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Hi I have read many posts on city data saying not to buy a car with the electronic throttle control, and with all the incidents of unintended acceleration that have not been properly explained I agree, but so many cars have it now . I have been trying to research which cars have etc and which do not, and have read that some people are attempting to replace their drive by wire systems with the more old fashioned throttle cable design. Especially on cars from around 2003 or so with older drive by wire systems.
First question do some of the drive by wire set ups contain more electronics than others? Like the older ones that first came out vs the newer ones ?
How do you find out if there is an electronic throttle control or a cable throttle on a car?
Is it possible to completely replace an electronic throttle control system with a cable throttle control in all cars or just the older ones?
How do you find out if there is an electronic throttle control or a cable throttle on a car?
Look at the accelerator pedal, there will either be a cable attached or wires going to a sensor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vanguardisle
Is it possible to completely replace an electronic throttle control system with a cable throttle control in all cars or just the older ones?
No. You would need someone well versed in the vehicles control systems to reprogram it so it doesn't get confused when it can't find the throttle related sensors that it expects to be there. And I imagine there would be more issues, as the traction control systems are also tied to this system, they are what allow it to reduce wheel spin even if you have the pedal buried by lowering the throttle input, overriding your input.
Just don't buy a Toyota and be done with it. This UA scare you've worked yourself up about is like saying you don't want an airbag because some of them somewhere sometimes have caused problems, rather than the millions they've saved.
Hi I have read many posts on city data saying not to buy a car with the electronic throttle control, and with all the incidents of unintended acceleration that have not been properly explained I agree, but so many cars have it now . I have been trying to research which cars have etc and which do not, and have read that some people are attempting to replace their drive by wire systems with the more old fashioned throttle cable design. Especially on cars from around 2003 or so with older drive by wire systems.
First question do some of the drive by wire set ups contain more electronics than others? Like the older ones that first came out vs the newer ones ?
How do you find out if there is an electronic throttle control or a cable throttle on a car?
Is it possible to completely replace an electronic throttle control system with a cable throttle control in all cars or just the older ones?
This would be HUGE project and the car would never be emissions legal afterwards -- and unlikely to run right either! "Incidents of unintended acceleration" have been blown way out of proportion and mostly found to be bogus. Sophisticated electronics are inherent to drive by wire systems.
I've had a drive-by-wire car for quite some time now. Almost 200K+ behind the wheel of a few. Never had a single incident related to the throttle.
I do still have a car with a throttle cable. I have had the cable seize before, at WOT. Fortunately it was a stick car, so I just pushed in the clutch. Had to replace the cable, due to rust causing it to bind.
It's possible but like others have said it's open heart surgery. Most cars since 2003+ have moved to drive by wire. I think it's good overall for the safety of normal people. Break and gas pedal presses also recorded.
Just get an older car that has a manual throttle (either linkage or cable), and rebuild it.
There is a chance that the rebuild will be cheaper than a new vehicle, and you could wind up with a vehicle that has no computer in it!
As for retrofitting a new vehicle for manual throttle control, it can probable be done. All it takes is time and money.
This would be HUGE project and the car would never be emissions legal afterwards -- and unlikely to run right either! "Incidents of unintended acceleration" have been blown way out of proportion and mostly found to be bogus. Sophisticated electronics are inherent to drive by wire systems.
Don in Austin
don is right. i have a drive by wire car, an 05 grand marquis, and i have had issues with so called unintended acceleration. however it wasnt the cars fault, but rather mine. the pedals on my fairmont were fairly wide apart, and as such i got used to being able to hold the brake pedal down by pressing on the very edge of the pedal. with my merc however, the pedals are closer together, and when i hold the brake pedal at the edge, i also tend to press on the accelerator pedal as well, and that is what causes the issue.
the vast majority of UA cases are what the nhtsa calls "pedal misapplication", or stomping on the throttle instead of the brake.
Basically any car made in the last 10 years is drive by wire. There's very few cases of "unintended acceleration", certainly far fewer than there were with mechanical linkages that could and did get stuck or break, sometimes at full throttle.
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