My 2001 b5 comes equipped with electronic differential lock (EDL). It's my understanding that most b5's don't come with this feature, so let me know if I should post this thread elsewhere. I don't find this feature very useful as it just seems to get in the way. It seems to do nothing other than prevent me from launching properly and keep me from intentionally losing traction. It's very important to me that I'm able to launch properly, and it just doesn't seem possible with EDL getting in the way. I'm open to suggestions on why I shouldn't disable it, but I'm pretty sure I want it gone. If I understand correctly, this feature just applies the brakes to whichever wheel(s) the ABS notices is slipping. The only useful application I can think of for this would be if the car is stuck somewhere and I needed to get some traction without allowing any of the wheels to slip.

I know that EDL is part of the ABS system and I've heard that disabling the ABS also disables EDL. Please reassure me that this is true. I think ABS is useful for typical everyday driving but I'd also like to be able to drive without it if need be so I'm thinking of installing an ABS on/off switch so I can disable both ABS and EDL whenever I want.

So my question is, can/should I completely disable my ABS and EDL? if so, then how can I do it without adverse consequences or a CEL? Would I be able to turn the ABS on and off without restarting the car? If so, would it be harmful to keep switching back and forth between on and off while driving?

 

I can't give you an exact answer, but a number of Jeep guys remove the ABS fuse while on the trails so the car WILL stop on a steep grade or whatever. No CEL just the normal ABS light. You could always just pull the fuse, go for a test drive then replace to see.

 

That was my initial solution, I tried it and my car wouldn't even start. Good thinking though.

 

On my '99 non-quattro, no EDL. Lost the ABS module(VAG unable to find ABS module during scan). I disconnected the ABS wire bundle at under hood controller first to see if any effects were noted. Still same constant ABS light, no cell. Pulled ABS controller off, same ABS light.

You might try removing the power to your ABS controller under the hood before you start cutting wires. ABS has two plugs. One large with numerous wires on side (easy to remove). One under the controller two wires (much harder to remove without pulling the controller). I believe that was the power to unit(please look that up on wiring schematic). Manual says to disconnect battery before removing or installing. I just pulled the fuses.

Just a thought.

 

I unplugged both wire connectors on two separate occasions. Unplugging the larger connector resulted in a flashing ABS light and beeping upon start up. It seemed to disable the EDL though, I was able to do a complete burnout with relative ease.

On Vortex they suggested unplugging the lower connector to disable ABS without problems. I tried this, but didn't notice any difference. I'll try it again just to be sure.

 

Is there not a switch directly to the left of the hazard lights that disables this feature?

-Tyler

 

YOu might want to check with the B5 S4 owners because they have a way of turning it off using a wire and switch to the ECU IIRC.


The EDL shouldn't kick in unless 1 wheel is spinning less then the others, even if the rears are spinning quicker then the fronts it shouldn't slam on the brakes. All A4's have EDL, but not all have ESP.

I had no problems launching my 2000 A4 for 6+ years, but once my left front ABS sensor went bad the car kept putting the brakes on for the back 2 wheels. I snapped a rear output shaft during a launch, then found the problem. You might want to check to see if you have a bad ABS sensor. Since then I just leave my ABS harness unplugged for launching.

A bad abs sensor will also make the car pull to one side when you first hit the brake pedal.


Screaming Demons - You are thinking of the ESP switch and is a different feature.

 

oh thanks for clarifying. So all of the A4's have EDL, even the quattro ones?

 

Pretty much.

The manually locking rear differential from the earlier generations was replaced with a conventional open differential, with "Electronic Differential Lock" (EDL) (which detects wheelspin via ABS road wheel speed sensors, and applies brakes to the one spinning wheel, thus transferring torque via open differential to the opposite wheel which has more traction). EDL works at speeds up to 80 km/h (50 mph) on all quattro models (on non-quattro models: up to 40 km/h (25 mph).


The reason they did it this way is because our Torsen actually sends the tq/power to the wheel that has the least amount of resistance. So when the brake is applied to 1 wheel the other wheel ends up with less resistance and then the power is transfered to that one. This is why our cars go no where when one of the CV joints or axles snap.