Hill Hold

[wai]

Going through the manual for my Caddy Maxi Life, it says that if you stop on an incline greater than 5%, then the brake pressure is held for up to 2 seconds after you release the brake to stop you rolling back.

Now in the nearly 4 months I have had the Caddy, I have never been able to get this working until now, and it has led to some very touchy (no pun intended) situations.

So, I resigned myself to it not working and so decided to use the handbrake to hold the car, also realising that if you just have the handbrake on and the DSG in drive, the clutch will actually try to engage.

When I got to the first incline where I had to stop, I had my foot on the brake and I pulled up the handbrake. For some reason I had to partially release the brake, and when I put my foot back on it, I noticed the pedal was rock hard even after I released the handbrake. I actually thought something was wrong, but when I drove off there was absolutely no rolling back.

So it looks like you need to pull up the handbrake, then press and hold the foot brake to set it, and then release the handbrake. Now as you want to move off, release the foot brake and press the accelerator, and the hill hold now works.

I have tried to search for information on this from VW, but nothing. All I know is that it does not work automatically, and has to be set.

[Umai Naa!!]

You need to meet all the pre-requisits for it to work. Most importantly, is your seatbelt on?

You don't need to use the park brake to activate it. Your car needs to be stationary for a moment, before it will hold.

We had one crazy customer, who throught she could use it to hold the car while she hopped out to open her front gates.

[wai]

You need to meet all the pre-requisits for it to work. Most importantly, is your seatbelt on?

You don't need to use the park brake to activate it. Your car needs to be stationary for a moment, before it will hold.

We had one crazy customer, who throught she could use it to hold the car while she hopped out to open her front gates.

Well, I am driving; my seat belt is buclked; the transmission is in D; the engine is on; the vehicle is brought to a stop with the foot brake on an incline exceeding the 5% requirement and the foot remains on the brake. This is at traffic lights, so it is not a momentary stop.

According to the manual, it should activate automatically, however when it comes time to move off I lift my foot from the brake and move it to the accelerator. Again, according to the manual, the brakes should be held with the same brake pressure you had while stopped for a maximum of 2 seconds. That does not happen here, and the vehicle will roll back immediately.

Now, if I come to a stop on an incline exceeding 5% under these exact same conditions, only if I now apply the handbrake and reapply the foot brake, the foot brake comes up solid. I can now release the handbrake and maintain that brake pressure and as long as I do not remove my foot from the pedal for more than 2 seconds, the brake pedal will feel solid and the hill hold will still be engaged. I can now remove my foot from the foot brake and I have 2 seconds to start moving off or re-apply the foot brake without the car moving at all.

It is just that it does not activate automatically.

[Umai Naa!!]

I believe there's a setting for it in the Multi-Function Display. It's called 'Autohold'. Make sure the box is checked.

[Hayman002]

well in my EOS all I need to is come to a stop, foot on brake, then release brake and accelerate, vehicle holds for 1-2 seconds.

[wai]

I believe there's a setting for it in the Multi-Function Display. It's called 'Autohold'. Make sure the box is checked.

I could not find this on my Caddy. Do you have the menu sequence to get to it?

I have been doing some more testing, and the handbrake does not need to be set. It is just that you have to release and then press the foot brake again to get it to activate properly, and on releasing the foot brake, the car rolls back.

It appears it all comes down to the brake pressure that is sensed when the car comes to a full stop. When I brake, I gradually release the the pressure as I come to a stop so as not to have that sudden stop at the end. Unfortunately this easing of the brake pressure means that the pressure sensed when coming to a full stop is insufficient to provide any effective hill hold, and so sees the car roll back. By releasing and pressing the brake again, a brake pressure needed to hold the car on a hill is achieved (no need to modulate it to prevent a sudden stop) and so it works properly. Using the handbrake just prevents any rolling back while the system is activated properly. No big issue.

Talking to a friend who has a similar vehicle, it turns out that he has a similar issue and his solution was to just stomp on the accelerator. Parallel parking on an incline is something that he avoided because of this. After letting him know how to get things working as they should, he is a little more comfortable with parking in such places.

I suppose things like this will have issues under certain circumstances. It is like the issue I have had with automatic gear changes after traveling up a very steep incline and then immediately driving on a level surface at the top. The incline sensor is damped (rather heavily) so as not to keep switching to rapidly. Everything is OK for the majority of situations. Then along comes one which is outside the range, and so I have had to adapt by making that up shift manually.

[phantomcamel]

Wai "Auto-hold" and "Hill-hold" are two different systems - the Caddy doe NOT have "auto-hold"; the hill-hold in the Caddy simply holds the breaks for a few seocnds on an incline

[Lams]

sounds like you have the correct procedure to make it work

next time try this - when you stop, press the brake pedal hard. release it slightly and reapply the brakes - the resistance should be harder.

Mine works as the manual describes - it doesn't work in Neutral. and yes handbrake seems to have no communication with the DSG the car will try to move with the handbrake on

after 9 months I'm still not liking the DSG... why VW doesn't give us the choice of a manual - no idea

[wai]

Wai "Auto-hold" and "Hill-hold" are two different systems - the Caddy doe NOT have "auto-hold"; the hill-hold in the Caddy simply holds the breaks for a few seocnds on an incline

I am aware that it has Hill Hold and not Auto Hold in that I have to keep my foot on the brake as if I lift off for more than 2 seconds it will release. My issues is getting it to activate.

---------- Post added at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

sounds like you have the correct procedure to make it work

next time try this - when you stop, press the brake pedal hard. release it slightly and reapply the brakes - the resistance should be harder.

I am experimenting with things, and I can get it to activate without having to use the handbrake as long as the slope is not too steep. The problem with slopes and getting this to activate is that the steeper the slope, the more you need it, and the less brake force you need to apply to bring the vehicle to a stop, so the less hill hold brake force you will have UNLESS you release and reapply the brake with a higher force. It is a Catch 22 situation.

Anyhow, understanding the animal gets you 90% of the way to using it effectively

Don;t know how I did the merge post!!!!!!!!

[Lams]

hey yeah, merge post, what is with that!
you could brake slightly to a stop on a steep hill and once the bus is stationary stomp on it hard to activate hill hold. Come to think of it that's what I do these days
Got 999km out of a tank this week, but I was already at the servo. I'll leave the 1000 record for another day!