Wheel Spin then No Throttle Response

[laharview]

Hi All,

 

How does one program the ECU so the throttle will respond if there is a bit of wheel spin?  With the slightest wheel spin the engine will not RPM over an idle.  This is a very dangerous feature when pulling a trailer and trying to start /merge from an incline onto a highway.

 

I'm not trying to roast the tires or build a drift van for Chris Forsberg, just want the throttle to respond when needed.

 

 

[ASD Dad]

Are you turning off Traction Control using the little switch to the lower left of the steering wheel?  If that is on the ECU will never allow wheel spin, that is what it is made to do.  They are not concerned about the guy towing or in dirt/snow they are concerned about the person on wet roads going around a corner or hammering it from a stop.  A lot of people these days have no idea about throttle modulation, they are too used to electronic nannies like Traction Control, ABS and now they have Lane Assist, Emergency Braking, and all sort of other nannies on cars!  

 

Some vehicles will still resist excessive wheel spin even with the switch turned off but that is the first start for trying it out.  On my Tundra there was a sequence you had to follow if you wanted to 100% disable the TC.  A pain, but it would completely turn off.  

[laharview]

Thanks ASD Dad, I will give that a try.  I still may want to completely disable this "nanny"!

Edited December 6, 2016 by laharview

[ASD Dad]

When you press it an icon will light up on your dash with little squiggly lines.  It is also covered in the owners manual.  It is pouring rain here today so I may try it later on and see just how much wheel spin it lets you have!  The two times I got stuck in wet clay with the old Firestones I know I turned it off then but I honestly cant remember if it just let me keep spinning away.  I think it did...  

[andy_george]

Mine seems to allow wheel spin with the traction control off. I'm not sure, like you said, if it's truly unlimited wheel spin though. And usually when I'm spinning it's because the ground is white and Dad's showing his girls what a donut feels like.... So the stability control kicks in and shuts down all the fun.

 

I miss the old days, and I'm only 35:(. It's no wonder most people can't drive these days :(

Edited December 6, 2016 by andy_george

[ASD Dad]

Donuts in our big vans could be fun and scary with it being so large!  I love all the tech in new cars and really do like my NV quite a bit.  Some of the items are just getting overboard.  What I miss is being able to easily work on new cars.  I could swap out the entire suspension on a VW GTi in under an hour.  Cam swap?  No problem.  Injectors, timing, any of that stuff was easy.  You could work on half of my old cars with just a 10mm socket!  My old Jeep Cherokee winter beater was the same way.  Had a bad injector and it was a quick fix after a run to Autozone.  

 

My old neighbor had a Z/28 Camaro.  Not the newest body style but right before they switched.  He wanted to install new brakes on it himself so I volunteered to help.  Well the install was no problem, had it done in about an hour or so for the fronts.  The problem was when it came time to bleed the brakes so we could put in fresh fluid.  We couldnt bleed them manually!  You had to hook up a Chevy Dealer only computer (Tech 1) to the ABS system to get it to cycle correctly.  Without that it wouldnt work.  You could bleed the brakes but it would feel mushy afterwards.  He had to take it to the dealer just to bleed the fluid out!  

[andy_george]

Insane. I had never heard of the fluid flush issue..... What's next?! I was planning to flush the fluid on the NV this winter, hopefully that's possible!

 

Just like you say, what used to be the easiest, most common job for the backyard mechanic is now nearly impossible. We bought a cheap tire changer and balancer about 10 years ago. We'd change tires for our family, friends, neighbors, etc. It made for good times! But now with the tires getting more and more low-profile, stiff sidewalks, and tire pressure sensors, when anyone asks we just say take it to a shop. Nothing ruins a nice guy-session with a few cold beers like cussing out a stubborn sidewall and seeing an $80 sensor hit the floor!

[rolliew]

I turn mine off on occasion when I think it will be a nuisance, A couple years ago I turned around in some wet grass with the wifes RWD lexus, with VSC off the car would not move, turned on the VSC and the car drove right out, slowly but was like dry pavement.