Electronic bypass for "throttle by wire" system???
08-12-2011, 01:02 PM
#1
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Electronic bypass for "throttle by wire" system???
Disclaimer: There is a fine line between genius and stupidity... and I'm not sure which side of the line this topic is on. 
I keep mulling over ideas to defeat the electronic "nanny" that overrides the gas pedal and shuts the throttle body down after 3 seconds during burnouts on the E55.... and possibly during other "dynamic" situations (too much wheelspin differential, vehicle yaw rate, whatever)
ESP OFF: We all know that the computers are still WAY too involved even with this button turned off...
DYNO MODE: This disables the throttle "nanny" but gets rid of some other pretty important stuff at the same time (ABS and the Airbag system for starters)... I wouldn't feel comfortable daily-driving my car in DYNO mode, and I'm sure if I was in an accident my insurance company would go berserk if they ever found out.
TCU SWAP: My Search-Fu seems to show that "something" changed either in the 2005 or 2006 model years with the TCU. (I haven't been able to find part numbers to prove this yet). Apparently some recall work also involved swapping the later model TCUs into the 2003-2004 cars which might explain why it's hard to definitively nail down the change to a specific build date. I'm not sure how interrelated the TCU is to the ECU and the rest of the programming on the car....so putting an "old" 2003-2004 TCU into a newer car may not be plug-and-play. The TCU theory may also be a "red herring"....and the ECU may be actually be the one interfering with the throttle position and not the TCU.
My idea was to talk to a shop like Mid-City Engineering to see if it would be possible to wire up a relay to the ESP button so that when ESP was turned off... there would be a direct-wired link between the throttle pedal and the servo(?) that actuates the throttlebody..... The effect would be that the throttle acts as if it were 100% mechanically connected to the throttlebody, and even though the ECU/TCU might be calling for the TB to close down, those signals would never go anywhere.
I might be completely oversimplifying the implementation, but this type of behavior sounds (to me at least) like how ESP OFF should really function anyway... I still have ABS and the safety of my airbags....but control of the throttle pedal belongs 100% to the driver, not the car.
Does anyone think this is even possible? Could a qualified shop possibly reprogram the ECU or TCU to behave this way.....?
-G
I keep mulling over ideas to defeat the electronic "nanny" that overrides the gas pedal and shuts the throttle body down after 3 seconds during burnouts on the E55.... and possibly during other "dynamic" situations (too much wheelspin differential, vehicle yaw rate, whatever)
ESP OFF: We all know that the computers are still WAY too involved even with this button turned off...
DYNO MODE: This disables the throttle "nanny" but gets rid of some other pretty important stuff at the same time (ABS and the Airbag system for starters)... I wouldn't feel comfortable daily-driving my car in DYNO mode, and I'm sure if I was in an accident my insurance company would go berserk if they ever found out.
TCU SWAP: My Search-Fu seems to show that "something" changed either in the 2005 or 2006 model years with the TCU. (I haven't been able to find part numbers to prove this yet). Apparently some recall work also involved swapping the later model TCUs into the 2003-2004 cars which might explain why it's hard to definitively nail down the change to a specific build date. I'm not sure how interrelated the TCU is to the ECU and the rest of the programming on the car....so putting an "old" 2003-2004 TCU into a newer car may not be plug-and-play. The TCU theory may also be a "red herring"....and the ECU may be actually be the one interfering with the throttle position and not the TCU.
My idea was to talk to a shop like Mid-City Engineering to see if it would be possible to wire up a relay to the ESP button so that when ESP was turned off... there would be a direct-wired link between the throttle pedal and the servo(?) that actuates the throttlebody..... The effect would be that the throttle acts as if it were 100% mechanically connected to the throttlebody, and even though the ECU/TCU might be calling for the TB to close down, those signals would never go anywhere.
I might be completely oversimplifying the implementation, but this type of behavior sounds (to me at least) like how ESP OFF should really function anyway... I still have ABS and the safety of my airbags....but control of the throttle pedal belongs 100% to the driver, not the car.
Does anyone think this is even possible? Could a qualified shop possibly reprogram the ECU or TCU to behave this way.....?
-G
08-12-2011, 01:30 PM
#3
Former Vendor of MBWorld
Disclaimer: There is a fine line between genius and stupidity... and I'm not sure which side of the line this topic is on.
I keep mulling over ideas to defeat the electronic "nanny" that overrides the gas pedal and shuts the throttle body down after 3 seconds during burnouts on the E55.... and possibly during other "dynamic" situations (too much wheelspin differential, vehicle yaw rate, whatever)
ESP OFF: We all know that the computers are still WAY too involved even with this button turned off...
DYNO MODE: This disables the throttle "nanny" but gets rid of some other pretty important stuff at the same time (ABS and the Airbag system for starters)... I wouldn't feel comfortable daily-driving my car in DYNO mode, and I'm sure if I was in an accident my insurance company would go berserk if they ever found out.
TCU SWAP: My Search-Fu seems to show that "something" changed either in the 2005 or 2006 model years with the TCU. (I haven't been able to find part numbers to prove this yet). Apparently some recall work also involved swapping the later model TCUs into the 2003-2004 cars which might explain why it's hard to definitively nail down the change to a specific build date. I'm not sure how interrelated the TCU is to the ECU and the rest of the programming on the car....so putting an "old" 2003-2004 TCU into a newer car may not be plug-and-play. The TCU theory may also be a "red herring"....and the ECU may be actually be the one interfering with the throttle position and not the TCU.
My idea was to talk to a shop like Mid-City Engineering to see if it would be possible to wire up a relay to the ESP button so that when ESP was turned off... there would be a direct-wired link between the throttle pedal and the servo(?) that actuates the throttlebody..... The effect would be that the throttle acts as if it were 100% mechanically connected to the throttlebody, and even though the ECU/TCU might be calling for the TB to close down, those signals would never go anywhere.
I might be completely oversimplifying the implementation, but this type of behavior sounds (to me at least) like how ESP OFF should really function anyway... I still have ABS and the safety of my airbags....but control of the throttle pedal belongs 100% to the driver, not the car.
Does anyone think this is even possible? Could a qualified shop possibly reprogram the ECU or TCU to behave this way.....?
-G
I keep mulling over ideas to defeat the electronic "nanny" that overrides the gas pedal and shuts the throttle body down after 3 seconds during burnouts on the E55.... and possibly during other "dynamic" situations (too much wheelspin differential, vehicle yaw rate, whatever)
ESP OFF: We all know that the computers are still WAY too involved even with this button turned off...
DYNO MODE: This disables the throttle "nanny" but gets rid of some other pretty important stuff at the same time (ABS and the Airbag system for starters)... I wouldn't feel comfortable daily-driving my car in DYNO mode, and I'm sure if I was in an accident my insurance company would go berserk if they ever found out.
TCU SWAP: My Search-Fu seems to show that "something" changed either in the 2005 or 2006 model years with the TCU. (I haven't been able to find part numbers to prove this yet). Apparently some recall work also involved swapping the later model TCUs into the 2003-2004 cars which might explain why it's hard to definitively nail down the change to a specific build date. I'm not sure how interrelated the TCU is to the ECU and the rest of the programming on the car....so putting an "old" 2003-2004 TCU into a newer car may not be plug-and-play. The TCU theory may also be a "red herring"....and the ECU may be actually be the one interfering with the throttle position and not the TCU.
My idea was to talk to a shop like Mid-City Engineering to see if it would be possible to wire up a relay to the ESP button so that when ESP was turned off... there would be a direct-wired link between the throttle pedal and the servo(?) that actuates the throttlebody..... The effect would be that the throttle acts as if it were 100% mechanically connected to the throttlebody, and even though the ECU/TCU might be calling for the TB to close down, those signals would never go anywhere.
I might be completely oversimplifying the implementation, but this type of behavior sounds (to me at least) like how ESP OFF should really function anyway... I still have ABS and the safety of my airbags....but control of the throttle pedal belongs 100% to the driver, not the car.
Does anyone think this is even possible? Could a qualified shop possibly reprogram the ECU or TCU to behave this way.....?
-G
