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Adaptive Cruise Control and More

70K views 205 replies 25 participants last post by  rajoana82 
#1 ·
Interesting phone call, service manager quoted me 7k to install adaptive cruise control on my 2018 compass.... for non Trailhawk compasses, 1700 to change front ends to trailhawk with steel impact bar, they also have to calibrate the radar if it’s removed. Putting on bigger tires? 97 dollars to calibrate speedo, that lets you keep the warranty on everything. The ACC they said they have to change the body control module as well as the drive train module as well.
 
#4 ·
The dealership said they would calibrate the speedo for my compass, when it comes to the ACC, the manager was a major dick about it, saying yeah they could, but putting an outrageous price on it so that most people won't think twice. I told him I have the Forward Collision Warning Plus, he still said he would have to install new body modules and drivetrain modules and that apparently adds up to 7k.... No other dealership will look at it though, so i'm going to ask for an estimate lol. I'll keep people updated as I go, but for right now, i'm saving up to do the tires and front end swap and adding the skid plates. 2500 dollars later, i'll see where I am at lol.
 
#7 ·
This is the route I'll be taking with AlfaOBD. Just working on other cars so not getting to it anytime soon.

I am 99.9% that what your dealer is asking for is wrong. There is no procedure for retrofitting the ACC, so he just made stuff up. I've seen this with my dealers up here a few times, but little did they know that I knew more about the car than they did ... sad ...

I'm willing to bet that as Jaime said, it just needs to be turned on, and maybe a module or 2 need to be flashed.
 
#8 ·
Haven't posted in a while. Been busy with other stuff. I bought the new steering wheel controls for ACC. Haven't got a chance to install them yet. Once I do, I'll enable ACC in the BCM and see if they work. My Jeep doesn't have the radar distance sensor, so that might be next if things go well with the buttons. At the very least my wheel wont have depressing blank spacers.
 
#10 ·
I was impatient and bought the part for the Cherokee instead of waiting for the part number for the 2019 compass. The wiring harness looks correct and seems like it should be a drop in replacement. Just haven't had a chance to pull the steering wheel to try it out.

68321898AA
 
#12 ·
I am very interested in how this goes.
I have a 2018 latitude with the advanced safety package, so I have the radar sensor, (forward collision and lane assist).
Seems like all I would need is the steering wheel switches, and then enable it with alfaobd.
If someone can get this to work I certainly will be buying those and turning it on.
 
#13 ·
I have the steering wheel controls, I have alfaobd, and I have the advanced safety package. But with a US manual, they don't give us the radar. So I'll try to hook up the controls and enable it, but not sure if it will be a great test of its functionality. I'd add the distance sensor if i knew it would work, but its rather pricey at round $600 to try. I'm only out $60 with the buttons.
 
#15 ·
I took a go at it today, but couldn't get the airbag cover off of the steering wheel. Looking at other vehicles, it seems I need to use a flat blade screwdriver to release some clips. Anyone know of a good how-to or some tips? I probably just need to fumble around with it some more.

I found this video for a renege. He struggled a bunch, then finally got it. After he gets it out and undone, I wish he would put the screwdriver back in and show the clip/un-clip mechanism more clearly.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Don't expect there to be the plug for the ACC in the wheel. The car will most likely have a different harness. This means you will need to get the wiring diagrams and wire it up yourself. You will also need the male and female pins, and the male connector plug that goes into the ACC switch.

You will be adding the missing wires from the switch to the clockspring, and then from the clock spring to wherever the wiring diagrams say - probably the car's main computer module and the cluster.

It is not hard. I've done this sort of thing many times retrofitting equipment and functions to my other cars. But don't expect to just pop in the switch, as I am 99% sure there will be nothing to plug it into.
 
#23 ·
Just chiming in randomly because @84z28 said
The only Jeep vehicle that you can calibrate the speedo for bigger tires is a wrangler
I noticed in AlfaOBD there is a new option in the BCM configuration changes for "Tire Circumference". I am certain that was not there before, must have came with an update at some point? It does not say what units to enter either (centimeters, millimeters, inches, etc), but we should be able to derive that from reading the stock value. I have to say, I am extremely gun-shy of plugging the obdlink mx back in after the rucus with my Uconnect screen going haywire. I managed to make all the configuration changes I wanted prior to the dealer replacing the radio, and now that everything is working the way I want it (screen not screwed up, ESS disabled, seatbelt warning disabled) I don't really want to risk it by plugging in again. My wife would rather I leave it alone too xD
 
#24 ·
I dont have much experience with the AlfaOBD, if you can calibrate a specific tire size out of the realm of the tire options that comes from the factory I would be shocked but it would be a nice step forward

Just chiming in randomly because @84z28 said


I noticed in AlfaOBD there is a new option in the BCM configuration changes for "Tire Circumference". I am certain that was not there before, must have came with an update at some point? It does not say what units to enter either (centimeters, millimeters, inches, etc), but we should be able to derive that from reading the stock value. I have to say, I am extremely gun-shy of plugging the obdlink mx back in after the rucus with my Uconnect screen going haywire. I managed to make all the configuration changes I wanted prior to the dealer replacing the radio, and now that everything is working the way I want it (screen not screwed up, ESS disabled, seatbelt warning disabled) I don't really want to risk it by plugging in again. My wife would rather I leave it alone too xD
 
#27 ·
I’m going to be doing the same, I have a fully loaded limited and based on my 20 + years in the collision repair industry, it’ll be wired for it since it’s part of the cruise switch, the question becomes is it programmed for it since it’s got the front collision. System since they already called the camera out front the adaptive cruise camera - it very well could be plug and play all depends on the BCM how it’s programmed .... trying a similar trick with the 4WD selector because there is two AT period for these .. 6 speed and 9 speed ... question is, is all the programming for 4 LOW & ROCK mode programmed in but without the switch it doesn’t exist ... I’ll be finding out soon on that as well
 
#31 ·
n4cr2k said:
Just haven't had time to mess with getting the airbag cover off the wheel. Once that is done, the rest of the testing is easy. If you can figure out the trick to popping the cover, I'll all ears.
Most of these airbags come from the same place, this looks similar to the one on a 2016 Nissan I was driving around for about 9 months before we got our Jeep. Try expanding your youtube search out to other brands and skim through checking to see if the overall design is the same as yours (two holes, likely). I had pulled my Nissan airbag out once while installing remote start on the car, it was REALLY tricky the first time I ever tried removing an airbag and I had to pull it off again because I didn't get it back in right so had an airbag light for a while. Its just not a fun part to mess with at all. But anyways I also struggled to find a good video and finally expanded out until I found one for like a Nissan truck but the wheel and airbag was very similar and finally somebody showed a GOOD inside view of what the retaining springs look like and do and it all made sense.

Be careful what you stick in there. I was desperately trying different things and at one point I stuck something like a bit extension for a drill in there that had a retention cutout near the end (the part that locks into your tool) and the airbag spring locked onto that and I could not get it out. Do NOT stick ANYTHING in those holes that is not pretty much smooth steel all the way to the end, nothing that can snag. I had to pull unbelievably hard to get that bit extension out and was very lucky not to have damaged anything. In the end two screwdrivers did the trick but it was still hard to figure out until you see a video showing the inside and how the springs work.

Seems like pretty good odds the wiring will already be in the clock spring, as others have set. Usually all these steering wheel buttons are just sets of resistor ladders so adding a couple more values probably not an issue, but they could have their own circuit maybe.



84z28 said:
How do you connect this alfaobd to the Jeep? Special cable ?
Yep AlfaOBD is just software, either in an app on your phone or on your laptop. On the AlfaOBD homepage they list the recommended bluetooth and wifi OBDII adapters that are known to work well with it. Seems like no matter which one you buy you also have to get one or two of these "adapter cables" (blue, grey) that map the correct pinouts from the OBDII port to the bluetooth adapter so it can access different parts of the CANBUS network. There seem to be a high speed and a low speed network, and one in-between or regular standard protocol that a cheap reader would be able to access normally. They cover this in detail on the AlfaOBD site too.
 
#32 ·
Most of these airbags come from the same place, this looks similar to the one on a 2016 Nissan I was driving around for about 9 months before we got our Jeep. Try expanding your youtube search out to other brands and skim through checking to see if the overall design is the same as yours (two holes, likely). I had pulled my Nissan airbag out once while installing remote start on the car, it was REALLY tricky the first time I ever tried removing an airbag and I had to pull it off again because I didn't get it back in right so had an airbag light for a while. Its just not a fun part to mess with at all. But anyways I also struggled to find a good video and finally expanded out until I found one for like a Nissan truck but the wheel and airbag was very similar and finally somebody showed a GOOD inside view of what the retaining springs look like and do and it all made sense.

Be careful what you stick in there. I was desperately trying different things and at one point I stuck something like a bit extension for a drill in there that had a retention cutout near the end (the part that locks into your tool) and the airbag spring locked onto that and I could not get it out. Do NOT stick ANYTHING in those holes that is not pretty much smooth steel all the way to the end, nothing that can snag. I had to pull unbelievably hard to get that bit extension out and was very lucky not to have damaged anything. In the end two screwdrivers did the trick but it was still hard to figure out until you see a video showing the inside and how the springs work.
From what I've read from other people on other vehicles it's exactly like you said. Not necessarily a hard procedure, just tricky to work blind and get the clip to pop. From the work I've done so far, I can feel the clip start to move when I twist a flat blade screwdriver, but it doesn't seem like enough to release it. Any bigger of a flat blade doesn't fit into the opening or is too big to maneuver inside. I probably just need to give it more time to get the finesse right.
 
#33 ·
I don't want to lead you down the wrong path, its been quite a while since I did that one on the nissan but the foggy memory tells me 1) You won't have to put the screwdrivers in quite as far as you think, and 2) you are going to end up needing to either lift the handles of the screwdrivers up or push them down to move the spring. I could be way off on this though. The one on the nissan physically popped forwards towards me about 1/4 of an inch when it was freed.

Please take lots of pictures once inside as we are all eager to learn from your experience :)
 
#37 ·
Yeah. I can't install the new switch/button controls until I can get the airbag cover off to expose the screws and wiring harness. Installing the buttons should be trivial. Then doing the car config change and proxy align is simple too. Not sure if it will work or not, but testing should be easy enough.
 
#39 ·
Wow, that video does seem helpful. That last one I saw was in Portuguese, so I couldn't follow what they were describing. Having to disconnect the battery and let it sit for a bit also slows down progress and it turns a few minutes of tinkering into a longer more drawn out process.
 
#40 ·
So I took another stab at it this weekend. Still no luck. What I did notice is that in the video, they are able to inert the screwdriver almost vertically. It's perpendicular to the controls/buttons on the wheel. The holes that are in the back side of my wheel are drilled at an angle. So when I insert a screwdriver they want to go towards the center of the wheel. I would really have to torque the screwdriver or drill out the holes to get it to go straight up as effortlessly as in the video. I've already widened them a bit. I think for my next attempt I might try something like an Allen key.
 
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