cruise cutout on 04 ford psd going down road.. re-engaged fine ???

[Soundguy]

just curious .... driving back to work this an. 04 f250 6.0psd, going about 50mph, speed limit increaseed to 55.. i was on cruise.. hit and held the accel button to just pump the speed up.. it went up 1.5mph, then i felt cruise kick out.. the lil green light on t he dash went out. i hit 'set' again.. nada... hit the cruise off flip switch.. then on again. then hit set and it set fine and accelerated fine.

any clue what could have kicked her out of cruise?

whatever it was.. it not only kicked out of cruise.. like tapping brakes.. it , i think turned crusise off.. as it would not re-set untill i turned it on again..

again.. just curious.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Most cruise issues I see are related to brake controller or brake light switch. The later I have fixed on a Toyota and VW in the last 6 months.

Chris

 

[Bird]

Now I have no idea about an F250, but I sure had a bad round with the cruise control on my 01' Ranger recently. It would work about 4 out of 5 times, but other times just would not set. Intermittent problems can drive you nuts. And naturally, if I took it to the dealer, it would work for them.:laughing: Twice when it wouldn't work, I exited the Interstate, turned around and started to the dealer, and it would work again before I could even get there. Anyway, in April, the dealer installed new switches and since they're in the steering wheel, they have to de-activate the air bags. In other words, a pretty good job; $414 parts and labor but I almost surely use my cruise control more than anyone you know, even for short runs of a couple of miles. So I figured it was worth it, but that didn't fix it. It was still intermittent, and a couple of times, was cruising along just fine, when it just disengaged for no reason. Anyway, the dealer took it apart again to see if there was a loose connection somewhere. And still later, took it apart a third time; still no luck.

But then my service advisor (or service writer to some) remembered a recall SIX YEARS ago. I had taken the little truck in on August 6, 2007, when I got the recall notice. A female service advisor who no longer works there simply went in back and came back with a little wiring harness and plugged it in under the hood and I had no idea what it all about. But my regular service advisor said the recall was to check the switch that's screwed into the front top of the brake master cylinder for leaks; no leak, simply add that jumper harness, but if it showed signs of leaking, replace that switch. Well, mine showed no signs of leaking in 2007 or even now, but he replaced that switch on July 12 and I've had no problem since.

I didn't know, until he told me, that switch senses the slightest increase in pressure in the brake fluid and sends the signal to the servo to turn off the cruise (of course, Ford doesn't call it "cruise control" but calls it "speed control"). In other words, the brake lights and mechanical linkage have nothing to do with turning off the cruise control.

So, does the F250 have such switch on top of the master cylinder or not?

 

[Soundguy]

tryuck does have a e-brake controller.. but it's the same one it's had since 07.

 

[Bird]

Chris, I found a website that shows a 2004 F250 with the cruise control switch just like my 2001 Ranger has.

2004 Ford F250 master cylinder cruise control switch - Bing Images

 

[Diamondpilot]

tryuck does have a e-brake controller.. but it's the same one it's had since 07.

Does not mean it can't go bad.

I think Bird is on the right track here.


Chris

 

[Soundguy]

switch does look familiar. will have to watch it....

 

[Whitnel]

Soundguy, my 2000 F250 had a recall on it a few years ago that sounds about what Bird it talking about. I don't know if it went as high as the 2004 year model but might be worth checking out to see if your truck has any outstanding recall items.

 

[Soundguy]

will do.

 

[Bird]

It was "Ford Recall 05S28 (Speed Control Deactivation Switch)" and some places on the Internet show it for a variety of different vehicles, so you might check to see if it applied to yours.

Of course my dealer's service advisor didn't say if there's any way to test or see if that switch is defective, except to see if it's leaking, and mine was not. But it's sure obvious now that was my problem.