Cruse control.

[Aussie Explorer]

Gday

The Cruse Control on my Explorer has stoped working, The Light’s on the steering wheel Buttons still illuminate, but Cruse control is dead.

It was playing up for a wile, like you had to press the On and Set buttons a few times to get it to engage, then if you hit the brakes to slow down it sometimes wouldn’t come back on if you hit the RSM button. Then you would stop and turn the car off and it would work perfectly for the rest of the trip.

All the fuses Look good, I have played around with the position of the Cruse control cable on the TB but nothing, bwfor I take it to a Auto Sparky or worse Ford LOL, Do you guys have any ideas on what it might be.

Cheers.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Have you checked the vacuum lines for leaks?

 

[Aussie Explorer]

The Cruse control has vacuum lines on it

All I can see is a Wiring harness that plugs into the Unit and the Cable that runs from the Cruse control unit to the Throttle

 

[DR98]

Hi

Check these 3 fuses on the inside panel #9, 10, 13. Check the cruise deactivation switch mounted on the end of the master cylinder. When the brakes are used, it shuts off the cruise control.

It is an all electrical system.

Dean

 

[Aussie Explorer]

Ok, all fuses are OK

It worked today, then I stoped the car and came back to it 10 minutes latter and drove off then Cruse control wouldn’t work agene

 

[Aussie Explorer]

Ok all fuses are OK

It worked today, then I stoped the car and came back to it 10 minutes latter and drove off then Cruse control wouldn’t work agene

 

[budwich]

As suggested, check the switch on your master cylinder. Simple check, if its open when the vehicle is just sitting there, then its your problem.

 

[Matie]

Dear Aussie,
Good day,
Hopin doin well,
Well mate, i am facing the same problem with my Fordy 96 XLT, will you please be so kind & tell me what did u do to fix your Cruse Control problem???
Plz. help me out,

Thanks & regards
Matie.

 

[Aussie Explorer]

Nothing mate LOL, it' still not working, on the List of Stuff i still need to do.

I got side tracked with a few other things over the year and fixing the cruse control on the X got put low down on the priority list. If ya find out what it is let us know.

Sorry i couldn't help ya.

 

[budwich]

As SUGGESTED, its most likely the "ford fire" pressure switch on the master cycliner. Common problem, lots of posts... simple fix.

 

[kenora]

same problem on mine (99 XLT)...I sometimes have to hit the SET button a hundred times (really!) to get it to engage, then it usually behaves for the rest of the day...I'll look at that switch too...thanks.

 

[Donner]

Did this work for you?

Dear Aussie,
Good day,
Hopin doin well,
Well mate, i am facing the same problem with my Fordy 96 XLT, will you please be so kind & tell me what did u do to fix your Cruse Control problem???
Plz. help me out,

Thanks & regards
Matie.

Follow up

 

[SensRanger]

Another vote to check your brake pressure switch, its round and probably has a red part on it. The replacement is black and cost something like $15 at Ford. I had the EXACT same problem as described and changing this switch fixed everything. You can do it yourself easily. Check this thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164795&highlight=cruise+control

Do it soon since it could start a fire! Or at least unplug it in the meantime.

 

[BrooklynBay]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171739

 

[Donner]

Around how many miles?

Another vote to check your brake pressure switch, its round and probably has a red part on it. The replacement is black and cost something like $15 at Ford. I had the EXACT same problem as described and changing this switch fixed everything. You can do it yourself easily. Check this thread:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164795&highlight=cruise+control

Do it soon since it could start a fire! Or at least unplug it in the meantime.

Hi there... Around how many miles on the vehicle did your switch burn out?

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed, that's the classic symptoms of a bad pressure switch. (also called the Speed Control Deactivation Switch) It works fine until you hit the brakes, at which point a little bit more fluid leaks into the switch and stops the contacts from conducting. That's where I'd look first. To test it, unplug the switch and bypass it with a paper clip. If the system works every time, replace the SCDS. If it still doesn't work, we'll need to dig deeper... the next thing I'd look at is the brake On-Off switch.

-Joe

 

[SensRanger]

Hi there... Around how many miles on the vehicle did your switch burn out?

I started noticing intermittent cruise control operation about a year ago. There would have been around 62000 miles on it then. I think it has as much to do with age as mileage and I drive a 96 Ranger so I guess it was due. The original battery lasted about as long as that switch!

I also tried the paper clip trick to make sure that the SCDS was the problem, and yep with the paper clip it worked flawlessly. I didn't get the fused harness that some people are getting, which plugs into the existing switch. (Thats only an option if your original switch still works). Since mine died, I got a totally new switch and it has a different plug on it so comes with an adapter. Its the "brake repair kit" as shown in some of the pics in the other threads.

 

[budwich]

Actually if you can believe the "ford investigations", it has to do with the ABS system "usage". If you cause a lot of ABS'ing (without swearing of course), the pulsing pressures put on the system from the ABS function is rapid ("magnify" those noises that you hear when ABS kicks in), that leads to "rapid" break down of the fluid barrier and the resulting leak and subsequent failure / fire... So if you are in wet / snowy / slippery environments, the switch is likely to fail faster... of course, there is never any "one rule fits all" when you find a "weak component"... it could fail any time.

 

[gijoecam]

Actually if you can believe the "ford investigations", it has to do with the ABS system "usage". If you cause a lot of ABS'ing (without swearing of course), the pulsing pressures put on the system from the ABS function is rapid ("magnify" those noises that you hear when ABS kicks in), that leads to "rapid" break down of the fluid barrier and the resulting leak and subsequent failure / fire... So if you are in wet / snowy / slippery environments, the switch is likely to fail faster... of course, there is never any "one rule fits all" when you find a "weak component"... it could fail any time.

Not sure where you heard that, but it's entirely incorrect. According to both Ford's data and the NTSB's investigation, under normal operation, many of Ford's brake systems apply a slight pulse of vacuum to the hydraulics when you release the brakes. It's this slight vacuum pulse that causes the diaphragm in the pressure switch to invert. Repeated cycling of the brakes results in repeated inversion, and repeated inversion results in eventual failure of the sealing material for the diaphragm (the name of the material escapes me at the moment). Once the sealing material fails, the diaphragm (which doesn't play well with brake fluid) fails, allowing the fluid to leak into the other side of the switch. The amount of cruise control or ABS usage has absolutely nothing to do with it. Yes, the switches are failing, but in TI's defense, the switch is failing in a way it was never intended to be used (the vacuum pulses). Nobody knew when any of the systems were designed that a vacuum pulse would be encountered in the system.

-Joe

 

[budwich]

That is what I read during my first "look" at this a while back as I have a "unrecalled" 96.... I can't find the articles now, perhaps they have been updated / removed. They did refer to the "rapid duty cycles" involved in the ABS system quickly "using up" the MTBF of the barrier. Anyways, I do see the "recent stuff" that you are referring to.