Low speed Cruise control..trucks shuts down

[bdkoz]

Hi all We just bought a 2004 4 dr XLT friday(also have 98 sport) when driving today I was going thru town thought I would be lazy and just drop the cruise down to 35 but as soon as it hits 35 the truck just shuts itself off, I have tried this several times and it shuts down everytime. We asked Ford if it was a safety feature and they said they never heard of it but they would of course look at it...let me know if anyone else had had this happen or knows about it....
thanks

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed, in the newer systems, you can only set it above 35 mph. With the older systems, you could go as low as 25 in a lot of cases.

-Joe

 

[bdkoz]

my concern is though that the truck literally shut it self off when I tried to set it at 35. I had to coast off to the side of the road and put in back into park and restart the truck...I can see a safety feature but this doesnt seem right, more dangerous because you lose power steering

 

[gijoecam]

my concern is though that the truck literally shut it self off when I tried to set it at 35. I had to coast off to the side of the road and put in back into park and restart the truck...I can see a safety feature but this doesnt seem right, more dangerous because you lose power steering

EEGADS!!!! NO.... I thought that by 'it' you meant the cruise control shuts down, not the engine.

The engine should definately NOT shut down if it's set and the speed drops. It should cancel the cruise once it gets below its minimum set speed (which may now be 35, I don't know offhand). It should definately not shut the motor off.

Hopefully they'll get it straightened out for you. I have no clue what could cause that. Probably an electrical glitch of some sort, but this is certainly a new one for me....

-Joe

 

[bdkoz]

if anyone else has a newer model mine is a 04 xlt and would like to experiment and see what happens to them I would love to hear. I originally had the cruise at say about 55 hit coast till lower and right about 35mph it just shut down....let me know THANKS

 

[elk93001]

Does your horn work intermittently when the vehicle stalls?

We just got our 04 Explorer 2 weeks ago.

I have been able to duplicate the stalling with the cruise control at lower speeds. The book says 30mph + the cruise should engage.

If I'm at 35mph hit coast to get it down to a lower speed, the vehicle will stall (it is intermittent, but I have repeated it). In addition, the horn does not work sometimes. If you tap the rim of the wheel, and then press the horn, it will work, then the cruise switches on the wheel may or may not work. I am suspecting the "clockspring" in the steering wheel. I have heard of this problem on Durangos, but not on the Explorer.

I have tried the same procedure on my GM cars with the steering wheel cruise control(coasting to the cruise speed minimum) they don't do it and my horn works. I just got out of my factory warranty last Monday, but have an extended warranty for 3mo/ 3,000 miles, whether it is covered ????

 

[gijoecam]

For the record, there are no conditions that I know of that should cause the engine (with an automatic transmission) to shut down except for turning off the ignition switch. If it's doing so, there's something wrong. Repairing it is essential. If it turned out to be a design flaw with the vehicle, a recall would definately be in order.

-Joe

 

[elk93001]

In trying to narrow this to a particular component, is the clockspring connected to the ignition switch? I don't have the factory wiring diagrams or service manual yet (I am waiting for these to arrive.)

Here are some of the scenarios I have encountered thus far on my test drives:

1.)After starting the car, no horn and no cruise above the minimum speed.

2.) Horn works, cruise doesn't engage.

3.) Cruise is operational (Coast, set and resume work, brake disengage works)

4.) Cruise and horn work as they should. However when vehicle is shut off, it is not guaranteed that the horn and cruise will work. It seems that if I give the steering wheel a hit (not hard), I can get it to work as if there is something loose. THe back light at night flickers on or off depending on whether the cruise is operational.

5.) Cruise will engage, set/accel works, resume works, but coast will cause the vehicle to accelerate

6.) Cruise is operational and set, decelerate to minimum cruise speed (30mph)
vehicle stalls (horn is either working or not in this scenario)

I was able to replicate all of these today after about 80 miles of test driving today at various speeds and roads (highway & back roads)

 

[FordLover]

You also shouldn't need to put the truck in park, that is insane. Next time try shifting to neutral, and hit the starter. I'd be pissed like all hell if I had to put it in park to start the truck.

 

[badgett]

was checking recalls a few weeks ago and I saw something about problems with the cruise on that year model. Check it out on the web.

 

[elk93001]

Do you have a link referring to this recall?

I did a search a few days ago and the only recall that I saw was for the brake pressure switch that shuts off the cruise causing fires, due to the switch always being hot even when the ignition was off.

The recall was for the full size Ford Truck models, even though the Explorer has the same type of switch.

I don't know or think that this is the same or related problem...

If you can post the link, that would be great

 

[gijoecam]

Indeed, the cruise control recall does not affect the Explorers, and a faulty switch wouldn't cause the problem he's experiencing anyways.

This one's still got me stumped.... Just skimmed the TSB's and recalls for '04 and didn't see anything....

 

[elk93001]

The intermittent horn and cruise control switches were the result of a bad clockspring. With the new clock spring, the horn, and cruise work without giving the steering wheel a rap.

However the low speed cruise stalling still continues.
I can duplicate the problem with the following.
Set the cruise at 35-40 mph
Hit coast to get the speed down to 30mph and the car stalls. I notice that the RPMs drop considerably to less than 500 rpms or to 0 when the car stalls.
Until I get his fixed, I won't use the coast feature anytime (just step on the brake and hit resume when necessary)
I suspect some type of idle control or something in the cruise module itself that controls idle as the source of the problem. Any suggestions.

BTW, the shop manual does not list any kind of idle control device on the 4.0 SOHC.

 

[gijoecam]

That would make sense... I believe in 04, they went to electronic throttle control on the 4.0 SOHCs. I suspect that something in the system that controls the throttle position is simply telling the throttle (incorrectly) to close and it chokes off the air supply.

The other possibility is the signal from the speed control may not be reaching the throttle body.... This is going to be a difficult one to troubleshoot without a good computer at the dealership. As much as I hate to recommend it, you may want to let the dealership handle this one to get it fixed right. I think that the best we could do is guess, but given the sheer volume of electronic controls on that one, I'm not sure we can even come close.

-Joe

 

[blitzk]

ok. This happened to me the other day and scared the crap out of me! driving down the street at around 35, turned on cruise (in a 30mph zone... ) and... the dash looked just like an xmas tree. wheel got stiff (power steering), etc... engine was dead.

I was thinking the worst, great... my truck is dead! I stopped, put it into park, and it started right back up.

I was able to do this over and over again. Same thing every time. Cruise control under 35 or so and the RPM's drop to 0 and it goes dead.

I also noticed that the 12v supply also is somehow messed up because it resets memory in my radio (aftermarket HU) and all the lights dim down.

The battery light is the first to come on, then the check engine, etc...

The engine should NOT stall because of Cruise control!

BTW... this is an 04 XLT 2WD.

 

[gijoecam]

If it does it all the time consistently, it should be relatively easy for the stealership to troubleshoot it. When the problem only happens once in a while, it's difficult to pin-point it.

Let us know what you figure out. I still have no idea what could be causing it.

-Joe

 

[blitzk]

I can make it happen whenever I want... does it every time.

I'll probably have them look at it sometime this week.

 

[misconceived]

Time for a bump, anyone troubleshoot it? Same thing happened to me. Numerous times, in a row. Everything is fine once you restart your truck. Also seems funny that I too have an '04. '04 v6 XLT 4x4
SIDE NOTE: It's kind of stupid to try it again over and over isn't it but hey we're human.

 

[blitzk]

Mine has been in the dealership for 2 days and they're unable to figure out a fix. They can duplicate the problem but don't know whats causing it.

I have a feeling I'm going to get the call today of them saying "our fix is: don't use the CC under 40mph". DUAH, but fix it!

 

[skawtland]

My 04 does a similar thing but I'm pretty sure I understand the reason for it. At 35mph with cruise set, going down a slight hill and even on a straight road the transmission invokes 5th gear (overdrive) but when it does this the RPM's are so low that the vehicle stalls out. I had that happen a couple of times, and I can recreate it without fail. I'm sure that the transmission isn't supposed to do it, but it does anyway. What I do, if I'm feeling particularly lazy and want to set cruise at 30mph or 35mph is to TURN OFF Overdrive thus preventing it from accessing 5th gear... and it works a treat!

Scott