Emblems, Traction Control, ECS - Chevy Malibu Forum: Chevrolet Malibu Forums

twaz · 09-12-2009, 03:43 PM

I just wanted to know exactly what was happening when I hold the traction control button down for like 10 seconds and it says ECS off?

Any ideas why my 08 LT2 4 cyl is sluggish off the line but a beast after 25?

I was tempted to remove the gold from the emblems today, but I need to know how to do it without screwing it up. Any suggestions? I haven't been able to find any replacement chrome emblems (i HATE gold). I don't want to use vinyl, and am willing to have it custom made if need be. I noticed on earlier threads some fella was giving a fabricator measurements. Anybody know what happened with that?

This is my first chevy. So far, decent. I've put on 28k miles though, and have only changed the oil. What else should I do to make this baby run better? Haven't found any aftermarket air or tuners available.

bromley · 10-29-2009, 05:38 AM

It'll get a little better off the line. I have a touch over 40k on mins and it's better than it was at 20k. You could make yourslef your own cold air intake if you're a do-it yourselfer. I made my own stage-3 that I can reduce to a short ram when the winter months are here. Polished aluminum, red silicon couplers, aluminum bung for your air flow sensor, and K&N cone.

Yefeng · 10-29-2009, 01:33 PM

well ECS is the stability control so you dont really wanna take that off, and turning off traction control really does nothing as the 2.4 doesn't have the same bite the LTZ has.

hoahai · 10-29-2009, 03:15 PM

Not recommend to turn off ECS. Not sure why you wanted it off. I had good experience with it one time: When I had a sharp left turn on a rainny day, my car rolled to the right lane. Before I could make any reactions, I felt my car was taken over by another force, and it got back on track in a matter of a second. I believe that was the ECS

twaz · 10-31-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoahai

Before I could make any reactions, I felt my car was taken over by another force, and it got back on track in a matter of a second. I believe that was the ECS

It was the force

BillD64 · 11-01-2009, 02:05 PM

Electronic stability control uses the ABS brake system to apply a single brake to correct vehicle yaw. There is a steering sensor that is connected to the steering shaft that tells the system where you are pointing the car. The EBCM uses readings from other sensors in the car to determine how well it is reacting to your steering input and then it applies the appropriate brake to make the car swing in the direction you want to go. If you are on a slippery road and turn left but the car tends to slide wide and not respond quickly to your steering input the ESC can apply the left rear brake to cause the front end to swing more to the left.

Bill

E_Net_Rider · 12-10-2009, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillD64

Electronic stability control uses the ABS brake system to apply a single brake to correct vehicle yaw. There is a steering sensor that is connected to the steering shaft that tells the system where you are pointing the car. The EBCM uses readings from other sensors in the car to determine how well it is reacting to your steering input and then it applies the appropriate brake to make the car swing in the direction you want to go. If you are on a slippery road and turn left but the car tends to slide wide and not respond quickly to your steering input the ESC can apply the left rear brake to cause the front end to swing more to the left.

Bill

Are you absolutely sure of your description? It makes sense if you are saying the front lost traction.
What would happen if I was cornering right from a side street to the inside lane and the rear end broke loose? Or what should happen because I had to let off it and start a counter steer to stop the rear end from coming around.

bballr4567 · 12-10-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E_Net_Rider

Are you absolutely sure of your description? It makes sense if you are saying the front lost traction.
What would happen if I was cornering right from a side street to the inside lane and the rear end broke loose? Or what should happen because I had to let off it and start a counter steer to stop the rear end from coming around.

Yes, he is correct. You do not want to brake the wheels that are sliding as they will cause them to go even further. You only want the wheel to do one thing at a time. If you try to turn and then try to make it stop then it will take longer to do both at one time. Make sense?

Silver LTZ · 12-10-2009, 06:02 PM

Traction control goes off first, then the ESC. Even with both off the car can override you. The torque management programmed into the ECU is excessive.

E_Net_Rider · 12-13-2009, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bballr4567

Yes, he is correct. You do not want to brake the wheels that are sliding as they will cause them to go even further. You only want the wheel to do one thing at a time. If you try to turn and then try to make it stop then it will take longer to do both at one time. Make sense?

Thanks, but you see I had to ask because it seemed that the system did not do as it should. My understanding is that it should have detected that the rear was sliding sideways to the left and should have actuated corrective braking at the left front along with possibly cutting power. Neither happened and no lights actuated. No TCS would make sense since I did not loose traction on the front and no ABS because I was not braking, but should not I have gotten an ESC light?
It would be nice to know exact parameters of how the package of three work and what to expect of them.
I'm not sure that I should be happy that I was able to react quicker than the system or not?
Did I find a weak spot in the system? Or possibly a failure? It sounds as if the system is reprogramable and wonder if a certain parameter needs to be calibrated to say specific tires. Tires are the number one suspect of why I got into that situation, but then the rear of the vehicle also has to be considered. Maybe not enough weight on tires for my maneuver or possibly alignment. The latter certainly could have had influence as I was just getting it back for complaint of EPS and they did an alignment. The change on the rear may have induce dog tracking to left, which it feels like it is, and that would have caused the vehicle to have excess lateral force in that direction. ~3000 miles later, alignment has shown itself to be improper because of extreme feathering of outer rib on left front tire. Without getting car in air it would be near impossible to check for other wear patterns. Still less than 5K miles.