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Why are suicide knobs called so?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by alex1954chevy, Jan 1, 2009.

  1. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki





    Hello,

    While driving my wife’s car in the fast lane of the I-5 freeway, we found out that most new cars have an item called a “limp” mode. (It is not what you think…)

    An orange/yellow warning light came on and as we were in the fast lane. Knowing from all of the years of driving, that gives you plenty of time to safely change lanes and pull over to the side of the road.


    But, within seconds, a solid red light (same symbol) came on and as I tried to change lanes by accelerating, there was nothing in the gas pedal to make the car move forward. Luckily, there were openings in the traffic and we were able to “coast” into the next lanes until we were able to get off of the freeway. We actually coasted into a gas station driveway and parked in the first available spot. I was able to start the car again and move to a “tow friendly” spot.

    “Your vehicle may have one of a few types of warning. You may see a light come on that says ‘Reduced Power’, or there may be a message indicating the vehicle has purposefully initiated ‘Limp’ mode. In either case, this will be accompanied by possibly harsh downshifting, total power loss until the vehicle is moving slowly, and an unresponsive engine.

    What Does the ‘Reduced Engine Power’ Warning Light Mean?

    Modern vehicles which use this feature are pre-programmed to limit the performance of the vehicle to prevent further damage. When specific faults are detected electronically, the engine control module begins the process of limiting vehicle speed, gear range, and engine power. This can be caused by engine trouble, transmission faults, or even a bad battery.

    Can I Drive With the Reduced Engine Power Warning Light on?

    Driving with the reduced power light or message displayed is possible, but this feature is called ‘Limp Home’, which is as much as the vehicle should be driven (within reason). There is not much risk of driving in this mode, since the vehicle will not be a pleasure to drive, acceleration will be poor, gas mileage excessive on some vehicles, and shifting gears is jerky at best.

    In addition, some vehicles may disable the radio, or other non-essential accessory components. The short answer, it is best to tow the vehicle if it must travel further than a few miles. In general, it is not a good idea to operate a vehicle in limp mode, due to the overwhelming possibility of becoming stranded.”


    Computerization on modern cars is good and bad. This surprised us as we had never experienced this situation before. Calling our local mechanic and tow service drew answers like: “It went into Limp mode.” “Don’t drive it, we will come and get you.”


    Jnaki

    Driving older cruisers and hot rods did not have such a system and it surprised us to no end. We had several red light dash symbols come on over the years and it never limited the amount of power to the cars. It was an electrical malfunction, rare these days, but it made the “Limp Mode” come into play. A replacement of an electrical circuit solved the problem.
    upload_2019-2-5_4-29-48.png
    On the way to the repair shop in the tow truck, we were surprised that the driver constantly used the spinning, turn knob for this big truck. But, he was able to squeeze into some tight quarters and single car driving lanes. At the shop he finagled into the narrow spot, easily, with his huge flatbed tow truck. He commented that these spinning knobs make driving the big truck easier and fairly accurate. Yes, he remembered that when he was a teen, these spinning knobs were the rage. Today, they actually serve a purpose and a good one at that!

    Suicide knobs? Not in this case…
    He, also, did not think they were called "suicide knobs" during his younger times behind the wheel. "To each his own..."
     
    Ron Funkhouser likes this.

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