ABS and Soft Sand

[PaulBKal]

As above, if you forget to turn off the ASC on the sand you will know it straight away. TC has never been an issue for me on soft sand, the Pajero is better than my old Patrol was on sand.

I ran into this problem years ago when I first got my NS and almost took it back to the dealer but got out the Operators Manual and found it has a section on this precise thing at page 4-65 which describes the problem and tells you to turn off the ASC by pressing the ASC button (lower dash left of the steering column) in sand, mud or soft snow. This has been a regular practice of mine for the past 6 or 7 years that I've owned this wonderful vehicle.

The problem described by the original poster would have been fixed either by pressing the ASC button, choosing 4LLc or engaging the Rear Diff Lock (if fitted).

[PaulBKal]

The other thing to the above, having now been able to re-read the original post which clearly states that he usually does turn the ASC off on sand, is that it's quite easy to not quite turn the ASC off, or to turn it back on inadvertently. You have to make sure the ASC off light is still showing on the dash. Maybe that's the issue here - it's certainly caught me out more than once.


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[KiwiNTPajero]

You can manually turn off stability control but the traction control can only be turned off when RD is engaged, if the vehicle came with it. Otherwise you will need my TC off patch loom.

i have already got one.What i NEED are some switches

[DrewW]

Thanks for all the input everybody - trouble is I don't appear any closer to a solution than I was when I originally posted, I was in 4LLc, i did have ASC turned off, and the same thing occurred on two consecutive days. Am I right in concluding that I somehow have to disable traction control - or only use high range in ultra soft sand?

[vladguan]

Thanks for all the input everybody - trouble is I don't appear any closer to a solution than I was when I originally posted, I was in 4LLc, i did have ASC turned off, and the same thing occurred on two consecutive days. Am I right in concluding that I somehow have to disable traction control - or only use high range in ultra soft sand?

Disabling ASC does not disable TC. Disabling TC will disable the ASC as the ASC relies on the TC amongst other sensors etc.

[NJV6]

DrewW, when it was doing its thing, were the 4 green dash lights flashing away accompanied by the abs sound?

[DrewW]

Hi NJV6 - yes to all four lights flashing, no to any sound from ASC

[DrewW]

Correction - no sound from ABS

[NJV6]

Sounds to me like the traction control is your problem. I'd be trying it with the abs fuse removed and see if anything changes.

[vladguan]

I was going up a sandy incline at Coffin Bay National Park in 4LLC and traction controll kept on interfering with the front wheels. Turned on RD which disables traction control and no more start/stop of the front wheels.

[Jimbo2]

This topic has been discussed in a few earlier threads, one of which I initiated, it contains a few clues as to what to do, I cant find the really useful threads at the moment. My view after limited experimenting is that its worth disabling all the smarts on soft sand (done by tricking the system into thinking the diff lock is engaged)

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=34183

[conquistador]

DrewW, when it was doing its thing, were the 4 green dash lights flashing away accompanied by the abs sound?

We are not talking about normal operation of traction control system here are we? In 4LLc if your lifting wheels on inclines the traction will shunt around (to the point were you might feel like your temporary going backwards) as the Traction control catches up to grab a spinning wheel. There is a little lag. Bit of left foot braking seems to smooth it out.

I thought stability turned off in 4LLC?
There are two icons on the dash advising when stability control is active (it will flutter) and when it's turned off.

Could it be that on super powdery sand the high torque of 4LLc and a tightened up valve body on the auto helps the wheels dig holes faster than the traction control can keep up?

[vladguan]

We are not talking about normal operation of traction control system here are we? In 4LLc if your lifting wheels on inclines the traction will shunt around (to the point were you might feel like your temporary going backwards) as the Traction control catches up to grab a spinning wheel. There is a little lag. Bit of left foot braking seems to smooth it out.

I thought stability turned off in 4LLC?
There are two icons on the dash advising when stability control is active (it will flutter) and when it's turned off.

Could it be that on super powdery sand the high torque of 4LLc and a tightened up valve body on the auto helps the wheels dig holes faster than the traction control can keep up?

Stability control may be turned off in 4LLC but traction control definitely is not turned off unless RD is engaged.