SCCS&G - serious concern

[eflyguy]

Road trip this weekend, ended up in heavy traffic for only about a mile, but it took over 30 minutes to travel that distance.

I was quite pleased to utilize the Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go feature in those conditions - set to 25mph, we barely got about 5mph during that entire time. I had to hit the Resume button dozens of time, as you might imagine. Loved the convenience of it.

When I finally got into town, found a parking lot, and got to park, at least another 30 minutes had passed since I'd been stuck in that traffic. Parked, opened door, and holy smokes - the smell of burned clutch.

It was definitely coming from the Stinger, so that has me wondering if the S&G feature is unusually hard on the clutch.

I'll add one more data point - and I can't be sure of this, but as I was close to the point of being able to turn off this road, the usual "resume" resulted in the vehicle completely shutting down. Not a stall, like it lost all electrical power for a moment, then was electrically active but the engine was dead. I had to think quickly to avoid the wrath of cars behind me anxious to move another 15' forward, so I went thru the normal power off then start routine, and all was well.

I could see this being a battery charge condition based on the conditions we'd been in for a while, but I am also concerned about it being a transmission overheat - considering what I smelled when we did finally park.

Just sharing for opinions, thoughts, etc..

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I wouldn't have thought that engaging active cruise control in heavy bumper to bumper traffic for that length of time would be relevant to that situation which may explain the smell you experienced when you stopped.

 

[SteveCo]

When I finally got into town, found a parking lot, and got to park, at least another 30 minutes had passed since I'd been stuck in that traffic. Parked, opened door, and holy smokes - the smell of burned clutch.

The automatic transmission doesn't have a conventional dry clutch - it uses a torque converter to couple the motor to the rest of the drivetrain. I use the auto cruise control a lot, letting the car pace itself to the traffic - at highway speeds, on city roads, and right down to a full stop at traffic lights. Never had any issues related to that.

You'll get a 'clutch lining' burnt friction disk smell from the brakes if they are overheated, so perhaps you had a stuck brake (primary or emergency). If there was in fact any overheating going on in the transmission itself, pull the dipstick and check/smell the fluid as well as the level - it's pretty obvious when it has overheated, and there will be a change in color as well as a strong burnt smell. That should never be the case simply from using the cruise as you described.

 

[Never thought]

The engine dying issue, was there any shuttering or any acceleration issues prior to it shutting off? I had a G37 that all the sudden wouldn’t accelerate past 55, shuttered, then I lost all power. Pulled over and shut the car off. Powered it on. And never had another issue. Dealer found no issues too. So could just be a fluke.

 

[CaliSting]

No clutch.

 

[SKStinger]

It sounds like the car went into limp home mode when it lost power. Did you get any warning lights on the DIS?

This is the cars way of protecting vital components. Just as the G37 did in the post above.

Might be a good idea to get the dealership to scan it for any codes.