Guest searchforsites Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 On our way back from France last weekend I noticed a problem with our cruise control. Normally I just stick it at 58/60 and it's fine, however this time at every moderate incline the cruise control would cut out without me touching any pedals. Any ideas? We were quite well loaded (wine run :) ) but no more than usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 When you say 'cut out', does it slow down (below threshold) and then cut out, or does it drop straight out of cruise control and not attempt to keep up to speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest searchforsites Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 It just cuts out, you can hear/ feel the engine start to rev a bit and then it cuts out. The engine doesn't seem to loose power as if press the accelerator the speed can be maintained manually Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 That sounds more like a fault with the cruise control, if it was due to insufficient power to get your weight up the climb it would gradually slow first as it attempts to apply more power to no effect, and then suddenly drop out. I would guess unless anyone else knows, Nick's probably best chance of giving an answer as to if there's a common fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Are we talking Fiat's own cruise control or a retro fitted unit? D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest searchforsites Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 It's the standard cruise control factory fitted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Mine does the same. I think it is normal though as it drops out when the speed drops to a point where it would not be able to accelerate given the load and the incline. It is too easy, when in cruise mode, to expect the vehicle to do all the work and I sometimes find that I have allowed the speed to drop on a long incline to below what the engine would be comfortable with. At that point the cruise just drops out which is a timely reminder to change down. I also have a Volvo automatic and I think the habit comes from driving that where of course the auto box does all the changing leaving the cruise engaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Hello, I think you guys are correct. There is not a known fault with the cruise control and I agree that it is most likely deciding that it is exerting too much load on the engine in that gear and subtly suggesting that manual intervention is required! It might be a pain in the behind but it's not an automatic gearbox and any vehicle that tells you off and warns of potential stress is a damned fine bit of engineering in my opinion. Nick PS. I am a bit surprised that the message 'insufficient engine rpm' does not flash up before or when it drops out of cruise though; It would do if it was going to stall and seems like a useful message under these circumstances too. Also you might be surprised to know that in the Auto vans they do not change up to 6th gear until they are doing over 50mph even on level ground. This would suggest that 6th gear with the cruise on would only really be appropriate over 50, and anything less than 55 or so might be considered less than optimum on an incline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest searchforsites Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Sounds as though its nothing too serious, but it just seems odd that it has never done this before on the same road, Birmingham to Dover M40, M25 M20 etc on all previous journeys Its normally get on the motorway, apply cruise control and at dover apply brake (not quite but you get the idea. 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Yes I think its because you were too overloaded with wine and the engine started labouring a bit so cruise switched off so you dont shag your engine. my tranny does it in fact every car I have had with cruise does it. So dont worry just dont by as much vino next time :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Ours too slips out of cruise at unexpected moments but as long as I'm not on the loo I can usually plant my right foot and recover momentum! Too much load on the engine - what a load of spheres - sorry Nick - but with all the combined experience most of us have I think we know when an engine is struggling for revs? Progress eh - twenty odd years of after market add on cruise control and never a problem - one factory fit cruise and irritations already! If this is clever engineering then, along with DPFs (which I don't have), EGRs, catalytic converters and all the other crap they keep inventing I'm glad I'm the age I am and don't have to endure too many more years of motoring engineering prowess! Having already ditched diesel engined cars for the better reliability and lower cost of petrol I'm now looking for a solar powered motorhome - how many panels can you get on a van roof!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest searchforsites Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 ips - 2012-11-28 3:52 PM Yes I think its because you were too overloaded with wine and the engine started labouring a bit so cruise switched off so you dont shag your engine. my tranny does it in fact every car I have had with cruise does it. So dont worry just dont by as much vino next time :-D It did it though on the way down as well when I had emptied the van of all the summer nonsense. (3 bikes, bike trailer, chairs tables bbq etc) But that was offset slightly by two additional adults Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Ours only disengages going down a steep hill when gravity makes it want to exceed the speed set on the cruise control. I noticed it first travelling down the A30 into Cornwall. CC was set at about 55 mph. On a downhill section speed went up to about 60 and at the bottom I realised I had to press the button to re-engage. Got used to it now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 graham - 2012-11-28 7:23 PM Ours only disengages going down a steep hill when gravity makes it want to exceed the speed set on the cruise control. I noticed it first travelling down the A30 into Cornwall. CC was set at about 55 mph. On a downhill section speed went up to about 60 and at the bottom I realised I had to press the button to re-engage. Got used to it now. I regularly drive that stretch of road and the van can get up to quite high speeds if allowed too, but I don't ever remember it dropping out on overspeed, mind you I tend to start hitting the brakes when the sat nav turns red, seen to many speed cameras along there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Ours has yet to drop out on over speed either - in fact it does what it should and acts as an engine brake, but to be fair given the weight and inertia not much of a brake it must be said, but every little helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirage Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I think you will find most cruise controls have a differential limit between the speed that is set and the actual speed, once that differential is exceeded the cruise control drops out, this applies equally to going uphill and downhill. I used to find my own PVC X250 usually maintained the speed going uphill and did`nt drop out whereas going downhill dropping out was more frequent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Certainly the retro fit cc systems I fit do drop out if the actual speed exceeds or is less than the set speed by a factor of approx 15%. I don't know if the Fiat system does but I would expect it to do similar. And for Tracker, sadly the fact that some people have been driving for x tens of years does not necessarily make them a good driver. As an example I sold my last motorhome to an old shool aquaintance who has actually been driving longer than me, within a week of ownership the clutch was wrecked and it had showed no signs of diminishing performance before hand. He brought it back to have a couple of minor niggles dealt with and never mentioned the clutch, when I fetched it into the workshop from the car park the clutch was so bad that it could hardly make it up the very slight incline. When I said to him "What have you done to this van, the clutch is totally b0110x3d" he said "is it? it seemed ok on the way to your place!" Trouble is you see many people think that forty years of driving makes them a good driver and it doesn't very often, what it makes them is an average driver (if we're all lucky) with many years of experience. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Oi Dave - After 48 years of road experience driving everything from a moped to an HGV I would have you know I have a wealth of experience and one day hope to achieve average. 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs T Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 We quite agree with Dave N, Mr T has been behind wheel, handlebar and bicycle bell for 72 years and he never assumes he is good, just careful in trying to avoid making mistakes, and watching when others do the same. MrsT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I prefer to think of it this way. A driver has a lot in common with a doctor. We both keep practicing our art and we both bury our mistakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Tracker - 2012-11-28 5:04 PM Ours too slips out of cruise at unexpected moments but as long as I'm not on the loo I can usually plant my right foot and recover momentum! Too much load on the engine - what a load of spheres - sorry Nick - but with all the combined experience most of us have I think we know when an engine is struggling for revs? Progress eh - twenty odd years of after market add on cruise control and never a problem - one factory fit cruise and irritations already! If this is clever engineering then, along with DPFs (which I don't have), EGRs, catalytic converters and all the other crap they keep inventing I'm glad I'm the age I am and don't have to endure too many more years of motoring engineering prowess! Having already ditched diesel engined cars for the better reliability and lower cost of petrol I'm now looking for a solar powered motorhome - how many panels can you get on a van roof!! Rich, I don't know what you mean by 'a load of spheres', or therefore why you apologised to me for it because I did not design this equipment; I am merely elaborating on how it works. The people that design the ECU that controls almost everything have provided a lot of systems and sensors for gathering information and a lot of optional responses for dealing with the data that is collected. There will be a method of detecting that there is a particular load on the engine that could be improved by a gear change and if such a change is required and because the gearbox is not automated it has to make you do it, and do so long before there could be a detrimental effect on the vehicle. It might be set a little too sensitively for some peoples liking but it has to be calibrated to something, and a decision has been made. Not, I hasten to add, by me. I too have a great deal of driving experience in a hugely diverse array of vehicles but I still have something new to learn from time to time. You may recall that the first 16 valve cars required a lot of revs to get any real momentum and that diesels have progressed from slow, laborious machines to sprightly ones over the decades and will now rev freely whereas the early ones would not. In an ideal world torque curves should be as flat as possible over a wide rev range but this does not sit well will emissions or economy so the smaller engines that are being used now are very 'peaky' again and require much changing of gears. You get the picture? In any case, I share your opinion about potentially and actually useless technology (like dual mass flywheels !) and would ask that you direct your complaints to the manufacturer, whom I do not represent. If you need to know how and why something works or does not work, and how to fix it; I will try to help. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Sorry Nick - badly worded by me - I have very great respect for your knowledge and expertise and I don't blame you just because the engine load sensitive gizmo is perhaps overly sensitive. It sometimes takes so little load and sometimes even the smallest of speed drops often when the engine is right in the middle of it's peak torque band and not in the least struggling. One soon learns to adapt to design 'characteristics' however and now when pulling up a gradient I keep one of my feet lightly on the throttle ready for it to go - well it helps to stay awake on long hauls I guess!! Personally I found the speed sensitive after market cruise control more effective at cutting out when the engine starts to struggle and often I would change down long before that moment to maintain momentum, as no doubt do many of us? Progress eh - dontcha just love it! Once again my apologies and my appreciation for the polite response to what could have been taken by you as an insult - which it was never meant to be. Thanks. PS - On the plus side it does maintain the set speed very well and certainly better than most after fit units most of the time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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