I still can’t believe I’ve never heard of this. I’m not a car guy, but back when I had more $$ concerns I’d change my own oil, plugs, etc. Once I even purchased and installed new ball joints going step by step with an open Haynes manual.
I will attempt the disabling steps tonight!!
HUH? Couldn’t they invent something just a little less complicated?
Can some engineering-type person please explain to me why they designed these 7 steps ?
What happens at each step? (I dunno–does rotating the steering wheel in a certain direction release hydraulic fluid down a special pipe, or something? )
Lots of new car “programming” is done with steps like this. All of these actions trigger one or more sensors leading to the vehicle’s control computer, so they can be used as half-assed “binary switches” to send programming instructions to it. It allows a relatively safe (in that it can’t be done accidentally) and reasonably simple (if convoluted) way to let owners and shop techs change settings without the expense and risk of a direct control interface.
The alternative is a “control panel” that would add cost to the car and make it too easy for dimwits to misprogram important settings, or a plug-in programmer that would be a dealer-only item. (Actually, I think most makes have such a separate programmer for the dealer shops to do these things more quickly and accurately, but the first system lets anyone including a tech in the field do the job.)
I have this feature on my new Honda and I like it. It works pretty well even though I don’t need it. And it only stays on for a second or so. If you let off the brake without accelerating, the hill assist will disengage and you’ll start rolling back within a second or two. Not sure if your Subaru works the same way, but I don’t find the hill assist to get in my way at all.
My Subaru has the hill holder thing. I find it pretty annoying on really steep stuff because in that situation you have to use a lot of slip and the hill holder sometimes doesn’t seem to release the brakes fast enough and so I stall it. And my passengers never believe “it was the hill holder I tell you!”
But I’ve tried doing the lengthy procedure in the owner’s manual multiple times and never seem to have gotten it quite right. I think I might have sacrificed the goat on the wrong altar or something.
Or it could just be cheap ass Jeep engineering. My Honda CRV has vehicle stability assist (VSA) that turns on and off with a simple switch on the dash. I imagine VSA is about as sophisticated as hill assist as far as programming goes. It stays on all the time because there’s no reason to turn it off, it’s a boring CRV. But it’s a flip of a switch.
But a Wrangler? Bought and driven by people who would be just the type of drivers who would want to turn off hill assist for a variety of good reasons? It’s just Fiat telling the world they don’t understand their customer.
Well, I followed the disabling sequence step by step and on my third attempt it worked (I timed-out the first two tries, I think).
Thanks all!
And I still can’t believe that I haven’t run into this before now.
I love the seven-step approach. Just print it out and laminate it and hang it from your rear view mirror so you remember it for next time. (And does it tell you how to turn it back on?)
It’s like enabling programming development on Android phones. Go to the device settings, device version, and click it seven times. After the fourth click it says “Almost there!” as encouragement to keep going.
I did a Google search on “Wrangler disable hill park assist” and got plenty of answers. I was hoping Straight Dope (this thread) gets first mention; it will eventually.
Same exact steps, and you get the same flashes for confirmation.
Every daily driver I’ve owned has been a manual transmission car (and I’m in my mid-30s), so I am pretty good at hill starts.
I got my first new car a couple of years ago, a Subaru WRX, and it’s a stick with the “hill hold” feature. At first, it was a little annoying, because it was doing something I wasn’t used to. But honestly, once I got used to it, it’s pretty nice. It holds brake pressure for a few seconds (when you are on an incline, and assuming you come to a stop and push the brake hard enough to build the pressure in the first place) , and when you become accustomed to giving it a tiny bit more gas when you know it’s going to activate, it does make things a little easier.
I’d give it a shot in terms of getting used to it before deactivating it. I probably would have turned it off on day one too if I could, but now I’d probably keep it. I don’t need it, but it’s handy.
Even in the 1930’s.
If you don’t actually stop (keep rolling slightly), it doesn’t engage.
It’s Hill Start Assist (HSA) and I’m surprised Jeep allows you to disable it. It’s the ABS module keeping valves closed to hold pressure after you release the brake pedal. It holds for ~3 seconds or when you apply the accelerator pedal, whichever comes first.
I think they just want to be damn sure that you really want to turn off HSA function. A series of switch inputs and steering angle turns confirms your intentions.
The Wrangler’s VSA is called ESP (electronic stability program). It also turns off and on with a single switch. Your CR-V doesn’t have hill start assist, but if it did, it would not disable when you turn off VSA. In fact, you can’t disable HSA on a Honda.
If you’re ever stuck in mud or sand, you might want to disable your VSA so traction control doesn’t hold you back. It’s a pretty rare case, but that’s the main reason why you have the VSA disable switch.
My Subaru Outback has an electric e-brake that automatically releases when you drive away, provided your seatbelt is on (yes really), I haven’t had a problem with hill starts on previous cars but I find it quite useful. There is also a mode activated by a button that will automatically engage the e-brake when you stop on a slope.
I had a 1988 Subaru with Hill-Holder that was entirely mechanical. My mechanic, who had never seen or heard of one before, inadvertently disabled it.
The brake fluid ran through it (I think) and the clutch cable ran through it (I think) and somehow it kept the brake engaged as long as I kept a foot on the clutch. But it sprung a little leak, and the whole unit needed to be replaced.
When I got my car back from the mechanic, the hill holder didn’t work any more. He somehow determined that one of the cables running to the unit was left a little too slack. When he took out the slack, it worked again.
So there may be some clue as to how you can disable your very own Hill Holder all by yourself.
But if you have a new-fangled all-electronic computer-controlled Internet-enabled Hill Holder, all bets are off.
I’ll suggest that there is a difference between someone who buys a CR-V and someone who buys a Wrangler with a manual transmission. The Wrangler driver is more likely to be in a situation where the HSA should be shut off, even if it is temporary. I can’t think of a situation off the top of my head, but I’ve been in enough odd off road situations to know that it would be nice to disable it easily if the situation warranted. Like I said, Jeep should know their customer. Heck, the situation could simply be driver preference.
Maybe he just needs to unlike it on Facebook.
Being stuck in the mud is when you want traction control ON not off.
Then I have it all wrong. It’s my understanding that traction control is there so that if you hit, say, a patch of ice and lose traction the wheels don’t spin up and send you spinning out of control. However, if you’re (knowingly) stuck, you need to turn it off, otherwise they won’t spin. There’s been a few times when I’ve been stuck and have had to turn it off because the wheels wont’ go more than a few miles per hour and I need them to go faster than that to get me out of whatever I’m stuck in.
I’m almost positive that’s what the manual says. Turn it off when you’re stuck.