiring harness. They’d just need to pick which wires need fixing and replace them.
Side note: Fixing this can be really expensive if you use name-brand dealer mechanics so you might want to avoid them.
2. Loose Fuses
The Service Advancetrac warning light could be showing due to some fuses in your car that have become loose. This should be a very easy fix.
All you have to do is open the fuse compartment under the hood and use your finger to press down on each one of those fuses to ensure that they’re all firmly positioned.
Once you’re done, restart the car to see if the warning light is gone.
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3. Blown Battery Breaker
Check the breaker on the battery to see if it’s blown. If you gave someone a battery jumpstart and didn’t do it the correct way, it could blow your battery breaker.
Fixing this would require a replacement of the breaker and you really don’t need to spend money on a mechanic. You can just replace it yourself with a 10mm bolt spanner and a 14mm bolt spanner.
4. Ground Port Under The UPR Dual-valve Catch-can
For a Ford Mustang with locked-up power steering and Service Advancetrac warning light display on the dashboard, the issue could be a result of the positioning of your ground port to the UPR Dual-valve Catch-can.
Open up the hood and check how the ground port is positioned. If it’s positioned under the UPR Dual-valve Catch-can, you’ll need to loosen it up and fix it to the top. This would most likely clear the warning light and free up your power steering.
FAQs On Service Advancetrac Issues
How do I completely turn off Advancetrac in my Ford F 150?
The Advancetrac in your Ford F150 can be turned off in 3 ways. The first is by tapping on the traction control button. But mind you, this doesn’t do much in disabling the feature because the computer will still keep communicating with the Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU) and the ABS system as well as your throttle-by-wire position to keep you safe.
The second way is by pressing your brake pedal down and tapping the traction button twice. This will put you in sport mode. Sport mode gives you fewer traction control features from the computer. This allows you for a more aggressive strategy and a more personal connection to your car while on the track.
The third way to completely turn off AdvanceTrac in your Ford F150 is by pressing the brake pedal and holding the traction control button down for about 5 seconds.
Does Advancetrac affect power steering?
Yes, the Advancetrac affects your power steering. This is why you’d notice that one of the symptoms that follow the Service Advancetrac warning light is a loss of power in your steering. The steering immediately becomes stiff.
When did Ford introduce Advancetrac?
Ford introduced Advancetrac in the year 2000. They later added Roll Stability Control to Advancetrac and this was first introduced in the Volvo XC90 in the year 2003. Since then, it has been implemented in many Ford vehicles.
Does turning off Advancetrac turn off traction control?
Yes, turning off Advancetrac turns off traction control. It’s important to note that even with both systems turned off, certain circumstances could still trigger them on.
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How do you reset the service light on a Mustang Advancetrac?
One of the major causes of the Service Advancetrac light on a Mustang is the positioning of the ground port. If the ground port is positioned below the UPR Dual-valve Catch-can, repositioning it at the top would reset the warning light.
