My son was running some errands right after having his tire repaired from a nail when the traction control apparently kicked in and starting pulling his jeep to one side. He stopped and started again without issue. He said the traction control light came on. I checked for codes with the OBD II (it reads ABS codes) reader and it shows nothing. I am not sure if it is related but whenever taking off from an intersection in a neighborhood and turning sharply it feels like the jeep is dragging (does not do this at speed on turns). He does not have oversized wheels or any lift and there doesn't appear to be anything rubbing anywhere.

Could this still be a wheel speed sensor and do you think they are related? If it is a sensor how do I determine which one? I would like to fix before he heads off to school. 2008 JK.

 

I have a similar problem. Mine lights up my ABS, Traction Control and Hill Descent Control but its intermittent. Sometimes it will come on leaving a stop light but I can always get it them to come on if I put the Jeep in reverse, back up a little bit and then shift into drive. All of my research says the same thing...."Replace the wheel speed sensors".
Everyone says it's easier to replace them all (roughly $90 at the parts store supposedly). Hope this helps some. I still haven't had the time to get mine done otherwise I would tell you first hand if it was helpful.

 

Mine said it was a left rear speed sensor. I replaced it. Didn't fix it. Then I replaced the connector. Then I made sure I twisted the wires to reduce noise. Then I removed the hub and checked the tone ring. None of these things fixed it. Then I disconnected the ABS connector under the hood and sprayed it with deoxit. This fixed my problem. Strange but true.

 

Those rear wheel speed sensors get wonky if they get mud build up or grease build up from a bad bearing leak. You will need to replace the bearing if the sensor comes out with grease on it.

 

I was finally able to catch the jeep while the ABS light was on and and checked the code. It was the rear left sensor. Very easy to change out, took about 5 minutes, and solved the problem. There is still drag when turning but I am going to assume its just the tires on the concrete. Now on to the lower steering shaft, which I guess might be causing the drag when turning but it is also clunking.

 

Jeep was driven about 150 miles without any lights and now the traction control and ESP lights are coming on. Both rear wheel speed sensors have been replaced. What should be my next step? Should I go ahead and replace the front sensors? Should I replace the front hubs to? The rear bearings were replaced about 6 months ago (not sure if it would have anything to do with this). Anything else to look at (will also check connections)?

 

I would check the ABS connector condition before replacing any more parts. Try the deoxit, you've got nothing to lose.

 

From recent personal experience you do have something to lose if you have a BBK installed which has a larger MC over stock such as was the case with me having the Mopar BBK installed. Disconnecting and especially reconnecting that ABS connector becomes much easier said than done. The MC sits right behind that connector. I was able to wiggle it out by loosening the bolt which secures the ABS module. However reinserting it, there is no way to get the connector properly alligned without forcing it, where you then risk damaging the connector and the module if you try. Even pressing the tab is quite difficult since there's like 1in of clearance between the back of the connector to the larger MC. You then need to either fully remove the ABS module or your MC to gain enough clearance to reconnect that connector. Which then means you now let air into your brake system where bench bleeding and bleeding your brake lines will be needed.

This cleaning the ABS connector was suggested to me for some of my recent brake troubles also. My connector ended up being clean as a whistle, didn't fix my problem cleaning it but cost me hours of getting my brakes back to where I started prior to disconnecting, only to be able to continue my original trouble shooting.

Just thought I would throw this out there, It's definitely something to consider before stating this is a simple trouble shooting step with nothing to lose. 😉