I was thinking (I know, I shouldn't do that)...

How hard could it be to build a simple device to disable the reverse shutdown requirement in MN6 cars? Obviously there is a reverse switch somewhere because the car can detect when the car is in reverse. Just build a simple circuit that taps into the wire(s) on the reverse switch so that it "emulates" the car being in reverse the moment you press your off switch.

All you'd need is a device that sends the "I'm in reverse" signal from the tranny sensor wire, and it only sends this signal when in accessory power mode. That's all it should take! When you shut down and you are not in reverse, the car automatically switches to accessory power (which is what kills the battery). The device I have in mind would be "dormant" while the engine is running (because you're not in accessory power mode), but as soon as you park in first gear, fifth gear, neutral, etc. the following happens:

(1) Press the off switch and the car goes into accessory power mode and the "reverse emulator" wakes up and emulates the reverse switch being on.

(2) Computer sees the "I'm in reverse" signal, that completes the shutdown sequence, and accessory power turns off.

(3) Because accessory power is off, the "reverse emulator" device also turns off, it has done its job, and it's now out of the picture. This should work because as long as you shut down in reverse, you can move to any gear you want after you've shut down and the car won't care once it has checked for reverse the first time. Once the car fully shuts down, it never checks for reverse again until you power the car back up.

This would even work when you get back in the car and press the accessory power button: the reverse emulator would wake back up, emulate reverse while accessory power is on, and once you turn it off, it goes to sleep.

Seems like a simple circuit... for a solder-head. No?

Mike

 

Get a patent.

 

It should be simple to do. There must be a switch on top or side of the transmission or shifter that could be tapped into. I have been thinking about that also. So far I have not had a problem with DBS, but if I do I will look into it.

 

Should be easy. You could call it an _off_ switch.

It they work hard at it, I bet a junior engineer at GM could do it (but just try getting it past a senior engineer).

Seriously, perhaps they listened and got it right for the '06???

 

If you make that, and a plug in that makes the TCS/AH system default to competitive driving mode upon startup, I'll buy.

A GTO owner made a switch that made the GTO's TCS default to off instead of on, I think I've got the wiring diagram somehwere, but have no idea how to make it....

 

Sounds like a great idea!

It will need some more thinking to make it work properly...the biggest fault I can see right away is your #1....

(1) Press the off switch and the car goes into accessory power mode and the "reverse emulator" wakes up and emulates the reverse switch being on.

You are asumming that your device will reconize the "accessory power mode" but accessory power and "run" power mode are virtually the same power. I'm sure though with a little thought there would be a work around.

 

please explain to me in simple terms "what is so hard about putting the C-6 in reverse" we auto drivers put it in park all the time.

 

It's not the same. My automatic will not shut down properly if it is not in park. I cannot remove the key for one thing, in addition bell's go off. On my C6 you could put it into 5th and think it is in reverse. I know there is a warning and I have not had the problem yet but we are human and it will happen.

 

It's a problem because it's the ONLY car in the world that requires it!
Your wife, your neighbor, your window tinter, repair and stereo guys will not do it, even with a warning label on the shifter and a lesson.

ALL autos go in park, so that's never gunna be a problem.

 

Great response.

One more thing - why have the 'reverse for shutdown' mandated in the MN6?

Is it safety requirement? No.

Does it make the car harder to steal? No.

Does it do anything but aggravate Corvette owners? Yes.

GM: Attempt to listen to owners for a change, and not to that dumb a$$ engineer that designed this not needed feature into the C6.

 

the engine in my C-6 auto can be shut off in neutral but the car stays in accessory mode,radio stays on,so i am also required to put the shifter in one certain gear,park, for complete shutdown so it sounds to me like i have the same condition as the 6 speed owners,correct,so why should the 6 speed owners complain????

 

As I recall it does have some relationship to safety, column lockout and/or powering off. I'm sorry I don't recall the specifics, but there is something Federal behind all this.They picked the reverse gear since it provides the most rolling resistance to inadvertent car movement.

 

Sorry to be repetitious...

It's a problem because it's the ONLY car in the world that requires it!
Your wife, your neighbor, your window tinter, repair and stereo guys will not do it, even with a warning label on the shifter and a lesson.

ALL autos go in park, so that's never gunna be a problem.

 

Not to be on Chevrolet's side, but I think I know how this happened. I think this was put on there as prevention for a possible lawsuit and nothing else. Somewhere in the planning stage for the C6, someone said "you know, we need to make sure this manual transmission is in gear before we allow the car to be completely turned off". Probably to eliminate the possibility of some person (dumbass) leaving it in neutral, climbing out, car rolls away hitting something or someone. Can't be the emergency brake, because someone might not pull it tight enough. So they did a quick study and said "what is the best gear to leave the transmission in to satisfy this requirement?" And the answer came back "reverse".

If you want to leave your car in first gear and turn it off you can. Shift to reverse first, turn off the car, and put it in first. I do it all the time with no battery drain problem.

Gregg.

 

When I got my first oil change at Chevy, I came to pick up the car and I noticed it was parked in 1st. I had to go in and tell the service manager to remind his techs that this could kill the battery.

So, even Chevy cannot get this right!

 

i have not owned a stick shift car since i had a new X-11 citation in 1981 and you can see by my sig that i have owned a few sticks and i always parked them in reverse because that was the lowest ratio gear in the trans and if the parking brake let loose the car would not roll away. i guess a lot of new corvette owners never had stick shift.

 

I took a friend over to see a silver 05 vert. we sat in it, she loved it and negotiated a price subject to test drive. The saleswoman got in the car to warm it up. Nothing happend, no sound at all. A few "helpful" sales man, after snickering some, offerred to help her. two salesmen
took turns trying to start it..and still nothing. Then a senior salesman said, you have the wrong keys!! New keys...still no engine crank or even that clicking low battery sound. My friend who was hot to buy said...if you guys cant start it without jumping it, Im not buying it.

The following day a manager called her and said they forgot to shut it off in reverse so the battery was dead. She replied, I really wanted an automatic anyway"

 

I've put the car in reverse everytime I've park it, don't have a C6, but my C5 which is not mandatory to do, even my 37 year old 68 Stingray goes into reverse everytime I park it, habit, and it's simple to do

 

Wow, that is very interesting. If we take that as true, then clearly my earlier surmise that maybe the switch was not 'making' at some point after initial shutdown is blown completely out of the water, and we can discard that and move on to other possibilites. There are probably enough other clues from people who have experienced the DDBS (extra D = dreaded) that I'll bet like Sculley and Molder used to say: "The answer is out there" Of course, I would not stake my life on unsubstantiated Internet chat, but there might be enough collective wisdom and experience out there, that if it was in one place, then the answer would become obvious to some GM trained guy who happens to swing by the Forum and has acess to both that data, and the schematics to the cursed interlock scheme....

Again, I find it impossible to believe that DDBS is only happening to people 'forgetting'; even though from the rumblings it seems like the automatic owners out there are willing to think so.

 

Chevrolet has been doing this since at least 1985. My 85 beater pickup will not shut off unless it is in reverse (three speed on the column, three on the tree for all us old farts) unless you stall it. Of course, it didn't have any electronics to worry about but it doesn't surrender your key until you comply. It was (and is) done to prevent customers from getting run over by their own cars (it's happened before) because either they didn't set the emergency brake, didn't set it hard enough or it failed.