Abs on/off switch via fuse

kidaho · Nov 13, 2017

Hello,
This is my first post. I really enjoy reading this Forum. I have a 17 wolfsburg tsi 5 speed. I would like to disable all the traction control as i live in the snow 5 months out of the year. My thought was to run a fused wire to the fuse box with an inline fuse with an on/off switch so it could easily be turned on and off.
Driving with the nannies in the snow and ice is no fun. thanks

The Fed · Nov 13, 2017

You can code the TC button to disable the ESC. I don't know if it also disables the ABS. Completely cutting power to the ABS circuit might also affect other modules but someone else will need to comment.

Frank416821 · Nov 13, 2017

Hi there, I would do a little more research about these cars before adding anything to the fuse box or wiring a toggle switch to any of the cars switches. Everything on the car is basically controlled by the body control module and not through the actual switches. for the most part the switches are just on/off signals for the computer and don't actual control and power to the car's systems. You can make changes through the computers coding. There is a ton of information on coding off the traction control.

I have to be honest thu, I'm not sure why you would want to completely cut it off for winter driving. People usually want to cut it off for tract activity. I live in New England and we get our share of snow. The traction control is very helpful on the highway but I will admit it is annoying when trying to floor it up the hill on the dirt road I live on.

Hopefully you get the info you are looking for. Welcome to the forum!

golfdave · Nov 13, 2017

DON'T....!!!

Basically the ABS unit also does the ESC & XDS...& talks to various other BCMs...
Get obd11 or VCDS & code the nanny down to an acceptable level...

various settings like "starting vibration reductions"..& ESC to sport plenty of info on web about this..

bdelaney4000 · Nov 13, 2017

Agreed... def would advise against pulling the fuse, it's easy enough to do a bit of coding to disable traction control. For instance you really only need to disable staring vibration reduction and recode the the TC button to be (ESC on/ESC Sport/ESC Off).

DV52 · Nov 13, 2017

MOST DEFINITELY - UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES - DON'T DO IT!!

If you can get access to a dianostic device like VCDS/OBD11, you can disable the facility using the switch

ESP -Deactivate completely
Coding only works with 30-byte control devices:
STG 03> Encoding> Byte 29> Customize value corresponding to a hexadecimal number
05 - the button options are ESC ON/ASR Off/ESC OFF
06 - Button options: ESC ON/ESC SPORT / ESC OFF
09 - Stock

Don

GTI Jake · Nov 14, 2017

Yeah don't pull the ABS fuse unless it's just at the drag strip...it'll also deactivate Air bags, abs, TPMS, and a few others lol bad idea for winter driving

SRGTD · Nov 14, 2017

Gti jake said:
Yeah don't pull the ABS fuse unless it's just at the drag strip...it'll also deactivate Air bags, abs, TPMS, and a few others lol bad idea for winter driving

Don’t know what the position is in the US but in the UK, it’d also be likely to have legal and insurance implications. Cars have to pass an annual roadworthiness (MOT) test. If a car is fitted with ABS, it must be fully operational to be fully operational in order for it to pass the MOT. And based on those grounds it would be considered un-roadworthy and therefore illegal to use on the public roads if the ABS had been disabled. Insurance would also be voided as there’ll be a condition in the insurance policy that the vehicle must be maintained in a roadworthy condition for the policy to operate.

TheWombat · Nov 14, 2017

When I saw this, I first thought, "man, if I could get a six-pack and make my abs look like an MMA fighter's, just by pulling a fuse, I'd do it!"

Then I realized it was the _car's_ ABS we're talking about. Dang.

LostDutchman · Nov 14, 2017

I lived in Alaska for 27 years, with ice/snow on the ground for 14. After struggling for many years, the arrival of “nanny’s” was a godsend for safe passage on public roads. Sure I got real good at driving on slippery surfaces with primative FWD and RWD vehicles, but the nanny’s made it a lot easier. I would never disable them if I cared about my safety and the safety of others.

.

MeltedSolid · Nov 14, 2017

SRGTD said:
Don’t know what the position is in the US but in the UK, it’d also be likely to have legal and insurance implications. Cars have to pass an annual roadworthiness (MOT) test. If a car is fitted with ABS, it must be fully operational to be fully operational in order for it to pass the MOT. And based on those grounds it would be considered un-roadworthy and therefore illegal to use on the public roads if the ABS had been disabled. Insurance would also be voided as there’ll be a condition in the insurance policy that the vehicle must be maintained in a roadworthy condition for the policy to operate.

As if! Does it have 4 wheels and move? And if in California have a factory catalytic converter? Then you're good.

Anyways, yea, OP our cars are far more advanced than you're making them out to be. We don't need something as rudimentary and Jerry rigged as what you described to get any affect you want. I think it's even possible to disable ABS via the computer, but from my experience driving in the snow that is a terrible idea. Much worse than disabling it on dry pavement and even that is a bad idea. On top of that, I wouldn't disable anything else in the snow except in very specialty situations such as if I got high centered (or in a super controlled environment such as an open and empty parking lot), and even then the computer is pretty smart. You're going to want to get a VAGCOM or OBDeleven to do these changes, they can also do a ton of other things so they are a very worthwhile investment. Don't get the carista dongle thing, it has terrible and useless error codes when doing diagnostics.

TheWombat · Nov 14, 2017

I live in the snow belt too, northern Vermont. ABS is good in snow, really good. The rest of the traction control stuff is fine with a manual tranny as well. I've never, ever turned any of it off in years of living up here with front or AWD cars. Just don't bother.

Obsrvr · Nov 14, 2017

OBD11 worked for me. Selected ASR OFF/ESC OFF V2
Now I can turn it off completely and back on via the hard button. Also, it still defaults back to On when the car is turned off and restarted, which is good.

The Fed · Nov 14, 2017

TheWombat said:
I live in the snow belt too, northern Vermont. ABS is good in snow, really good. The rest of the traction control stuff is fine with a manual tranny as well. I've never, ever turned any of it off in years of living up here with front or AWD cars. Just don't bother.

I had to shut off the traction control in the snow when I lived in the northeast. It would drop the RPM down to idle when I had low traction going up a steep hill. .

slipperywhenwet · Nov 14, 2017

kidaho said:
Hello,
This is my first post. I really enjoy reading this Forum. I have a 17 wolfsburg tsi 5 speed. I would like to disable all the traction control as i live in the snow 5 months out of the year. My thought was to run a fused wire to the fuse box with an inline fuse with an on/off switch so it could easily be turned on and off.
Driving with the nannies in the snow and ice is no fun. thanks

Living even further north of you, I also spend half of the year in the snow. My recommendation would be to use a VAG-COM tool to code your traction control button to fully disable the ESC/ASR when you give it a long press. That way, you have no nannies impacting your ability to spin tires and slide the car, but, still have ABS to make rapid slow downs easier.

Abs on/off switch via fuse

kidaho

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