Idle Stop and Go disable

[Wan El Guapo]

Heres kind of an unintended hack of the ISG feature. I bought and started using a dashcam a year ago. Its plugged into the auxiliary power outlet 24/7, and since then my ISG has not worked. Ive never been stranded even leaving car parked for a week as i have a second vehicle and because covid. I unplugged the dashcam for a few days and soon after i found the ISG was working again. Not sure if its the computer recognizing the aux or if the battery level is below optimal...
Car always starts even in winter.

 

[AWDGT2]

To confirm we need a 440 ohm resistor?

No, he used a 220, and theres a 220 already there. When he shorted the button he created a total of 440 ohms between ground and the controller. My guess is anything between 220 ohm and 1k ohm will work fine.
If you stay tuned, I have probably the most efficient and safe way to disable the ISG, I'm working on a tutorial now.

 

[mfenske]

No, he used a 220, and theres a 220 already there. When he shorted the button he created a total of 440 ohms between ground and the controller. My guess is anything between 220 ohm and 1k ohm will work fine.
If you stay tuned, I have probably the most efficient and safe way to disable the ISG (Idle Stop and Go), I'm working on a tutorial now.

@AWDGT2 I'm definitely looking forward to it. Pretty comfortable doing basic soldering and stuff like adding the resistor.

 

[65RivieraGS]

There are several threads on this subject so I apologize if this method has been mentioned and I missed it. Anyway, I've hated this 'feature' since I bought the car. I did this mod not long after I purchased the car so it has been in there for several months and around 11,000 miles with no issues. I did this on my 2019 GT2 but I have to believe the same mod will work with most, if not all, Stingers.

I managed to find the schematic for the switch on the console and I noted that there is a 220 ohm resistor in series with the switch. I'm guessing that the engineers might have done this so that simply shorting the connector wouldn't work (I never tried that). I happened to have a 220 ohm 1/4 watt resistor so I inserted that into the connector and, voila, the ISG (Idle Stop and Go) function is now disabled. The attached photos show the connector and the resistor in place. As you can see the resistor is placed between the black and yellow wires (pins 28 and 32).

If you wonder why I did it this way all I can say is 1) I didn't like the idea of sticking something in the button to keep it pressed and 2) I didn't want to dismantle the switch and stick tape or something else to keep the button pressed. I know there's a module for sale that does this and some other functions but you need to cut wires in order to install it and I didn't really care for that solution. This has the advantage that the resistor is held in place by friction alone and simply removing the resistor restores the original function of the switch.

That is awesome!!! I did it o nmy 2020 GT1. Thank you! I hate this feature. As others have stated, there is excess wear that doesn't need to be. And if you are that concerned about saving a drop of gasoline, then buy a Prius.

 

[TheBusch]

@JohnL
I wish I would of seen this sooner. That 220 ohm resister is in the system, Its a current limiting resistor put in there for safety in case that switch gets shorted out. If it's in the schematic it's in the car. Probably closer to the micro controller or ECU that handles that function. The *action is flip flop. It's a simple logic driven event that states if something is in one state, make it the other every time the circuit is closed, (ie.. push the button)
Now, what you did was actually short the button out across 28 and 32 but with some resistance. That total now is 440 ohms, and for whatever reason, the car is seeing that as a constant closed circuit (Which it is). I think you got lucky but my hat is off to you my friend, that was an awesome discovery!
edit.. I'd also like to see how high resistance would work. Going up is safer but at some point, no current will flow and that auto off will see it as an open. Then the only way to shut it off would be to push the button again.

Wouldn't that mean that shorting the button without a resistor would work too, since that 220 ohm resistor is in place to take care of a short?

 

[AWDGT2]

Wouldn't that mean that shorting the button without a resistor would work too, since that 220 ohm resistor is in place to take care of a short?

Yes and no...
That existing resistor is what they call a current limiting resistor. Its purposely designed to have that 5v drop across it. The ECU detects that drop and changes its state. While that button is pushed, current temporarily flows through the circuit from ground. I not 100% certain, but I don't think a constant current flow supplied by that controller is a good thing. The circuit wasn't designed to do that. A second resistor will drop the current flow but its still there. I'm working on a different way to turn off both the ISG, and change state of drive mode to Sport with one simple device. The tutorial is almost done. It activates as soon as you turn the car on and safely switches the appropriate signal without latching or permanently shorting the switches.

 

[TheBusch]

Yes and no...
That existing resistor is what they call a current limiting resistor. Its purposely designed to have that 5v drop across it. The ECU detects that drop and changes its state. While that button is pushed, current temporarily flows through the circuit from ground. I not 100% certain, but I don't think a constant current flow supplied by that controller is a good thing. The circuit wasn't designed to do that. A second resistor will drop the current flow but its still there. I'm working on a different way to turn off both the ISG (Idle Stop and Go), and change state of drive mode to Sport with one simple device. The tutorial is almost done. It activates as soon as you turn the car on and safely switches the appropriate signal without latching or permanently shorting the switches.

I agree with you on that it wasn't designed to operate that way, that was my initial concern with doing any of these mods but the current would be miniscule at least. I have no idea what the controller can handle.

What are you using for your new module? Could be a fun arduino project if anyone is in to that.

 

[mfenske]

I agree with you on that it wasn't designed to operate that way, that was my initial concern with doing any of these mods but the current would be miniscule at least. I have no idea what the controller can handle.

What are you using for your new module? Could be a fun arduino project if anyone is in to that.

I'd love to see someone develop a plug and play module that could be used to tweak seemingly un-tweakable things like screen savers, retaining sport (or other) mode, etc.

 

[AWDGT2]

I agree with you on that it wasn't designed to operate that way, that was my initial concern with doing any of these mods but the current would be miniscule at least. I have no idea what the controller can handle.

What are you using for your new module? Could be a fun arduino project if anyone is in to that.

Funny you mention Arduino, please watch the my YouTube video, I just posted it. I'm going to start a new thread in a minute on the whole topic

 

[TheBusch]

Funny you mention Arduino, please watch the my YouTube video, I just posted it. I'm going to start a new thread in a minute on the whole topic

I got you. I did basically the same thing for a DIY switchback (DRL/Turn) for some headlights on old accord. My issue with the timing relay was reliability so don't go cheap on those. Mine lasted for like a month before going out.

 

[AWDGT2]

If anyone is still following this thread I did some experiments last night on my own car using @JohnL technique.
Bottom line up front... a 2.5k ohm works best
I wired in a variable resistor (Potentiometer) and played around with higher resistance until I got current to flow at an absolute minimum yet still turn off the ISG. I didn't have a 2.5k resistor so I put two 5K resistors in parallel (that half's it) and it's good to go. Next thread will be turning your Sport mode on at every start for $12.00.

 

[mfenske]

If anyone is still following this thread I did some experiments last night on my own car using @JohnL technique.
Bottom line up front... a 2.5k ohm works best
I wired in a variable resistor (Potentiometer) and played around with higher resistance until I got current to flow at an absolute minimum yet still turn off the ISG (Idle Stop and Go). I didn't have a 2.5k resistor so I put two 5K resistors in parallel (that half's it) and it's good to go. Next thread will be turning your Sport mode on at every start for $12.00.

That's awesome @AWDGT2 ! I was thinking about a potentiometer the other day in this application.

 

[troynuke]

I have a veepeak OBD module from owning a BMW. You could tweak all kinds of settings like this. You could have the car start in certain modes, start stop feature always off, and other things. I wish you could do stuff to the Stinger with this as well.

 

[AWDGT2]

Update to the safest and cheapest way to disable ISG permanently. Total cost, about $1.00

In addition, the cheapest and safest way to put the car in sport mode on every start up!

 

[stoopid]

I agree with you on that it wasn't designed to operate that way, that was my initial concern with doing any of these mods but the current would be miniscule at least. I have no idea what the controller can handle.

Agree, I modded mine to stay pressed all the time and then promptly removed it after reading this discussion. Not worth any long term issues having any current running through that circuit all the time.

 

[DeltaV]

There are several threads on this subject so I apologize if this method has been mentioned and I missed it. Anyway, I've hated this 'feature' since I bought the car. I did this mod not long after I purchased the car so it has been in there for several months and around 11,000 miles with no issues. I did this on my 2019 GT2 but I have to believe the same mod will work with most, if not all, Stingers.

I managed to find the schematic for the switch on the console and I noted that there is a 220 ohm resistor in series with the switch. I'm guessing that the engineers might have done this so that simply shorting the connector wouldn't work (I never tried that). I happened to have a 220 ohm 1/4 watt resistor so I inserted that into the connector and, voila, the ISG (Idle Stop and Go) function is now disabled. The attached photos show the connector and the resistor in place. As you can see the resistor is placed between the black and yellow wires (pins 28 and 32).

If you wonder why I did it this way all I can say is 1) I didn't like the idea of sticking something in the button to keep it pressed and 2) I didn't want to dismantle the switch and stick tape or something else to keep the button pressed. I know there's a module for sale that does this and some other functions but you need to cut wires in order to install it and I didn't really care for that solution. This has the advantage that the resistor is held in place by friction alone and simply removing the resistor restores the original function of the switch.

Back from the dead.

Where did you find the pinout for the harness that supports the seat heat/cool and ISG row of buttons (your components.pdf) and do you have the same for the other harness that supports the drive mode selector?

 

[Thomby]

If anyone is still following this thread I did some experiments last night on my own car using @JohnL technique.
Bottom line up front... a 2.5k ohm works best
I wired in a variable resistor (Potentiometer) and played around with higher resistance until I got current to flow at an absolute minimum yet still turn off the ISG. I didn't have a 2.5k resistor so I put two 5K resistors in parallel (that half's it) and it's good to go. Next thread will be turning your Sport mode on at every start for $12.00.

This is great, after seeing discussion of long-term effects of "shorting" it (to the built-in 220 ohms) I came here to ask for any updates or experiments with bigger resistors. But since you already did, we can say that:

- No resistor = 220 ohms and 5 volts, so your "short" allows a constant .02 amps (23mA) and .11 watts
- 220 resistor = 440 ohms total = .01 amps (11mA) and .06 watts
- 1k resistor = 1220 total = 4mA = .02 watts
- 2.5k resistor = 2.7k total = 2mA = <1mW

So if the ones that simply short it (to 220 ohms) lasted months or longer with no issue, I think it's safe to assume that the 1k/2.5k resistors at a fraction of the current are safe indefinitely.