The Black Hole

[KurtECV]

Kurt, email me the diagrams, and I can turn them before posting so I can read them. lol

HEY at least they are not random ads this time

 

[gmanpaint]

For anybody interested in the test procedure on your cruise control, you have to have a good bulb and all working buttons on the steering wheel.

Notice the red circled section.

 

[gmanpaint]

Got a couple more tests done before the blood sucking skeeters almost drained me.

We already established power with peddle, to Tan/LB wire at the cruise module.
There is voltage on the BK/Y wire at the cruise module.
There is voltage on both the BK/Y & LG/R wire at the brake pressure switch at the master.
There is voltage at fuse 9, 10 (K/O), & 13.

So this cruise circuit is fine. The circuit break must be on the R/LG wire from the BPP switch, just like the cruise test says.

 

[KurtECV]

The gem needs to see ground, when the brake pedal is released.

And 12 volts when the brake pedal is pressed.

I suspect, that that extire system is integrated to know when one circuit is faulty (gem or cruise control module sees brakes applied or released on one circuit and not another, that is usually a safely feature so you don't get a run away) both circuits must "agree" for the system to operate. If they don't agree, the system may be disabled. This is speculation, but that is how a lot of systems work.

 

[KurtECV]

Test for ground on the tan/light blue wire with the brake pedal released

 

[gmanpaint]

Yeah, really just testing this circuit to see if it has the break in it or not. Really after the break for the rear high stop. As soon as I can, I will dig into the A pillar kick panel area, and find that DG wire, and test for voltage on it with the pedal depressed. If I find it or not there, I will at least know which direction to trace the short at.

Kurt.....How do you mean? That wire is a hot wire. Do you mean short to ground?

I think if a brake light bulb was burned out, the cruise should still work.

 

[KurtECV]

Ok!

Build yourself a jumper harness.

One wire to pin 13 on connector c282 at the GEM

The other wire to pin 4 on connector c171 at the cruise control servo.

Connect both loose ends of those two wires together into one wire

Plug that one wire into pin 2 at the BPP.

Run the cruise control self test. I'll bet it works.

 

[KurtECV]

Now go get yourself a high mount ballist and run a jumper to the larger gauge wire at the high mount connector... Should work.

Is it done yet?

Hurry up

 

[gmanpaint]

Lol, well umm.... nope.

Getting to that pin on that connector for the gem is much easier said than done!! I'm not even sure how the gem is removed to get to that connector on top. Lol

A new wire ran to the back, is most likely what is going to happen anyways. I'm about done with chasing this ghost.

 

[KurtECV]

Ok well you can check for power and ground on pin 4 at the cruise control servo and run the self test again and see if it passes... If it doesn't then you'll have to get to the gem.

 

[gmanpaint]

Don't know if I should like, or dislike that statement. lol

 

[KurtECV]

Part of the Diag job... Welcome to my life. You know it's gotta get done, go have a smoke, throw a temper tantrum and get it done. Happens at least once a day at work lmao

 

[gmanpaint]

Ok... post 35,000 about this damn electrical issue. Lol

Did a bunch more tests on this thing, and found out there is no ground being sent to the cruise control module from the BPP. There is also constant power (hot at all times) to both wires at the brake pressure switch. Should only have power to one wire until pedal is pressed. Still working on a fix for this, but narrowing down the brake light issue a little at a time, might have paid off finally. Really hoping the fix doesn't involve pulling the dash again!

I tore the garage apart for 6 hours today searching for a spare Ballast I remembered I got years ago. Reading back here, I found a post I made about getting it, and it came back to me. Damn old timers. Didn't find it, but the garage got a cleaning at least. Filled up 2 large trash containers of stuff I was hoarding. D35 & D44 parts I'm not using, nor will ever use.....Trash. lol

Tore thru both rigs, no ballast. Gave up. Went to the basement for something, and eyeballed a couple of storage bins I had filled with spare parts. Found the ballast in the last place I looked, literally the last place too look. Too hot out now, and I'm overheated as is. Will swap out the ballast in the morning, and try to fire up the neon high stop with a jump pack.

 

[Dono]

Funny how one thing leads to another. Great news on cleaning up a bit. If your garage is anything like mine, you still have lots to do.

Even greater news that you found that ballast, and are getting closer to getting the electrical issues sorted out. Were all in your corner.

 

[gmanpaint]

Oh yeah, tons left to clean up and throw away. Have to wait until the bins are empty to fill them back up, a few times! lol

Hoping the ballast in there just went bad from all the shorts blowing the fuses, or just from not being used for all this time. If I get it to fire, then if the wiring fix is figured out, it's back in biz, and can get the inspection done, and tags renewed.

 

[gmanpaint]

Swapped the ballasts out. Applied 12v to it using the power/ground from the compressor, and the neon fires up.

So somehow that ballast got fried with the engine swap.

Just to confirm one last time, I put the meter to the ballast harness, and nothing, 0.00v from it with pedal depressed. Hooked it all back up, and now I know I can run a jumper to it from the side brake lights if I have too. This however doesn't fix the cruise control, which I want working again. Rig was built for long haul trips across the country. 12 hours a day at hwy speeds w/o cruise, just plain sucks. Been there, done that, and don't like it much. lol

From there, I went back to the brake pressure switch (Kurt asked to check it again). With the connector ON, and no pressure to the pedal, I poked thru the wire insulation on both wires. There is constant power to BOTH wires. With it disconnected from the switch, there is only constant power to the red green wire, and nothing to the black gold wire that feeds into the cruise module.

Thinking here is the pressure switch is bad now. My question to anybody that has replaced this switch is...

Do the brakes need to be bled after replacing this switch? I know if it shoots fluid at me when removing it, I would probably have my answer, but rather know ahead of time. lol

 

[CDW6212R]

I think that sensor can be swapped without bleeding the MC. But just in case, do you have a pressure bleeding kit?

The Motive brand works great, it is a one man brake bleeding tool. If you do and apply slight pressure to the MC reservoir, there should be some small amount of fluid come out of the pressure sensor port while it's not tight. If you do that, just pump it up maybe 2-3 times, that should be plenty to maintain a slight fluid flow from the port, which should keep out any air.

 

[CDW6212R]

I also would disconnect the ballast brake light until the CC and BOO wiring is sorted out. I think those are more sensitive to power surges or testing etc.

 

[gmanpaint]

I only have bleeders that pull with vacuum. Mightyvac handheld, and a larger unit that is powered with the air compressor.

I did a little searching here, and a few have said that the dealerships swapped them out in 2-3 mins. That kind of tells me they only swapped in the new switch with the modified harness, and didn't bleed the brakes.

A new theory is maybe, just maybe the master push rod is adjusted wrong, and is why the BPP is activated super easy. Barely touch the pedal, and it activates. Doesn't feel like 5-10lbs of pressure is used like the switch calls for. If the pedal is not sitting as high as it should be, it wouldn't take much at all, to activate the switch.

If that's true, then the switch might be sending ground to the pressure switch, which would be why there is constant power to both wires, and the cruise not working, because it thinks the pedal is pressed. Or... it could just be a bad pressure switch. lol

 

[CDW6212R]

Have you swapped the defective "red" switches in all of your Fords? You might do one of the others if needed, and see if it has any affect(air in system). If you read that they did it in 2-3 minutes, to me that means that any air getting in there is insignificant, and has no real affect.