So I wonder if I stumbled upon something while doing this mod. I am not sure if I did it right or not. I'm wondering if the wiring and the colors are a little different from the manual and auto cars (mine being manual, SYCO being auto).

First I sourced a PepBoys Pilot brand 12v-20amp toggle switch. It only had two leads on it, so I figured it was the way to go. Second, the "Orange" wire in my harness had some additional hatch marks on it, it was not a solid orange.

When I spliced into the system and turned the car on (with the switch in the closed normal function position), the VDC-Off and Slip lights remain on. Flicking the switch to an open connection causes the ABS light to appear. The dash mounted VDC button is inactive at all times and the VDC-Off/slip lights are on all of the time.

This was fine over the weekend while I raced, but its not an ideal situation for me in the long term. So I guess I need to get back in there and see if there is an alternative wire to choose because obviously my setup is not functioning per this little DIY we have going on. Which kind makes me wonder if its a model year and/or trans difference issue.

I also need to remount the toggle, because where it is now doesnt allow me to open my cup holder area all of the way which is kind of annoying. I guess thats what I get for rushing into something.

 

If you turn on the car with the switch in the "open connection " position what's happening ?? Because at first, the ABS light when flicking the switch is what I experience. It looks like your open or close positions are maybe reversed from what I read.

 

In short, when I turn on the car with the switch in an open position (switch off), I have three lights, VDC/Slip/ABS all lit up. When the switch is closed (switch on position) I have only the VDC/Slip lights on.

Long story:
It was my understanding that when installing this additional VDC/YAW box switch that the OEM switch would function normally. Giving you the ability to turn off/on the VDC from the dash like OEM plus give you the ability to completely turn it off via the second switch (activating the slip light).

I understand that in normal operation of this mod that the car has to be recycled after the override switch has been activated when you want to go back to normal VDC-active use.

With the second override switch in place and in the closed position meaning the switch is technically invisible to the OEM wiring and sensors, my VDC and Slip lights are on all of the time and the OEM switch is non-responsive. Meaning I have no tractional control other than ABS. When I activate the second override switch (i.e. open position, breaking the connection), my ABS light comes on in addition to the VDC/Slip lights.

So did I pick the wrong wire? It was orange with some hash marks on it (silver hash marks I think). Like I said above, I thought installing this switch would allow my car to behave normally and allow me to use the OEM switch in addition to the override switch which is not the case I am experiencing.

 

You're absolutely right...

Then the only problem I see is that your switch is defective. Because even if it is the wrong wire (which I doubt) then flipping the switch to the "invisible to the system" position it would let the car behave like OEM whatever wire was cut it should be "uncut" with the switch in that position like you already know I'm sure...

Did you try removing the switch to see if everything was back to normal ? Then maybe I suggest you try to manually open and close the circuit (wire) to see how it goes.

 

you are "cycling" the system right? Turning car completely off before you flip the switch to closed position which puts it back to normal.

 

Absolutely. For instance, when I installed the switch (battery disconnected obviously) and secured all of the connections and powered everything back up with the switch closed (switch invisible to system) the system should have responded normally as if it wasnt there. However, I noticed immediately that the VDC/slip lights were activated. So I turned the switch to another position, turned off the car completely and restarted, which gave me three lights (VDC/SLIP/ABS). So I feel as though I installed it correctly, but I was worried I picked the wrong wire or possibly picked the wrong switch.

The switch is a 12V-20AMP two connection toggle switch from Pilot (pep-boys). Is that an ideal switch spec or do I need to change something up?

I'm also curious if it could be a wire to wire issue. I wasn't sure what type of wire to use so i had a few types with me. Most of them were too big so I sourced some wiring from an older Nissan parts car that was nearby. Ended up using some similar gauge wire from an ignition system. Should I try to seek out a better wire? I need to re-do the wire anyway because where I have it mounted sucks, so I need to make it longer and reposition the switch.

I'll give the wire to wire connection a shot. I guess simply connecting the cut wire to itself and then disconnecting it will suffice?

I'll give it all another shot and try to take pictures of everything before and after.

 

^is it possible that if you mistakenly toggled that switch while it's still running(ignition on) and triggered a fault code or in this case, the SLIP light. If that's the case, I'm thinking it's embedded in the memory and have to be resetted by disconnecting or the pedal reset procedure....just my guess.

 

Thats a good thought, but I doubt it since I am the only one experiencing this specific issue of the system being completely disable all of the time and the switch activating or deactivating the ABS.

The switch only activates and deactivates the ABS and it doesnt seem to be affected by turning the car off or not. No one else who has done this mod is seeing the ABS light like I am and they have full function of the OEM VDC button unlike myself.

Anyone have a suggestion on the specs I need to look for on the switch and wires? i would have thought a 12v-20amp would have sufficed, but maybe I am wrong.

 

Before we begin, do this at your own risk, no one but you is responsible.

So I got back into it again with my VDC override. I've been riding all summer with it completely shut-off with no control of it whatsoever and I couldnt use my cupholder because of where I had the switch mounted.

I got back in there this weekend and took everything apart and did things a little differently. So the first time I did it, I used a simple Pilot switch I bought from Pep Boys and some random wire I pulled from a junk car. I soldered it all together and successfully disable my VDC, but I had no way of turning it back on. This had me worried that I picked the wrong wire to tap into, used the wrong wire size for the switch or the switch was bad or incorrect.

So this time I got some better sized wire, more connectors and a better quality switch from an electronics store. Here is what I did:

22-guage wire (20-guage is better)
20-24 guage male and female connectors (closer to 20-guage preferred)
20-24 guage butt-connectors (closer to 20-guage preferred)
12V single pole single throw two connector switch
electrical tape a must, wire loom wrape a plus.
***Do this with your battery disconnected.









So you can clearly see where I made the connections and where I mounted it. If its not too clear, I mounted the switch on the passenger side next to the a mounting rib where the screw hole goes to secure the arm rest console.

To correct my first attempt, I cut the old wiring off and attached a butt connector to each end of the OE-wire (once cut, that is one from the VDC box and one from the harness loom). I then added a good length of wire to each butt connector and then gave one end a female and the other a male connector. This allows me to go back to a stock like condition and operate 100% like stock. The next thing I did was wire up a male/female setup to connect to the switch and to tap into the other male/female connectors.

The main wiring leads come from the orange wire that goes from the VDC box into the main harness loom. Here's a detailed diagram of the setup:



The only things I can stress is to make sure your soldering/crimping connections are solid. If they are not, you may find your self frustated chasing down loose connections. Also, the car might go through an ECU re-learn process which can affect start up idle and might also cause the VDC/Slip lights to activate randomly (could have been from the loose connections, I am just giving you a heads up).

 

Hadn't seen this thread before, great info! Those who say that VDC doesn't kick in with the switch off should try trail-braking and come back and report...

 

I know this thread is near dead.. But please help.

I have a 2007 G35S sedan / automatic. Even with VDC turned off, TCS still engages with wheel spin. Although, i did only attempt it with the brakes applied, is it just the ABSL activating? If i attempt to do a turn/donut without the brakes, will the wheels spin freely? I'm very curious, for if this is the case, i'm going to work on installing the switch that is being discussed here in this forum. Any help will be appreciated, thanks.

 

No idea about the 2007 but with my 2003 I can do donuts with the vdc turned off and eventually both my vdc and slip lights will stay lit till i turn the car off and back on. But i cant do a standing burnout because even with vdc turned off if i touch the brakes it bogs down because it thinks im accidently hitting the gas and the brake at the same time so it intervenes. For my car , like the original poster said, only way is to either take out fuses which also disables abs or disconnect/switch the module in the center console. This seems to be the general consensus among most people. If you try and burnout without the brakes you will probably just do a rolling burnout until redline and eventually stop spinning like my car does with it turned off unless you just have so much power you don't need to use any brakes which i doubt =).

 

used connectors in a way so that if i want, i can connect that wire back like it was and take the switch out completely

 

I did this and it works but I couldnt get it to come back on. Posted a thread but no replies. I even tried just straight up wire to wire reconnecting and still couldnt get the vdc to come back on even after key cycles and leaving the battery disconnected for a few hours. I never used it and i always found myself in situations where it actually hindered me because i need the tq and with it comes a little wheelspin. I don't mind it off just hate the lights always being on. I plan on redoing the led's in my dash anyhow so ill just leave those out but does anyone know why I cant get it to come back on? Rigged up the switch to the orange wire and that or reconnecting didnt work so.

Thanks

 

It has to be the wiring connection. I had issues with mine when I first did it, so I would seriously re-attempt the wiring and make sure all of your connections are very good. Especially if you are trying to reconnect the OEM wire to itself sans switch wires, it should work. So I can only speculate the connections you are making are not that great, sorry.

Best of luck!