MDC CC install

[fts1966]

i installed the CC last friday night. it was very easy. pay attention to the harness on the cluster it does go in both ways. but after you get it right it is great. the people at smart maddness are a good bunch. the system is easy to install. i put the LED in the cluster. a bit of a pain but worth it to me.

the only thing i do not like it the 2 gear down shift hard on the bigger hills were only 1 is need ed with out the CC. other than that it works great.

the sprint booster. okay no claims on my end of performance increases!!!
my 2 c's worth... it does make the car more fun to drive, and it does make it feel different. it does seem quicker to shift and smoother.

would i buy it again? for easy install hell yes! for the down shifts? i would want to drive a car with the area 451 before to see how it works..
talked to some about that unit. so i think i would do it again bast on that.

take this as you will as my 2 c's

frank

[John_H]

Dos the MDC also control the kickdown button, hence the double downshift?

fts1966 - are you content with the brightness in the cluster?

[fts1966]

the unit is plugged in the the peddle so i would think it would control the kick down. as for the led it is not very good. day time no see. night time it is okay. i am going to work on it and see if i can make it brighter.

[John_H]

If you wait a couple months I can provide a plug & play.

[mvaldes]

It'll be worth the wait. John's LED for the 451 is perfect, I'm sure he'll do as well for the MDC.

[jim123]

I put my CC in a couple of months ago. I now have about 4000 miles using it. It got ALOT better when I hit 5000 miles on my car. Not sure if the transmission shifts better after breaking in or what. I did change the transmission oil for full syn.... But it will shift better and not do the two down shift after you use it for a while. I use my CC everyday for about 40 miles and it is great....

[fts1966]

hi john,

yes i can wait. i'm sure yours will be better than what i will cum up with
i drilled out the white channel and went in from the front with my light. pushed it down as far as it would go. not much because it is big at the end. i just peeled back the black plastic a bit and it went right in. sio i will wait. no big deal .

jim,

i wanted to wait till i got the car broken in before installing the CC. i how have over 4,000 miles. i do like the CC much it is just the down shift is hard. the car has broken in very nice. very happy with it over all. i will deal with the CC and i use it alot also.

thanks frank

[Earlsworkshop]

I installed the MisterDotCom Cruise on my smart back in December '08. And have put about 8,000 miles on my smart since then.
I also installed the LED inside the instrument cluster to illuminate the CC icon. And it is not bright enough to see in daylight. A brighter LED would be GREAT!
I did experience a few problems with the install and getting it to work the first time. I also continue to experience a loss of throttle control and the master caution lamp comes on if the cruise tries to downshift on a uphill grade.
The first install problem I had was with the "Tee" connector that plugs into the instrument cluster between the factory harness and the cluster. The C.C. connector would not plug into the speedo, the alignment tabs were too wide to fit into my cluster. I simply trimmed off about 1/16" off each side of the plug and then it fit into the cluster connector. The factory connector plug fit into the tee mating connector just fine.
Then, I did not get the production throttle connector fully inserted inside the module. The pins on the board were not making full contact with the sockets in the connector. After I made sure that it was fully seated and re-secured the connector with the tie-wrap that problem was solved.
The third thing was when I was snapping the cover back onto the CC module, I inadvertently was sliding the lid into place causing a tab in the lid to move the enable/disable switch into the disable position. It took me about three times opening it up to realize what I was doing wrong. When I finally wised up and snapped the cover straight down onto the box, it worked.
However, I still encounter a problem using the cruise when climbing any grades. Not necessarily a long grade either. What happens is this: while driving with the transmission in the Auto mode ("D") on an up grade, the transmission fails to downshift, the "Down" arrow appears on the shift indicator display, then the triangle warning light comes on and the cruise disengages, but does not return full manual throttle control to the driver. Holding the throttle to the floor feels like less than half throttle. I can only limp to the side of the road, turn off the ignition, start the engine, shut it off, start, off, start, off and start again before the warning lamp goes out and I can return to normal driving. (I also have a ScanMasterII and I have scanned the system and there has never been a code set.)
The first time this happened was when I was driving from Yuma to Phoenix on Interstate 8. I was just passing a line of tractor trailers doing about 75 mph and along side the lead truck when the Interstate went over a cross road near Tacna and the smart seemingly lost power. Fortunately, I had enough momentum and speed to get past the truck and was able to pull to the shoulder and stop without becoming a new hood ornament for a Peterbuilt.
I have tested all functions of the cruise and on level ground it works great. I can even set the cruise at, say 55mph, and then come to a stop, accelerate manually to about 30 mph and then re-engage the cruise, and it will continue accelerating, shifting from 3rd to 4th and to 5th with no problems. But it will not downshift in "auto" mode without encountering this "undocumented feature".
When I contacted MDC in Germany with the problem, the response was "Please use the c.c. only with automatic gear."
Great advice, but I was only using it in the automatic mode. However, I found that if I pull the shifter over into the manual mode, I can downshift the transmission myself with the cruise engaged without any problems.
Earlier this year I had to work in the Las Vegas area and I drove from Phoenix to 'Vegas every Monday and back again on Friday for 10 weeks straight. I was able to use the cruise if I manually shifted. The cruise would even hold the little car at 70mph in 3rd on the mountain grades north of Wickenburg as long as I did the shifting.
Anyone else encounter problems with the MDC Cruise Control on their smart?
Oops, sorry about this being so long. But if you got this far, I must have got your attention. 8^)
Earl

[John_H]

Your conditions where the smart enters "limp mode" sounds like the same conditions where another SCOA member was encountering the kickdown: the downshift drops two gears at once as if you're foot-to-the-floor trying to pass someone. If the MDC control over that feature is somehow crossed or shorted with something else, it sure could explain the behavior you've witnessed.

Boris? What can you do for Earl?

[SmartMadness]

Earl,

Give us a call when you have time. Ask for Tim and we will see what we can do to help.

Boris