I have a late model Holden Cruze. In cruise control it wont hold its speed down hill. It simply disengages cruise control on the steeper slopes and feels like its then free wheeling, picking up speed.
I have discussed this with the dealer who tells me it "normal" but its not been my experience with other automatics. I think they are taking advantage of my good nature.
Anyone with any experience of the same?
yogibearz,
Jun 4, 2:51pm
Ring another dealer and speak to the service manager / foreman ?
hi-ling,
Jun 4, 2:54pm
Umm . so what you want it to do, put the brakes on for you? The dealers right, its normal. Your Cruz obviously has little engine braking, so yeah it will pickup speed going down a steep hill.
pandai,
Jun 4, 2:54pm
Most cruise control systems won't engage brakes for you, our Hondas certainly don't.
I was test driving the latest model Subaru Outback, that one did brake for me, but I think that is because it also had eyesight adaptive cruise control.
The best you get from a lot of cars is a gearbox downshift, but if the hill is steep enough, you have to brake yourself.
ridiculousness,
Jun 4, 2:55pm
if you are free wheeling (in gear coasting) down a hill and the car picks up enough speed I can see how it would disengage because it is now traveling faster than your cruise control setting. Theoretically the car would need to change down gears purposefully to try and maintain the cruise control setting and I don't think they behave like that. Brakes are no good because the CC disengages as soon as the brake pedal is touched.
intrade,
Jun 4, 3:00pm
a 2010 audi a4 will slow down and apply the brakes to keep it within 2kph of the milage the cruise controll is programmed to do , but yea most other cars will start to pick up speed gradually . Now you talk like it is going in to neutral ? that would not be normall if it disengaging a gear. Try the gearbox other mode ? like on older GM you have a S button for example.
tweake,
Jun 4, 3:15pm
newer cars do come with a feature (i forget the name of it) that drops the gearbox down a gear to provide more engine braking while going down hill.
then theres decent control which will put brakes on to keep it at target speed.
pestri,
Jun 4, 4:25pm
Previous Maxima braked, friends Honda held its own down Bombays, which is where I first noticed the issue.
The cruise control actually turns itself off.
brapbrap8,
Jun 4, 5:04pm
A good automatic will change down gears to engine brake more, my Mitsi Lancer does. A Cruze is not a very high tech car though, so I wouldn't be surprised if downhills confuse it.
youngones2,
Jun 4, 6:13pm
my 06 territory changed down on hills, my 2011 mondeo does not. go figure?
xs1100,
Jun 4, 6:34pm
my rangers does that on hills and told that yes is normal and you should apply brakes to slow it down. ps as a side note remember donot use cruise control on wet roads
edangus,
Jun 4, 7:05pm
Chrysler 300c - Same prob.
saxman99,
Jun 4, 8:02pm
Drove a new Mazda 3 the other day that did the same thing. Hopeless.
gpg58,
Jun 4, 9:30pm
Worst auto downhill for me is my current 2013 navara, on brakes continuously for anything steep, downshifting manually just means more revs, absolutely no engine braking at all, "compared" to any else i have had, and on cruise control it is very easy to be 6+k's over setting on any long moderate slope. My vz holden was much better, but as its descent control only operated at speeds below 40 ish, it was useless really(unless towing).
tamarillo,
Jun 5, 5:48am
As others say, it's normal on a normal economy car with old fashioned auto. Newer wizzier ones can do more to engine brake etc but the Cruze design is an old one. I don't think it is actually freewheeling, rather it stay in high gear so there no engine braking worth its weight.
pestri,
Jun 5, 6:38am
My cruise control actually disengages completely.
daryl14,
Jun 5, 8:08am
My 06 passat will go into freewheel on the downhill but the cruise control resumes at the bottom, providing I haven't braked.
kazbanz,
Jun 5, 9:38am
pestri- you are gonna think this a stupid question but are you using brakes to slow down on the hill? Forgive if I state the odvious but that will "always" disconnect the cruise control. Rephrase that-in my experience it always has.
pnp,
Jun 5, 9:50am
Drove a rental Mitsi triton ute back from Wellington last week. C/C worked coming down the Mangawekas etc keeping me to 100k's. Was manual too so no downshifting - I presumed it just applied braking when req'd
brapbrap8,
Jun 5, 10:34am
They don't apply brakes, but they use a variable geometry turbo that effectively acts as an exhaust brake to help give better engine braking.
pestri,
Jun 5, 11:00am
Not using brakes until I realise that CC has disengaged and vehicle is running away. Down Sth side of Bombay hill for instance. 8 or 9 % gradient. at top was doing 90kmh, car held this for a time then picked up speed until we were doing over 120kmh. with CC disengaged, and getting faster. sure as hell braked then!
skin1235,
Jun 5, 11:11am
some cannot read at all
3 times you've said it
the cruise control turns itself off cruise control disengages
etc
its not supposed to do that
back to dealer, either the ecu is not reading the brake circuit properly or has confused where its sending the signal
or someone has changed the original wiring somewhere and the CC is now picking up a wrong sig it interprets as brake applied so disengages
skin1235,
Jun 5, 11:16am
it most definitely is NOT normal the CC is not supposed to disengage itself for no reason
but a Q to the OP
what pressure required to move the brake pedal to 'take up the slack' = usually the first 25mm of pedal movement could be as simple as insufficient pedal retention ( broken return spring on the pedal) allowing it to trigger the brake light system - which is the sig to disengage the CC, perhaps the brakelight switch is set with too little movement before activation
skin1235,
Jun 5, 11:21am
thinking now, thats a likely scenario the little micro switch activated by pedal movement is switching too soon - you are not aware of any movement and the brakes have definitely not been applied
back up against a shed or wall, observe at what pedal position the rear lights illuminate ( CC disengages ) and how much further it needs to be pushed before braking is actually considered to be applied ( also how far did the pedal move before the lights came on , if it is fairly instantaneous, ie just feather the pedal and they light up), that would be the issue
pandai,
Jun 5, 11:28am
Is the cruise control 'set' lamp in the dash actually turning off?
This is otherwise normal behaviour for most cars.
You would probably find that when the road flattens out, the car returns to the previously set speed.
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