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MDS Not Activating Today

4K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  lando981 
#1 ·
I'm new to the world of MDS, so I'm somewhat concerned by this. I usually keep my center display on fuel economy. I can tell when MDS kicks in and out and the center display shows "4 Cyl". Yesterday, the system work fine. This morning on my way to work, the system never activated. I purposely drove very easy at around 60 mph and it stayed running on 8.

This was using normal operating mode. I did a few test pulls and the car runs fine. I'm not getting any MIL's either.

I know a solenoid drives the activation.... I'm wondering if it failed. Seems like that would set a MIL though. I will see if it works going home today. If not, I will reset the PCM. I actually like MDS at times and I got great gas mileage driving the car home (25.5 mpg per the display during break-in). I'm still averaging 22 mpg driving normal / semi-aggressive.
 
#2 ·
Are you in auto stick mode? If so, it disables the MDS. That's what happens at least on my 2014 but I'd assume it's the same for 2015.
 
#3 ·
As Brent said, there are a couple things that deactivate it. Putting the transmission in manual shift will do it. Putting the transmission in Sport mode (Scat Pack ) or Track mode (SRT) will deactivate it as well. Did you do either of those things?

Also, keep in mind that it will only run for a certain length of time in 4 cyl mode before kicking back to 8 for some length of time. I think the "timeout" is 6 minutes (at least it used to be pre-2015) and then it runs on all 8 for a few minutes to equalize heat. So it's possible you were just in a "shutoff" time period too.

It also won't kick on if you are pulling even a very shallow hill at 60 MPH. What you could do to test it is go to something like 60 and then start lifting the gas VERY slowly and slowing down very gradually (say 1 MPH every 5-10 seconds). That will normally kick it on... if none of the above "overrides" are in effect. Drive it a little more and let us know.

Mike
 
#14 ·
Also, keep in mind that it will only run for a certain length of time in 4 cyl mode before kicking back to 8 for some length of time. I think the "timeout" is 6 minutes (at least it used to be pre-2015) and then it runs on all 8 for a few minutes to equalize heat. So it's possible you were just in a "shutoff" time period too.
Mike
That sounded interesting to me so I decided to try my 2015 scatpack to see if it times out. I went to a rural road with a speed limit of 60mph that was fairly level to try it. I set my cruise control to 55 mph to keep from running up behind somebody and just enjoyed the ride. I went a full 15 minutes before coming to a "reduce speed" zone and it never dropped out of 4 cyl mode. I turned around and repeated it on the way back with the same result. So if the 2015 times out it's longer than 15 minutes. :smile:
 

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#4 ·
It started working when I headed home from work. Everything was completely normal.

Not sure what happened this morning, but I made sure the car wasn't in auto stick or in Sport mode

Oh well, just a fluke I guess.
 
#6 ·
It seems to on the Scat Pack and I have never seen the "4 Cyl" light come on when in Sport mode.
 
#7 ·
Really? Most who own the car say yes they do.....




.
 
#11 ·
Well actually the Sport mode does not have to deactivate MDS. When you set up the sport mode there are 4 switches that can be moved. The first one (on the left) is called the eng/transmission switch. If you put it in Sport mode then it disables MDS when you push the Sport mode button under the radio. If you leave that switch on the left in the "normal" mode you will still get MDS when pushing the Sport mode button under the radio.
 
#13 ·
I went for another drive this evening and MDS acted normally. I may have very well noticed that it was off during a "Time Out". My drive to work is pretty flat and I cruise around 60 mph. If it would do it, I could make nearly my entire commute in 4 cyl mode. It was about 10 minutes into my drive when I noticed it wasn't on.
 
#15 ·
Thanks for any input here and really excited to be a part of this community with my new ride!

I have a 2015 SP M6 (base SP, the gas guzzler tax was the only extra thing) and I have never seen the 4 cylinder indicator nor did I even know that it existed for the SP. I have noticed the forced shift to 4th, but other than that, I had no idea it would go to 4 cylinders? Unless, I am missing something?
 
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