Cigarette lighter charging is affecting my car making power?
Discussion
So... I've had an issue now for a very long time in that my car keeps changing how it feels when you accelerate/constant throttle. It is first felt through the pedal as a kind of resistance, it varies in amount but the heavier the resistance gets the more sluggish the car is to respond when moving off from a stop or putting your foot down, however occasionally with no trigger it will change and i notice the pedal feels much lighter, the car moves immediately from a stop and goes like stink when you put your foot down and feels like it is revving nicer. it feels right like you imagine it is supposed to feel all the time but then it goes back to some having some resistance again and the cycle continues.
Today by chance i was driving along and it was being perfect the whole journey, i realized when i stopped that i had unplugged everything from the two cigarette lighter ports the night before when i was doing tyre pressures.
(Car is a 1 series coupe) The car has a cigarette lighter under the armrest and one in the ashtray just ahead of the gear selector stick. The things i had plugged in were :
-A ''ozio'' extension lead thingy that was plugged into in the armrest port, gives you two cigarette lighter ports and 1k mah usb charging port, this had a cigarette lighter essential oil diffuser plugged into it running all the time
-Aukey adapter plugged into the other cigarette port on the ''ozio'' that turns cigarette lighter into two usb 2.4mah ports - the one with the really low profile.
So I've been having a play around with it and it seems that i can use the cigarette lighter port in the ashtray and it still keeps the preferred behavior, but just as i was getting home it seemed to gain a bit of resistance again which makes me believe my wired in dashcam may be doing something....
I had no idea this was even possible and so have posted this firstly to see what you all think might have been happening behind the scenes when i had everything plugged in and secondly to possibly help anyone who might be chasing a similar ghost.
Today by chance i was driving along and it was being perfect the whole journey, i realized when i stopped that i had unplugged everything from the two cigarette lighter ports the night before when i was doing tyre pressures.
(Car is a 1 series coupe) The car has a cigarette lighter under the armrest and one in the ashtray just ahead of the gear selector stick. The things i had plugged in were :
-A ''ozio'' extension lead thingy that was plugged into in the armrest port, gives you two cigarette lighter ports and 1k mah usb charging port, this had a cigarette lighter essential oil diffuser plugged into it running all the time
-Aukey adapter plugged into the other cigarette port on the ''ozio'' that turns cigarette lighter into two usb 2.4mah ports - the one with the really low profile.
So I've been having a play around with it and it seems that i can use the cigarette lighter port in the ashtray and it still keeps the preferred behavior, but just as i was getting home it seemed to gain a bit of resistance again which makes me believe my wired in dashcam may be doing something....
I had no idea this was even possible and so have posted this firstly to see what you all think might have been happening behind the scenes when i had everything plugged in and secondly to possibly help anyone who might be chasing a similar ghost.
Firstly I don't think it's like my missus had with her KA back in the dat, where the old Aircon compressor robbing its 60 horsepower motor of power.
But might it be enough to drop the voltage going to the drive by wire throttle, and therefore affect the output from that?
Someone clevererer than me will have to answer that question.
But might it be enough to drop the voltage going to the drive by wire throttle, and therefore affect the output from that?
Someone clevererer than me will have to answer that question.
TooMany2cvs said:
Sorry, just to get this straight, you think plugging something into the ciggy socket makes the throttle pedal heavier to push?
No, I *may* have only concentrated on half the story. I'm wondering if for x distance travelled on the throttle, the output voltage *could* vary enough to make a noticeable difference in the response. Especially in tandem with the "managed" alternators on modern cars.
As an anecdote, I had a similar problem with the throttle feeling as if it had more resistance sometimes.
When I investigated I fould a rogue foam earplug nestled behind the floor mounted accelerator pedal.
talksthetorque said:
I'm wondering if for x distance travelled on the throttle, the output voltage *could* vary enough to make a noticeable difference in the response. Especially in tandem with the "managed" alternators on modern cars.
If it does, something's broken.All the TPS does is vary resistance. The ECU should be perfectly able to cope with everything else.
TooMany2cvs said:
Sorry, just to get this straight, you think plugging something into the ciggy socket makes the throttle pedal heavier to push?
TooMany2cvs said:
If it does, something's broken.
All the TPS does is vary resistance. The ECU should be perfectly able to cope with everything else.
Yes. All the TPS does is vary resistance. The ECU should be perfectly able to cope with everything else.
I spoke to both a bmw specialist and a auto transmission specialist, both confirmed i could be experiencing the issue due to a possible ground fault, upon further playing around today its so clearly the cause of the issue that i figured id confirm that yes, this can be a legitimate problem.
Edited by 457892345 on Thursday 4th October 12:43
Edited by 457892345 on Thursday 4th October 12:44
Any throttle pedal whether mechanically linked or fly by wire will be spring loaded, that is the resistance you are feeling. If the resistance really changes it is a mechanical issue.
If the engine response changes - on a fly by wire system - that is something else altogether. Maybe you are confusing the two, because poor response will require more throttle - indeed one way to make a car "faster" (in feel only) is to fit a weaker throttle spring.
If the engine response changes - on a fly by wire system - that is something else altogether. Maybe you are confusing the two, because poor response will require more throttle - indeed one way to make a car "faster" (in feel only) is to fit a weaker throttle spring.
457892345 said:
I spoke to both a bmw specialist and a auto transmission specialist, both confirmed i could be experiencing the issue due to a possible ground fault, upon further playing around today its so clearly the cause of the issue that i figured id confirm that yes, this can be a legitimate problem.
It'd have to be a really crappy shared dash earth point for it to be that big a deal - and I'd have thought you'd see problems with other things, like the instruments giving weird readings, the stereo playing up, or spurious engine management fault codes.996TT02 said:
Any throttle pedal whether mechanically linked or fly by wire will be spring loaded, that is the resistance you are feeling. If the resistance really changes it is a mechanical issue.
If the engine response changes - on a fly by wire system - that is something else altogether. Maybe you are confusing the two, because poor response will require more throttle - indeed one way to make a car "faster" (in feel only) is to fit a weaker throttle spring.
Pedal resistance was the only way i could think to describe the feeling succinctly, its almost certainly nothing to do with the pedal itself and more engine/ecu/trans related and manifests itself in the sluggishness, harsh gear changes and resistance through the pedal i described. If the engine response changes - on a fly by wire system - that is something else altogether. Maybe you are confusing the two, because poor response will require more throttle - indeed one way to make a car "faster" (in feel only) is to fit a weaker throttle spring.
TooMany2cvs said:
If it does, something's broken.
All the TPS does is vary resistance. The ECU should be perfectly able to cope with everything else.
Some of those cig lighter USB chargers are extremely noisy electrically, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that noise is getting injected into the throttle pedal sensor, through either a grounding fault or poor noise suppression/layout of the wiring loom.All the TPS does is vary resistance. The ECU should be perfectly able to cope with everything else.
TooMany2cvs said:
It'd have to be a really crappy shared dash earth point for it to be that big a deal - and I'd have thought you'd see problems with other things, like the instruments giving weird readings, the stereo playing up, or spurious engine management fault codes.
I cant profess to know whats going on technically, with regard to fault codes it did just have a temp sensor replaced in the vain attempt to fix this issue, perhaps it was fine and this was causing it? I seem to remember airbag codes being on for no good reason when i had it checked over a while back, the stero is an aftermarket headunit so perhaps partly responsible in some form? Havent noticed any issues with it though... Also mpg reading was poor but i suspect will now improve.Mr2Mike said:
Some of those cig lighter USB chargers are extremely noisy electrically, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that noise is getting injected into the throttle pedal sensor, through either a grounding fault or poor noise suppression/layout of the wiring loom.
Always nice to hear im not crazy, do you think both lighter ports would be equally affected if this were the case? Knowing this i could test if its something f
ked with the car or if its the adapter itself thats dodgy. Edited by 457892345 on Thursday 4th October 13:14
Ok, so after some more playing around i've come to the conclusion the culprit is this hateful thing, reviews seem to suggest other people having similar issues : https://www.amazon.co.uk/AUKEY-Charger-Adaptor-Pro...
It causes different problems for me depending on which port i plug it into, the ashtray port issues manifest as increased steering effort/less road feel on the wheel and the armrest one as screwing up the engine/trans/throttle response.
My mpg has increased by 20 since unplugging it, when i add up my mileage and ghost buster mechanic fees this has very likely cost me >£1000+!
So now i need a replacement that won't cause such issues. Aukey have a newer very similar low profile charger also now with 3.0 charging but given my experience with their first attempt i will avoid it like the plague... Have found something else that looks promising from https://www.navboys.com/DOUBLEUSB.html that despite the extra cost i think will prove it be well worth it.
Will test it and the ozio+ diffuser together to see if it was solely the aukeys fault like i suspect and will update this post with findings, utterly disgusting that a company can sell such a poorly designed product and get away with it as they have.
It causes different problems for me depending on which port i plug it into, the ashtray port issues manifest as increased steering effort/less road feel on the wheel and the armrest one as screwing up the engine/trans/throttle response.
My mpg has increased by 20 since unplugging it, when i add up my mileage and ghost buster mechanic fees this has very likely cost me >£1000+!
So now i need a replacement that won't cause such issues. Aukey have a newer very similar low profile charger also now with 3.0 charging but given my experience with their first attempt i will avoid it like the plague... Have found something else that looks promising from https://www.navboys.com/DOUBLEUSB.html that despite the extra cost i think will prove it be well worth it.
Will test it and the ozio+ diffuser together to see if it was solely the aukeys fault like i suspect and will update this post with findings, utterly disgusting that a company can sell such a poorly designed product and get away with it as they have.
457892345 said:
Yes.
I spoke to both a bmw specialist and a auto transmission specialist, both confirmed i could be experiencing the issue due to a possible ground fault, upon further playing around today its so clearly the cause of the issue that i figured id confirm that yes, this can be a legitimate problem.
Hopefully case solved..!!I spoke to both a bmw specialist and a auto transmission specialist, both confirmed i could be experiencing the issue due to a possible ground fault, upon further playing around today its so clearly the cause of the issue that i figured id confirm that yes, this can be a legitimate problem.
Edited by 457892345 on Thursday 4th October 12:43
Edited by 457892345 on Thursday 4th October 12:44
457892345 said:
Ok, so after some more playing around i've come to the conclusion the culprit is this hateful thing, reviews seem to suggest other people having similar issues : https://www.amazon.co.uk/AUKEY-Charger-Adaptor-Pro...
£8.99!Off Ebay something similar and likely without any problems, $0.99...
457892345 said:
So now i need a replacement that won't cause such issues.
Electrical noise does seem like a credible explanation. If that's the problem, and given that the device causing the noise is consuming very little power, you could probably address it by filtering at the source to prevent the noise traveling back into the rest of the loom. You'd need to access the back of the socket and connect a filter to it.996TT02 said:
£8.99!
Off Ebay something similar and likely without any problems, $0.99...
Ironically, I thought that by paying that bit extra i'd get a quality product. It also needs to be low profile and at the time i think this was the only thing that fitted the bill.Off Ebay something similar and likely without any problems, $0.99...
After having these problems the last thing i plan on doing is cheaping out. The replacement i've just bought cost £28, but i figure its a piss in the wind compared to the cumulative cost of what this aukey one cost me.
GreenV8S said:
Electrical noise does seem like a credible explanation. If that's the problem, and given that the device causing the noise is consuming very little power, you could probably address it by filtering at the source to prevent the noise traveling back into the rest of the loom. You'd need to access the back of the socket and connect a filter to it.
I think ill get it looked at when car is next serviced, just to see if anything is wrong or can be done prevent any issues like this in the future if possible/economical.Edited by 457892345 on Sunday 7th October 00:42
Interesting thread, considering how modern cars are packed with electronics I'm surprised there aren't more threads like this.
To the OP, do you need all the powered stuff plugged into the car as I am sure BMW didn't design the cigarette lighter socket to give out the amount of power you appear to need.
It does sound like the issue is more user error but of more concern is this having a detrimental effect on what I would suggest are critical vehicle controls and that you are aware of this but carry on regardless.
Take all the crap devices out of the sockets and use one device at a time and we will patiently wait for the 'My steering stopped working and I crashed the car' thread to appear.
To the OP, do you need all the powered stuff plugged into the car as I am sure BMW didn't design the cigarette lighter socket to give out the amount of power you appear to need.
It does sound like the issue is more user error but of more concern is this having a detrimental effect on what I would suggest are critical vehicle controls and that you are aware of this but carry on regardless.
Take all the crap devices out of the sockets and use one device at a time and we will patiently wait for the 'My steering stopped working and I crashed the car' thread to appear.
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