Cruise Drops Out Randomly

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thebovees

thebovees

Driving Cruisers since '67
10 Year 15 Year
Joined
May 26, 2007
Threads
31
Messages
94
Location
Evanston, WY
Very odd, on a long trip last week I had the cruise control drop out randomly. Just lifting the control lever and speed restarted for a random time. I noticed also that the dash board lights for Parking Brake, Low Oil Pressure, and Auto Transmission Oil Temp flashed for less than a second at the same time. My mechanic said the Parking Brake would trigger the Cruise to drop out. He had no clue what the problem would be. It would not be that the Parking Brake lever bouncing causing it as I checked it by slightly lifting the lever caused only the Parking Brake light to light and not the others. It was very random as with the Cruise on and not set I could see those three lights flash randomly. Some times I could drive with Cruise for an hour or more before it triggered and other times it would trigger seconds apart.
Any ideas would be helpful.
 
thebovees said:
Very odd, on a long trip last week I had the cruise control drop out randomly. Just lifting the control lever and speed restarted for a random time. I noticed also that the dash board lights for Parking Brake, Low Oil Pressure, and Auto Transmission Oil Temp flashed for less than a second at the same time. My mechanic said the Parking Brake would trigger the Cruise to drop out. He had no clue what the problem would be. It would not be that the Parking Brake lever bouncing causing it as I checked it by slightly lifting the lever caused only the Parking Brake light to light and not the others. It was very random as with the Cruise on and not set I could see those three lights flash randomly. Some times I could drive with Cruise for an hour or more before it triggered and other times it would trigger seconds apart.
Any ideas would be helpful.
Click to expand...
Alternator or charging system problem will give you the dash christmas lights. First things to check are battery cables and fusible links.
The dash BRAKE light will always cancel Cruise control.
 
thebovees said:
Very odd, on a long trip last week I had the cruise control drop out randomly. Just lifting the control lever and speed restarted for a random time. I noticed also that the dash board lights for Parking Brake, Low Oil Pressure, and Auto Transmission Oil Temp flashed for less than a second at the same time. My mechanic said the Parking Brake would trigger the Cruise to drop out. He had no clue what the problem would be. It would not be that the Parking Brake lever bouncing causing it as I checked it by slightly lifting the lever caused only the Parking Brake light to light and not the others. It was very random as with the Cruise on and not set I could see those three lights flash randomly. Some times I could drive with Cruise for an hour or more before it triggered and other times it would trigger seconds apart.
Any ideas would be helpful.
Click to expand...


Stupid thing but do you by any chance have any aftermarket tail lights or head lights on the truck?
 
I've had this.
My brake pedal return spring was missing and when I'd hit a bump the pedal would bounce off the brake switch and the CC would drop out.
Took me longer to figure out than I'd care to admit. 😒
 
Rusty Marlin said:
I've had this.
My brake pedal return spring was missing and when I'd hit a bump the pedal would bounce off the brake switch and the CC would drop out.
Took me longer to figure out than I'd care to admit. 😒
Click to expand...
Brake pedal spring is intact and the problem occurs on any road surface and not on even very bumpy road surface.
 
thebovees said:
I will attempt to check out the electrical circuits.
Click to expand...
Typically it's a failing alternator/brushes. The dash Christmas tree lights are telling you there's a problem with the charging circuit. The canceling of Cruise control is coincidental simply because the BRAKE lamp illuminates as part of the light show.
 
jonheld said:
Typically it's a failing alternator/brushes. The dash Christmas tree lights are telling you there's a problem with the charging circuit. The canceling of Cruise control is coincidental simply because the BRAKE lamp illuminates as part of the light show.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Since it is just a very short flash of the lights, how would be the best way to verify an alternator problem?
 
Pull the DTCs... If there is a cruise code, it will show up.
 
Diagnostic Trouble Codes

Plug in your code reader.
 
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