What is an electronic limited slip differential temporarily disabled?

Volvo XC Forums > The Vehicles > 2001-2007 XC70 (V70XC) > 01 XC70. What is the consequence of disabling Traction and Slide Controll?

11-24-2013, 11:19 PM

I figure I can disable these temporarily via a system of Switches and relays. In theory to give better performance off-road and when drifting in the snow. But I don’t fully understand the Volvo AWD system so I’m not sure what would happen if I disabled these systems. Would the rear axle just not spin? Or would it act more similarly to a positive traction system?

11-25-2013, 03:00 AM
Same answer, you have neither
11-25-2013, 10:48 AM

Lol ok. I just put this on both forums to maximize views. Could you clarify please? There is definitely something intervening with slides, as my XC will not whip out(snow and dirt) and the orange(traction?) light will come on. Also when off-roading in low traction situations it seams like the rev limiter and the brakes were intervening with the amount of power I could put down. in fact it wouldn’t go backwards up a hill one time and seemed to hover at 2500rpms.

11-25-2013, 10:55 AM

I figure I can disable these temporarily via a system of Switches and relays.
Traction and Stability Control is built into the brake control module in the factory, there is no add-on system to disable.

I don’t fully understand the Volvo AWD system
Really there’s not that much to understand, it’s a clutch-controlled, on-demand AWD system that engages the rear axle in response to front wheel slip.

would it act more similarly to a positive traction system?
Well no, the diff in the rear end of the Volvo is an open differential so will never work like a PosiTrac. The point of the STC is to use the ABS system to compensate for the lack of torque distribution by the differential(s).

11-25-2013, 11:46 AM

Thanks, that does clarify things a bit=) The only reason i figured disabling it to be possible was this (((STC/DSTC-related messages in the text window

«TRACTION CONTROL TEMPORARILY OFF» — The system has been temporarily switched off due to high brake temperature and will automatically switch on again when the brakes have cooled.
«ANTI SKID SERVICE REQUIRED» — the system has been automatically disengaged due to a fault. An authorized Volvo retailer should check the system.)))

So I figured i could trick it in to thinking the brakes were hot as well as a part to be broken on the anti skid system.
Are there any models that came with a PosiTrac system?

11-25-2013, 02:28 PM

Thanks, that does clarify things a bit=) The only reason i figured disabling it to be possible was this (((STC/DSTC-related messages in the text window

So I figured i could trick it in to thinking the brakes were hot as well as a part to be broken on the anti skid system.
Are there any models that came with a PosiTrac system?

I guess you could find somebody with a broken ABS controller and offer to swap yours with theirs. Not sure if you can have broken STC without the ABS also malfunctioning. There is no limited slip / locking front or rear differential available on any Volvo model, left / right torque distribution is modified entirely through the STC / TRACS system.

11-25-2013, 08:51 PM

I’d be skeptical of going as far as to swapping the controller lol. Especially if it were to mess with the ABS. Guess the TRACS also eliminates the possibility of welding up the dif as well. Sigh, guess the XC’s are pretty mod proof.

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Does make me wonder, how does the R’s TRACS differ? You see them spinning all 4 under certain conditions.

Volvoholic
11-26-2013, 01:43 AM

You have to think about the reason behind the vehicle. The R models are meant for performance driving whereas the XC’s are soft-roaders. The XC’s are a «traction in every situation» type of vehicle. In the R’s, there might be a way to fully disable the DSTC but idk since I don’t and never have owned one. I want to someday but that day is quite far away.

Please be aware that if you modify the differentials in any way you will absolutely ruin them. Both. The Haldex-4 system is bulletproof in its own right. If you mod it, it will die. Then you’ll be out of a car because nobody is going to sink that kind of money into a 2001 model.

Also, be aware that the warning lights are for a malfunctioning system or ones under extreme use. If you want to try and overheat your brakes to the point that the system stops working or otherwise, be sure to take pictures and let us know how that works out for you.

The DSTC is always on. You can turn off the spin control portion (traction control) but it will still watch for wheelspin as that tells it when to activate the rear differential. I turn off spin control in the rain because I can moderate the throttle better than the car can. Stability control is more for keeping you on the road.

If you have a deathwish, break your ABS module. Again, if you live through the effects, take pictures and let us know how it went.

11-26-2013, 08:33 AM

Guess the TRACS also eliminates the possibility of welding up the dif as well. Sigh, guess the XC’s are pretty mod proof.
I guess you could weld it up. The main purpose of the TRACS system is to reduce differences in rotational velocity between right and left wheels, welding up the diff would eliminate that possibility and the TRACS would never engage. Of course you could never drive such a car on the road, at least, not for long.

Does make me wonder, how does the R’s TRACS differ? You see them spinning all 4 under certain conditions.
The car has no way to sense if all 4 wheels have lost traction. In addition, as has been mentioned, in models with the DSTC option you can deliberately turn that off, there was no option to turn off STC.

11-26-2013, 02:40 PM

By all means I greatly enjoy the safety and security of the traction features of Volvos. But from my standpoint I really enjoy a vehicle «YOU» drive and not the other way around. I just wasn’t aware of how restrictive the XC was when I purchased it. It just looked so much better than any Subaru I’d seen, and felt so much nicer too. Had I known at the time I would have purchased some kind of R instead. But now that I already have an XC I’m just hoping to liven my driving experience up a bit.

I get what the warning lights mean. But as someone that works with electronics all day I try to think outside of the box and figure out ways to I can deceive the controllers. Weather it be a manual swap or faking heated brakes. I’d guess it’s it’s a resistor that reaches a certain temperature, thus creating a measured amount of resistance that the computer recognizes and disables traction control and maybe ABS also (Which I definitely don’t want rest assured). But if I were to rig up a relay that could be actuated via a switch I would be able to divert the signal through a resistor that would create a False pretense that the brakes are overheating.

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I do suppose Volvo’s prb aren’t made to handle that kind of abuse;P Better keep AWD stock till I can save up enough to beef it up, or get an R haha.

11-26-2013, 02:52 PM

I guess you could weld it up. The main purpose of the TRACS system is to reduce differences in rotational velocity between right and left wheels, welding up the diff would eliminate that possibility and the TRACS would never engage. Of course you could never drive such a car on the road, at least, not for long.

The car has no way to sense if all 4 wheels have lost traction. In addition, as has been mentioned, in models with the DSTC option you can deliberately turn that off, there was no option to turn off STC.

Just so used to working on older US vehicles that were built around heavy duty, easily mod-able drive trains. Just hard to get out of that mindset lol. I’d probably be better off fabricating in a Corvette C3 LSD rear differential in the future

Interesting, wish my XC had the DTSC. Though they did have it as an option right?

11-26-2013, 03:58 PM

A lot of Volvos have a stc or a dstc defeat switch — My ex 01 v70 t5 did — S80’s, xc90’s s60’s — some /most/ have traction control defeat switches in the climate unit. You could source a switch and simply plug it in — I imagine it would not work without reprogramming the ccm or the bcm or both. The problem is you can’t download software that was not written for the specific car (say to try software that was for a 01 v70t5 that had a defeat switch) I believe the 01-02 v70xc did not have a defeat switch at least in the US.
5655

11-26-2013, 08:15 PM

I like this idea. The BCM and ECM are the same modules modules across the lines. Maybe I’ll give the dealership a call and see what their say is on this.

11-26-2013, 08:36 PM

All have STC (fairly useless) Some have defeat switches some don’t
XCs DO NOT have a defeat
DSTC cannot be added
I think you need to get this out of your brain or buy another vehicle

11-26-2013, 10:37 PM

All have STC (fairly useless) Some have defeat switches some don’t
XCs DO NOT have a defeat
DSTC cannot be added
I think you need to get this out of your brain or buy another vehicle

I’m sorry, I just don’t like being defeated by a silly Volvo;) There are few projects that are insurmountable, but looks like this one is going to be a dead end no mater what. Sometimes it’s just a bit hard to take «no» for an answer, so I’ve been trying everything I can to see if this could work, as trivial as it might sound lol.

Volvoholic
11-27-2013, 12:56 AM

I did some third party testing today and, on my vehicle, when I turn of spin control, I get no intervention from anything. The only thing that happens is my rear diff gets activated and my slip light flashes. I feel as though my vehicle is pretty «driven by me,» as you say.

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I’m not sure what you want this vehicle to do. Considering the fact that you work with electronics all day, your idea of what a car should do for what you see is probably more skewed than someone like me who designs vehicle components by day. When you work with electronics, you find ways to get around an undesired action (as I have done in my electrical engineering classes in college) but with a car, especially ones built with the complex computer systems of today, it is not that simple.

For example, if you trick the car into thinking the brakes are overheated to the point it feels it won’t be able to stop properly, it could go into limp mode. This is similar to electronics overheating and shutting down. Except that a vehicle, compared to simply restarting electronics, may need to be brought into the dealer as you could have caused other damage to other components. Mechanical or electrical. You dealer may need to clear codes or tell you what the CEL code you threw means.

Again, the Volvo you are driving is meant for soft-roading. Not tracking. Its sole purpose in life is to get you through anything a Swedish winter can throw at you. Or drive you to Lake Tahoe for skiing. It’s not great off road and it can take you through a mud puddle but don’t stop halfway through, trust me on that one. This is why I said that your view as to what you want a vehicle to do compared to its looks could be skewed. Don’t be wrong, if you buy an Outback, you’ll have the same problems but the Subaru will break sooner.

From what I am interpreting, you should have bought a V70R. Even so, there’s still no guarantee that that vehicle will perform as you see it should. I would not recommend beefing up the Haldex system on a V70R either.

11-27-2013, 08:43 AM

Oh you can defeat DSTC (V70R) and you WILL feel the difference
You may wind up in the weeds but that’s for another conversation. [sly]

What you need to do is sell yours and buy a 2007.
ALL 2007 Volvos have DSTC which can be defeated by a push of the button.[thumbup]

At least you would have a start in the right direction
You never said what you’re trying to achieve here. confused:

If you want a Volvo wagon, but one that will handle and can be made to drift a bit, fun to drive you need to buy a V70R

11-27-2013, 03:56 PM

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Jak ručně zvedáte automatické okno auta?

Sorry I should have clarified the driven by you part. I meant that the Haldex/ Tracs system likes to keep the vehicle in a straight line meaning you have less control of how you weave the car in and out of corners, and no ability to whip the car sideways in the snow when canyon carving( Just doesn’t happen). Where as an Audi per say, would respond with every flick of the steering wheel and push of the gas pedal with some kind of directional change instead of forcing you on a path of straightness. Which I guess states that I would prefer a v70R. I just wish I could have the ride height and drift ability in one. And though it’s become apparently unfeasible, positive traction. The motor I’m throwing in is very hot compared to my original and I was hoping to gain better traction, or less depending on the situation;)

It’s just snowy where I live most of the time so it’s fun to liven up my day with a little sideways action every once in a while.

What you just stated is what I meant by the title of this article. I didn’t want to damage anything turning TCS off. That’s what I had originally hoped to figure out.

11-27-2013, 04:10 PM

Oh you can defeat DSTC (V70R) and you WILL feel the difference
You may wind up in the weeds but that’s for another conversation. [sly]

What you need to do is sell yours and buy a 2007.
ALL 2007 Volvos have DSTC which can be defeated by a push of the button.[thumbup]

At least you would have a start in the right direction
You never said what you’re trying to achieve here. confused:

If you want a Volvo wagon, but one that will handle and can be made to drift a bit, fun to drive you need to buy a V70R

Like I said to Volvoholic I’d hoped to achieve the traction and sliding capabilities of the R’s while retaining the nice offroad-able ride height of the XC.
Also, I look at the XC as the perfect sleeper vehicle. I’t doesn’t look fast or grab attention by anyone including the 5.0. So souping one up to near R capabilities(obviously not cornering) has allot of appeal to me(yeah I’m crazy, I know). But I’ve already spent a pretty penny purchasing speed components for my XC. I was hoping to be able to reap the full benefit of the upgrades by modifying the traction system. Which I now know is not possible without allot of money=P

Anyone disappointed with thier E-Locker and wished they would have gotten the Limited slip instead? 2010 f150.

08-28-2011, 07:14 PM
Senior Member
Připojit Datum: červen 2011
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Jak otevřete Porsche 911 klíčem?

Love my locker, but I have a 2011 and the traction control makes the open diff rear end act like a limited slip. Best of both worlds.

Deerhunter4
08-28-2011, 07:28 PM
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Místo: Texas
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Nope. Love my elocker. Just wished it locked in until 100.
08-28-2011, 08:00 PM
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There’s some misrepresentation here on the forum by 2011’s owners. They think that their 2011 are the only trucks that offer one wheel spin traction control when it’s been available with the 2009’s and up. The manuals mention it but leave it at a mention. The 2011 goes in and address it a bit more as now the locker is an option all models, the lack of limited slip during normal driving must have been more of a concern.

Ford even had one wheel spin or electronic traction control on the 2007 Sport Tracs and up.

It’s OK but a mechanical limited slip is much much better as electronic limited slip relies on braking which fade and heat up. When that happens, the electronic limited slip or brake traction control that Ford calls it, deactivates. This would suck for it to deactive when stuck in snow, sand or mud.

Mechanical limited slip all the way.

08-28-2011, 08:04 PM
Juggernaut
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Původně odeslal dep389

Anyone disappointed with thier E-Locker and wished they would have gotten the Limited slip instead? 2010 f150.

08-28-2011, 08:13 PM
Juggernaut
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Původně odeslal Mike Up

Mechanical limited slip all the way.

I would like to see a time when your brakes would fade beacuse your traction control was activated. The only time I could even fathom that would be if you forgot where your 4×4 switch is and you sit and spin for an extended amount of time.

08-28-2011, 08:25 PM
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Původně odeslal Mike Up

Ford even had one wheel spin or electronic traction control on the 2007 Sport Tracs and up.

Mechanical limited slip all the way.

I was under the impression that the one wheel spin ETC was new on the 2011’s. I’m sure I read it somewhere on this forum, but maybe whoever posted that information was mistaken. Thanks for the clarification.