I have a 2004 trac, and when I'm driving, i hit the ON button for the cruise. And when i hit the SET button, the light flashes but doesn't stay on. Now if i hit the button repeatedly, it will stay on after hitting the button like 20 times. And if I hit the brake petal and then hit RESUME, it does the same.


So is it the button's are going bad? or the clockspring? Or wiring somewhere else?

Thanks for help

ScottG

 

"And if I hit the brake petal and then hit RESUME, it does the same."


Clarify that.

Do you mean it WORKS when you brake, then Resume, or do you have to hit Resume 20x?

Anyway, when the light flashes when you hit Set (20x or whatever) do you feel the gas pedal make ANY movement while the light is on for that short time? If you do, I think your CC servo is bad. If you feel nothing at all happening, I'd look at the brake pedal switch and the brake pressure switch on the brake master cylinder. If you want to rule out that master cylinder pressure switch, simply pull the plug off it and jumper the two pins in the removed connector and try it. (Be sure you insulate the jumper and secure it from shorting out on anything while you drive).

The master cylinder pressure switch is the one that huge recall is all about. They leak brake fluid into the electrical contacts of the pressure switch. Usually, when that happens, you can see brake fluid in the connector when you disconnect it. If you find that, go to Ford.

 

i mean, that when you are driving with the cruise on, and hit the brake, the cruise turns off, but then you hit the resume button to turn it back on (instead of resetting it) and the resume button does the same as the set button where it just flashes when i press it

 

So, that would rule out switches/pods, clockspring, and fuses.

Brake pedal switch appears to be working, but you can verify with the Auto Trans shift interlock (press brake to get out of Park), which typically uses the same contacts, not the same contacts as the brake lamps.

Leaves pretty much nothing else but the servo itself and master cylinder brake pressure switch (which you can and should jumper, just to rule it out. It sends 12v to the servo, meaning brake not pressed, but if it's leaking, that 12v may only be 7 or 9 and things are getting hot. That's why all those Fords ignite, finding 12v going through brake fluid to ground, smolder city).

I'd give the whole she-bang a good visual inspection. Verify the servo linkage isn't binding, give it a squirt of lube, maybe dismount it and let it run down in the cable.

I'm **** enough to jackstand it and have someone (that I've thoroughly briefed) operate the cruise while I watch it from the side of the enginebay. If you do this and see it move a tad each button press, I'd figure the servo went south on ya.