Ford 06 5.4 Cruise Control drops out

[Ford_6L_E350]

Originally Posted by pjpvi

Mike, that is my hunch, but as you say it is very hard to isolate such a problem. I've thought of pulling over when it happens to see if my brake lights are stuck on, but never want to take the time when it happens. One of these days I will.

Phil

Phil,

An easy check would be to backup to a wall or window are some surface that will reflect brakelights - at night most anything will work. See how far you have to move the pedal to make the light come on. Mine was less than 1/8". And it took about 1" before the brakes started to do anything. So, I thought 1/2" might be reasonable for the brake light to come on.

If there is very little travel to turn on the lights, maybe a bump or your pant leg could cause the light to flash and disengage the CC.

Mike

[Rockman]

Def some good ideas.

I think i may get a little 6inch piece of fiberoptic cable and feed it into the 3rd light fixture and face it forward. If the lights stick, I could quickly see it in the the rear view.

[pjpvi]

Mike,

Thanks for the idea. That is worth trying, but not sure it explains why it may not want to engage for an extended period of time again, unless the switch is sticking. It's just been one of those non-critical idiosyncrasies of the van that is an occasional annoyance, but you kind of forget about after it has happened. Especially when you get to your destination.

Phil

[jage]

Originally Posted by vwteleman

[Slight hijack - what I'd really like is a way to disengage the cruise without having to tap the brakes, like in my Subaru (tap a paddle on the steering well).]

Hmm, ok so my 99 F250 came without cruise control and I had it added in probably 2002. I got a new stock steering wheel with all the controls, but according to the installer the truck lacked a backup brake sensor. Without cruise, I had only the one and he added a second so now I get a little click/click when I touch the pedal.

This might be relevant to both, since there should (by inference) be dual pedal sensors- one of which you might be able to tie into to hand control dropping out of cruise. Personally I use the OFF/ON buttons to drop out, and an OFF/ON/Set sequence to match a slower speed of traffic.

[carringb]

The cruise control is programmed to drop out if your speed drops 10mph below the set point. You can hit resume, and will hold cruise unless it drops another 10 mph.

[Skywagon]

Mine's an '08, 6.0, and does the same occasionally. Just drops out for no apparent reason. It mostly just does it for a few miles then comes back on line. I too, have the indicator light, and when the CC quits, so does the light.
Bill