[hommes]

The first post in this section. The EC must be good!
I have a UK EC 4 Auto
I don't think my FCM (Forward Collision Mitigation) system is working.
I know there s a button that sets the detection distance and turns the system on and off.

I have checked that its turned on and the detection distance is set to FAR.

When I approach other vehicles there is no Brake warning and no Auto braking as I was expecting.

The system seems to work when I have the adaptive cruise control on and it will slow and stop the car when it gets too close to other vehicles.

Can anyone tell me how the system works on their EC please.

Regards.

Dave.

 

[oldsalt]

Good question.

I found this page that explains it well.

I discovered that, setting the FCM for near, far etc doesn't effect when the vehicle will brake, only changes the distance for audible and display warnings.

https://www.demitsubishi.com/blog/how-to-use-the-forward-collision-mitigation-system/

 

[ribuck]

When I approach other vehicles there is no Brake warning and no Auto braking as I was expecting.

If you approach a moving vehicle gradually, it doesn't activate.


It only activates if you approach another moving vehicle so fast that a collision would be imminent. I haven't figured out a safe way to test this!


My FCM is activated occasionally by oncoming vehicles on a tight curve of a narrow road. But it only gets to the point of sounding the warning and flashing "Brake!" on the dashboard. It has never got to the point of applying the first stage of the automatic braking.

 

[hommes]

Thanks for the info guys. Very helpful.
I also have had the occasional Brake warning from oncoming vehicles when going around a bend, but never when I would expect it to work.
I have driven up to my friends car at a good speed and left it as late as possible to brake but not had a brake warning.

I see there is mention of a re-call in some markets for issues with the FCM software not working properly so I have booked it in next week with my dealer for checks.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Regards

Dave

 

[Elpato]

Hi Hommes,

For me it activated 1 time when I was too busy to see that the parking Door is not completely open yet, So the system was activated and stopped the car somehow that my head bumped the steering Wheel.

 

[ribuck]

That's interesting, Elpato, but yours was a low-speed incident, correct? That's a different system, the mis-accelleration detection system. The FCM is only active at high speeds (above 18mph in the UK).

 

[Elpato]

Hi Ribuck,

Yes for me was in Low speed incident, but I get on and on the "Brake" Alert, when suddenly I press the accelerator in Autobahn to overtake from the car in-front of me.

 

[slippercream]

I'd have your service department look at it. Do you have any dashboard indicator lights showing that Traction Control or FCM is off? I haven't tested whether I could accidentally kill someone, or damage something with this but I have noticed that "distance" and auto-braking does function in conjunction with Cruise Control. Not sure about braking.

Try turning Cruise Control on and see if the vehicle can sense distance and auto-brake. I know it doesn't seem logical, but that might be another thing you can bring up to your Service Dept for analysis.

 

[hommes]

Update on this issue.
Service dep't looked at it and told me they found an error code for the FCM system in the memory but couldn't find an active fault. They cleared the code, road tested it and thought it was working ok. They asked me to bring it back in if I thought it stopped working again and they would contact the factory for further assistance then.
I've done a bit of testing and found the best way to test the system is to approach a parked vehicle at about 25MPH and swerve out at the last safe moment (obviously only when safe to do so). Using this method I have noticed that the system doesn't always seem to be active. If I turn the system off then back on it seems to work again for a while. I can usually get the brake warning to activate but obviously I can't risk waiting for the auto braking to kick in.

 

[hommes]

Well.. my EC is booked in next week to have the 2 software updates done from the recall notices.
I don't know if this is related to the software bugs but I had a bit of a scare today.
Driving through oncoming traffic on our main street. Parked cars on both sides of the road as usual. It was fairly narrow but still plenty of room for 2 vehicles to pass safely. As I am passing an oncoming bus, about 20- 25mph, the FCM system Brake warning comes on and the Auto braking system immediately kicks in hard and instantly stops the car. The guy behind me is not expecting me to do an emergency stop and very nearly rear ends me. I have never had the Auto Brake kick in before. Even when driving through much tighter gaps than I did today.

Anyone else had anything like this happen?

Dave.

 

[Nikolay Yordanov]

The update addresses exactly the same issue - too much sudden breaks and a danger to get hit from behind. I have done it this week.

 

[hommes]

Thanks Nikolay. Very helpful.

 

[ribuck]

I've never had auto braking activate, so it's interesting to hear how it works in practice.


I think the idea is that the auto braking will cease if you are actively driving the car (turning the steering wheel, braking, etc). So maybe by touching the brakes lightly when the warning comes on, you can ensure that emergency braking will not be not applied.

 

[hommes]

That sounds about right Ribuck but I didn't have a chance to touch the brake. The brake warning came on and almost immediately the car did an emergency stop. It must have thought a collision was imminent. I have had a few brake warnings before but that was the fist time the auto brake activated on me.

 

[teesquar]

I've had the software update done last month, but the only time I've had to observe any "emergency stop" function kick in is when the car ahead of me is turning onto another street and I don't slow down. There is plenty of distance between us for me to react if they decide to stop mid-turn, but I normally just keep at speed.
The "BRAKE" warning comes on and the EC does drastically slow down. A tap on the accelerator negates it, though.

 

[wasabi]

I've never had auto braking activate, so it's interesting to hear how it works in practice.


I think the idea is that the auto braking will cease if you are actively driving the car (turning the steering wheel, braking, etc). So maybe by touching the brakes lightly when the warning comes on, you can ensure that emergency braking will not be not applied.

As with any new system like this I believe we should be testing them and knowing how they react.