adaptive cruise control woes

[bobski]

i hate cars that try to outhink me.
i tried google utube and nowhere can i find if an 07 lincoln towncar has adaptive cruise control.
why do i ask.....have you ever tried to drive thru the blue ridge mountains interstates on those long downhills and the car decides to put on the brake and tries to send your forehead thru the dash>?
i cant find the button to turn it off and my only option is to turn off normal cruise to keep from killing myself.
anyone know about the town car?

 

[Aqualung]

Bobski, that's your normal cruise control doing that, trying to keep that heavy car at the speed you set. It's the reverse of when it accellerates to go up the hill. With standard CC, you set the speed and the car does everything it can to maintain that speed, whether it's to speed up (apply accelerator) or to slow down (release accelerator, or apply brakes if needed)

I highly doubt that your 07 has adaptive CC, as that uses forward-facing sensors to maintain a specific distance between your vehicle and the one in front. With that, you position your car behind the one ahead of you allowing the distance you want and the vehicle will speed up and slow down to maintain that distance.

Having the "peasant package" on my 2018 F-150, I don't have Adaptive CC, but that's how I understand it to work.

Aqualung

 

[RSIno1]

I think 07 is too early for the adaptive cruise control. "Lincoln introduced radar adaptive cruise control on the 2009 Lincoln MKS"
The adaptive in our 2015 MKc applies the brakes gently within a couple miles per hour of exceeding the setting when going downhill. It will bounce your nose off the dash when some idiot changes lanes in front of you going 30mph slower too.

Page 114 addresses the speed control - doesn't mention adaptive. https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/07towog2e.pdf

 

[bobski]

my buick just coasts if it goes over 70 downhill...this stupid car puts the brakes on. is there any wire i can cut or place i can use a hammer to fix it good?
i mean geeesh luise, even put on 45 and it will brake on a little curve or hill. if it goes 48. its driving us all crazy.
i hate friggin fords.

 

[Dave P.]

Just turn it off and drive!
Guessing it's hooked into the ABS, TCM, and ECU modules, don't think you'll disable that "feature" easily and if you do
you will likely make the dash warning lights resemble a Christmas display.

 

[WAYNO]

It's not just Ford.

My 2016 Dodge pickup downshifts if I'm coasting downhill, with or without the cruise control engaged.

 

[bobski]

has anyone tried to drive I64 from mo to virginia manually...thru the mountains?
i will try to figure something out, but if i have a say in it....wifes car stays home next time. im going back to my lesabre.
thanks guys.

 

[Jeepnik]

I'll give one shout out for the radar controlled cruise control on my Tacoma. First it is easy to select radar or normal. Same button push for radar, hold for a few seconds for regular. In the radar controlled mode it has reacted faster than any human could in two instances thus preventing accidents. In both cases someone cut me off. The first was just and inconsiderate "individual". In the other the driver fell asleep and crossed several lanes of traffic and hit the K rail. Had I been using the old fashion set the speed and forget it mode I would have struck both vehicles.

 

[golferboy426]

I had no idea any cruise control applied brakes... My 2012 doesn't

 

[Kevin]

I've got Adaptive Cruise Control in my car. It's great, and yes, it applies the brakes. The seatbelt keeps me from hitting the windshield though. As described, adaptive cruise control maintains the set distance from the car ahead of you.

 

[bobski]

i hate cars that try to out think me. my 76 c10 tries to, but all i do is pour gas down its barrel and it sputs and comes to life and says sorry, i didnt mean it. i open the door and it stays open and he doesnt say a word. he knows better. i can jump in and out as i mend a fence line and no bells tell me to buckle up. because im an old american i know when a brake peddle is getting soft, then i fill up the master cyl with fluid. if the c10 battery throws a tantrum and wont start i find a hill and roll it down and pop the clutch.
i like old school.

so now my next war is the ford ding ding bell for seat belts.
i get in and dont buckle up ding ding. buckle up no sound. wife is not in the other seat. why doesnt it go off i say,
hmmm. so it must be a sensor in the seat. because when shes in it, it goes off if she doesnt buckle up.
so tomorrow im going to find it and unhook it.
and while im at it, ill do the drivers side too.
unless someone tells me otherwise. any advice?

 

[RSIno1]

so now my next war is the ford ding ding bell for seat belts.
it must be a sensor in the seat. so tomorrow im going to find it and unhook it.
unless someone tells me otherwise. any advice?

Depending on year it may also tie into the brain that does all the interior stuff - and it has to cycle correctly. Seat switch closes then belt switch closes. You'll find a plug for the seat belts - first try to jump the switch so it thinks the belt is always buckled.

See if this will work for your year - https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...a&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False&buildtype=web

 

[Aqualung]

Another thought is to go to the dealer and get a set of seat belt extensions for big people. Ford (and GMC) provides them for free.

When they're snapped into the "female" socket, the car thinks the seat belt is fastened.

I'm a big guy and have needed them for all my Ford trucks and Explorers.

Aqualung

 

[hittman]

If your car is too old to have that cruise technology I wonder if you have a transmission or other problem.

 

[NC FNS]

Used to joke about a type of adaptive cruise when I drove big heavy things with a governor. A car in the right lane of the interstate would be set for 55 mph, and when I tried to pass, it would change to 0.1 mph above what I was governed at. Eventually I’d drop back in behind so as not to create a rolling roadblock, and the car would return to 55 mph.
Wife’s car has the new style adaptive cruise. It sure let’s you know how erratic the speed control of the car in front of you is.

 

[Jeepnik]

Depending on whether you sensor relay normally open or normally closed unplugging the sensor may cause the alarm to stay on all the time. If it does, jumper the connector as mentioned above. But don’t have an accident and have injuries. If the insurance company finds out you’re on your own.

 

[NikA]

I don't know about Adaptive CC in a Town Car, but our 2010 Mercury is drive-by-wire and the CC downshifts/engine brakes instead of coasting on a long downhill. Not a sudden deceleration like you describe but certainly annoying to have the engine redline as the thing tries to drop a bit of speed unnecessarily. I would not be surprised if this was the case in an 07 Lincoln, I think Ford put drive-by-wire in their "luxury" brands before the base models.

As for the seat belt annoyance, you could try undoing the seat wiring harness (just a connector beneath the seat), but that will kill any electric function as well. If you could find a wiring diagram, you could isolate the sense wires and just disconnect those. WARNING: this will cause a fault light to come on and will likely disable the front airbags in case of a crash (don't 100% know the logic tree, maybe it's "always deploy," wouldn't want to find out I was wrong in a life or death situation).

 

[David Lee Valdina]

i hate cars that try to out think me. my 76 c10 tries to, but all i do is pour gas down its barrel and it sputs and comes to life and says sorry, i didnt mean it. i open the door and it stays open and he doesnt say a word. he knows better. i can jump in and out as i mend a fence line and no bells tell me to buckle up. because im an old american i know when a brake peddle is getting soft, then i fill up the master cyl with fluid. if the c10 battery throws a tantrum and wont start i find a hill and roll it down and pop the clutch.
i like old school.

so now my next war is the ford ding ding bell for seat belts.
i get in and dont buckle up ding ding. buckle up no sound. wife is not in the other seat. why doesnt it go off i say,
hmmm. so it must be a sensor in the seat. because when shes in it, it goes off if she doesnt buckle up.
so tomorrow im going to find it and unhook it.
and while im at it, ill do the drivers side too.
unless someone tells me otherwise. any advice?

I will tell you otherwise. Wear your safety belts, all of the time. Make anyone in your car do likewise. They save lives. They reduce injuries. Absolutely no question about that.

And one other thought from a legal liability point of view. A passenger injured or killed in your car may argue that your removal of the safety belts prevented him/her from using them, therefore you are responsible, at least in part, for damages. Given Jury awards lately, that can force you into bankruptcy. You will never have enough to cover all potential claims.

 

[Randyzzz]

We have adaptive cruise and collision avoidance on our Grand Cherokee Overland. I’ve never used the adaptive cruise- but the regular cruise will downshift, brake, whatever necessary to keep you at the desired speed. Now as far as the collision avoidance system- if you’re at all a “city driver”, that dang system hits the brakes hard way too often. We turned it off. If you happen to turn your wheel to a point where the algorithm feels that continuing on your current trajectory will cause a collision- bam! The brakes go into an antilock mode braking. Scares the crap out of you. But then again, that Jeep has every electronic gizmo on it that you could imagine. It’s a fully optioned Overland. And I’m thinking of selling it… I just purchased a 99 Yukon with under 100k miles. It looks like new inside and out, and was a single owner purchased by a couple in their 70’s when new. Maintained meticulously. And no electronic nanny systems. I’m loving it.

 

[caryc]

i hate cars that try to outhink me.
i tried google utube and nowhere can i find if an 07 lincoln towncar has adaptive cruise control.
why do i ask.....have you ever tried to drive thru the blue ridge mountains interstates on those long downhills and the car decides to put on the brake and tries to send your forehead thru the dash>?
i cant find the button to turn it off and my only option is to turn off normal cruise to keep from killing myself.
anyone know about the town car?

I have two vans with cruise control and over 15 years or so, I have never used cruise control on either one. I just like to be in control when I'm driving.

Of course, I used it once just to see if it worked but not after that. I kind of forget it's even there.

 

[Johnnu2]

That stuff is designed for the youngun's who really can't think for themselves and need a computer to get them thru life. Us elderly folks have done without it for 70 years+ and haven't smashed into anyone yet... Go figure..!
Of course, if an older person gets a techie car with all the bells and whistles, it won't be long before we smash into something just trying to find the heat or A/C button (which doesn't exist anymo). o_O
IMHO of course,
J.

 

[GasGuzzler]

It's not old enough tech for an '07 to have it. The difference in adaptive and regular is twofold (mainly).

Regular cruise does not apply the brakes (ever) ... adaptive does but it has to know why to apply the brakes. That's the second difference. Adaptive has about four times the sensors and modules and came out (for GM) in the early 20-teens. GM now has SuperCruise that allows hands free driving. Never tried it as the roads here aren't in the database so it doesn't work.

 

[Mobuck]

Son's F-150 work vehicle does all sorts of 'stuff' like braking and even downshifting to stay at the set speed. Truthfully, I only use the cruise when on nominally flat roads.

 

[bobski]

so that people dont think i dont wear belts when driving, but we use the car a lot on the farm, going for mail, moving stuff to the warehouse, to the club, over the neighbors, all of which is less than 10 mph or not even touching the gas its so slow. i dont need to have a belt on when im hopping out every 50yds picking up something off the driveway. im in and out in and out and than ding ding ding is just plain stupid.
if i could just find the bell and kill it, let it flash warn on the dash, i could live with that.
thank fo the headsup guys/.

 

[Aqualung]

In that case, I'd take a trip to the junkyard and find a Ford car of the same year and just cut the "male" buckles off the seatbelts. When you're on the farm, just snap the end into the socket. When on the road, fasten your belt.

Aqualung

 

[hittman]

Some vehicles allow you to adjust the volume of the warning bells.
My 2012 F150 did that.
My 2021 Silverado does too I think.

 

[Kevin]

My big fat dog likes to ride in the front seat. On Amazon they sell the seat belt insert that silences the alarm. I just clips into the normal seatbelt part on the car. It’s only purpose seems to be to bypass the “no seatbelt” alarm.

 

[Ka6otm]

I have two vans with cruise control and over 15 years or so, I have never used cruise control on either one. I just like to be in control when I'm driving.

Of course, I used it once just to see if it worked but not after that. I kind of forget it's even there.

Years ago when cruise control first started a friend got it on a vehicle he owned. My wife and I and his wife and him all went on a road trip down to Mexico. On the way we switched drivers. While I was driving, he told me how the cruise control worked and how to turn it on and off. Then he told me to try it.

It was kind of disconcerting at first but after an hour or so I got to where I kind of liked it. Then very suddenly everyone on the freeway came to a fast stop. I hit the brakes like everyone else and that's supposed to turn the cruiser control off. It didn't. Then I hit the switch on the steering wheel that turns it off. It didn't. As a last ditch thing I turned the ignition key off. Then I quickly put the car in neutral and started it and the cruise control was now off and I got stopped in time.

I've never used cruise control again since then and I never will. FWIW, my Bronco Sport has the adaptive cruise control and the sales manager was touting its benefits until I told him this story. He then said he guessed I wouldn't be using it and he was right.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Our 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee has cruise control that slows it down BUT DOESN"T put you in the windshield. It probably goes 10 MPH +- over before it slows you down. It worked great while driving in the Mountains of CO. and NM.

 

[hittman]

Do I remember right that they used to sell aftermarket cruise controls to put on cars? Maybe in the 70s before cruise became more standard?