Greetings from north Iowa! my 200k mile '95 Taurus GL 3.8L is holding up superbly. However, this last weekend, the cruise control went on the blink!
It worked fine on Saturday morning as I drove 130 miles down I-35 to attend monthly drill at Camp Dodge. I drove the car around base a total of perhaps six miles in a series of short 'errand' trips, then left Sunday afternoon. Getting on the freeway, I noticed it wouldn't function. I stopped and checked for a vacuum leak under the hood, but I noticed no obvious one. About a half hour later, after cycling the switches about twenty times to 'break' any tarnish that may have formed in the switch, the unit engaged, but was very erratic before cutting out altogether about a mile later and not reengaging for the duration of the ride home. The next day, it did engage in the same way - rough, and for a mile or so, although the 'ACCEL' function worked as long as I held it down. I swapped a servo/control unit from a '92 Taurus GL 3.0 I keep handy as a source of parts, no luck. I also threw in a set of switches from a lower mileage '94 Taurus GL wagon, also no difference. The part numbers are all identical, however, it hasn't engaged at all since I performed those swaps. I have one brake light now out, the RH bulb in the high mount lamp. I haven't checked the switch on the pedal. I've had the cruise cut out from low vaccuum on the interstate topping a hill into strong wind on one occasion years ago, and it didn't work at first after hitting a deer in April '03, which deployed the airbags. It resumed function after a number of cycles of the switches and has functioned fine since then, even though I just patched up and reinstalled the empty airbag cover. I've not replaced any vacuum hoses yet, but am about to. Any other ideas or suggestions? They'd sure be appreciated. Cruise is a major asset driving home tired after a long weekend in uniform! Thanks!
It worked fine on Saturday morning as I drove 130 miles down I-35 to attend monthly drill at Camp Dodge. I drove the car around base a total of perhaps six miles in a series of short 'errand' trips, then left Sunday afternoon. Getting on the freeway, I noticed it wouldn't function. I stopped and checked for a vacuum leak under the hood, but I noticed no obvious one. About a half hour later, after cycling the switches about twenty times to 'break' any tarnish that may have formed in the switch, the unit engaged, but was very erratic before cutting out altogether about a mile later and not reengaging for the duration of the ride home. The next day, it did engage in the same way - rough, and for a mile or so, although the 'ACCEL' function worked as long as I held it down. I swapped a servo/control unit from a '92 Taurus GL 3.0 I keep handy as a source of parts, no luck. I also threw in a set of switches from a lower mileage '94 Taurus GL wagon, also no difference. The part numbers are all identical, however, it hasn't engaged at all since I performed those swaps. I have one brake light now out, the RH bulb in the high mount lamp. I haven't checked the switch on the pedal. I've had the cruise cut out from low vaccuum on the interstate topping a hill into strong wind on one occasion years ago, and it didn't work at first after hitting a deer in April '03, which deployed the airbags. It resumed function after a number of cycles of the switches and has functioned fine since then, even though I just patched up and reinstalled the empty airbag cover. I've not replaced any vacuum hoses yet, but am about to. Any other ideas or suggestions? They'd sure be appreciated. Cruise is a major asset driving home tired after a long weekend in uniform! Thanks!
Oct 31, 2007 at 2:21 PM
