01 Monte Carlo Traction problems?

Recently, I bought an 01 Monte Carlo SS. Couldn't pass up the deal that was offered. It has almost 185k miles on it so I was expecting problems. There is a problem with the traction system. It seems that every time I back out of my drive way in the morning, the traction system tries to turn on, makes some awful grinding noises, and then shuts itself off and displays "Service Traction System". The other day I was backing out onto a main road and I almost had an accident because It seemed to disable the engine. Even when I push the 'trac off' button, it turns it self back on. What kind of problems do you think are causing this?