Left foot braking?!?

gclough

Member
Hi Gang,

I've got a 1.6 FSI Sport, and whenever I try to left-foot break it cuts the throttle.

WTF? I hear you ask... why subject a poor little A2 to the horrors of brake and gas at the same time, well I didn't drive it for a while and when I moved it there was a resounding CLUNK as the pads un-stuck from the discs. I figured a little brush on the brakes to remove any rust would make sense, but after a very short while (0.5 sec?) the A2 cut the throttle.

I guess that's one downside of having an electronic throttle... they can put code like this into the ECU. <sigh>

Has anyone else experienced this, or is it just me? Seems a little bit Nanny-ish, as what if I've just driven through a flooded road and want to put some heat into the brakes to help dry them out?

Thanks.
Greg.

P.S. Not long after I did this (a couple of times, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke), the brake light switch went faulty. My guess is the switch was OK, but the ECU marked it as bad because it kept coming on when it "shouldn't" be.
 
It mentions it in the manual too.

I think the warning light is reassessed each time you start the car, so if it goes on every time it probably does indicate a real problem with the brake light switch. The brake light switch does fail quite frequently on all VAG cars, and they keep changing the design (at least 5 versions so far). I just installed the 'green' version (1J0 945 511 A RDW) of the switch which is the current one, looks a bit tougher than the previous one which was in there. See http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/deleontow/2008-12-18_181659_VW_N4_Recall_Notice.pdf
 
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Mine doesn't do this, when i once took it on a track day at castle coombe the left foot braking had no effect on the acceleration and when i have been trying to take the rust of brake discs after washing them i have done this and it doesn't cut the engine on my car

Chris
 
it cuts the supply of fuel to the engine and yes, it is a bit nannying. I'm sure it's valid for all A2s regardless of engine.

If you want to dry something out / get heat into the discs, 55mph - 40mph 3-4 times is a good start (I did this on the way home from the track, trying to dislodge a lump of ice on the inside of my rim, failing, of course...).

Bret
 
All VAG cars from about 1999 onwards & many many others do this as a safety
issue, its called brake overide, its a pain in the ass if your an enthusiastic track driver.


However it can be overidden ;)

Throttle on
Apply brake & leave it on (YOU HAVE ABOUT 2 SECS BEFORE IT CUTS POWER)
Release throttle & quickly re apply throttle again

hey presto its overidden :D
 
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That will be why i didnt notice then as i only did them together for about 2 seconds, it is annoying but very clever as toyota had to recall cars because they didnt have this technology and VAG have had it for 11 years!!

Chris
 
Ha, i forgot the amount per litre but remembered how many litres i put in so i set it as £1, i need to keep hold of my receipt next time but i haven't filled up since!!

Chris
 
Thanks for the info everyone... especially the override trick. After reading this I guess it's on there just in case the throttle gets stuck open.

Indeed I had this happen to me in my old clunker back in 1992, but he ignition switch seemed to fix that issue (just don't engage the steering lock!)... alternately we've always got the clutch!

Still seems like overkill, but at least I know why it's in there now.
 
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