Dear Cruise Control, why aren't you cruising?

[Brandort3]

I'm not sure if anyone else has had problems with this, but when i turn my cruise control on it will work for a while then you will see the "cruise" flash off then back on. Causing my cruise to "cancel" and i have to re do it. But lately its been happening more than normal. I'm not sure if its the cruise control module? or what? Little help?

[Wingnut]

Do you live in a "hilly, mountains" area where you do a lot of up hill and down hill runs?

[vibedrive]

Another cruise control question:
I travel I-5 a lot here in Wa State which has many fairly gentle hills. Wheneve I'm in cruise and climbing these gentle hills, the cruise kicks out the overdrive and jacks the engine rpm's up too much. This forces me to switch off cruise for hills only, and I'm able to maintain speed manually.
Would a Cold Air Intake installaion help keep cruise from jacking out the overdrive so much (since a CAI creates more hp)?

[CharlesinGA]

And what year car would we be talking about?

It makes a difference I think, as '03 and '04 models (and possibly some early '05's) were cable operated throttles and '05 on were the infamous fly by wire.

It sounds to me like a loose connection or a bad switch somewhere.

Charles

[star_deceiver]

Another cruise control question:
Whenever I'm in cruise and climbing these gentle hills, the cruise kicks out the overdrive and jacks the engine rpm's up too much. This forces me to switch off cruise for hills only, and I'm able to maintain speed manually.
Would a Cold Air Intake installaion help keep cruise from jacking out the overdrive so much (since a CAI creates more hp)?

Would a CAI help? I would say no. The system is downshifting because it feels a higher rpm is needed to keep up. The minor gains a CAI would give aren't enough to stop this from happening.

[Brandort3]

I don't live in to "hilly" of an area, i just live in a flat Indiana town. It seems like it only happens when i go between 60-65 mph. But even today it did it again and every time i went to reset it it would kick on like normal, then right back off again til finally i just used the good ol' foot. To answer the CAI question, i have one on my '03 Vibe and it really doesn't effect it. It can't kick off the overdrive seeing how its a 6-speed But i can't really figure out why it's doing it either.

[hotbug1776]

This happened in a van I used to own. In the end it was the cruise actuator motor. Come to think of it, I also had to do this in my sunfire. Both times it was the module inside the engine bay that the cable is connected to.

[vibedrive]

Another cruise control question:
Whenever I'm in cruise and climbing these gentle hills, the cruise kicks out the overdrive and jacks the engine rpm's up too much. This forces me to switch off cruise for hills only, and I'm able to maintain speed manually.
Would a Cold Air Intake installaion help keep cruise from jacking out the overdrive so much (since a CAI creates more hp)?

Would a CAI help? I would say no. The system is downshifting because it feels a higher rpm is needed to keep up. The minor gains a CAI would give aren't enough to stop this from happening.

Thanks for the CAI/Cruise answers. I'm still sitting on the fence with CAI.
Plus side:
1. Sounds better (don't really care)
2. More HP (I'm not hungry for HP)
3. Slight mpg improvement ( At 2-3% gain it'd take many years to earn back the $280 Typhoon expense)
Probably will do the job anywhay only because I'm retired, bored, need a project.

[Brandort3]

$280?!?!? I'm not sure where you have been looking, but i found mine on Amazon.com for $140.

Here's the Link to it:
http://www.amazon.com/69-1009TR-Typhoon ... air+intake" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I LOVE mine. And i also was on the fence about how well it would work and how it would help me. But after getting it on and hearing it and seeing the benefits (acceleration, mileage, and overall sound), i don't regret buying mine at all. Best of luck!

[vibedrive]

$280?!?!? I'm not sure where you have been looking, but i found mine on Amazon.com for $140.
Best of luck!

Darn! Just got off the phone with K&N. Now that I am finally convinced that I'd like to jump in with this project... They do not make one for my 2005, 1.8, Base model Vibe.
Any ideas?
Thank You,
Kip

[Nitetrain]

Here is something to inquire about more on the faulty cruze control, maybe re-flash the CPU and Trans computers. And on that model year maybe your cruze is held stable by a vacumm hose that is leaking or old. Something to look onto or at least inspect the vacuum hoses.

E for Effort and T for nice Try,

Nitetrain.

[Nitetrain]

When you add a CAI, you might find better of the starting line runs on stop[ and goes, but on the highway you'll find you run at higher RPMs. Also higher shifting red-lines.

Anybody else find this to be true?

And since I find this to be true sometimes I like the effx and sometimes I dont.

So I switch my stock filter and CIA back and forth when I feel, and also with the weather.

NT

[star_deceiver]

I don't live in to "hilly" of an area

Check your brake light switch on the brake pedal and the clutch switch/pedal as well. If either are loose they could be tripping the cruise.

[CharlesinGA]

Here is something to inquire about more on the faulty cruze control, maybe re-flash the CPU and Trans computers. And on that model year maybe your cruze is held stable by a vacumm hose that is leaking or old. Something to look onto or at least inspect the vacuum hoses.

E for Effort and T for nice Try,

Nitetrain.

The vibe does not use vacuum to operate the throttle on the cruise control, it uses a electric servo. Actually, the same servo basically, that the '05 and up use to operate the throttle all the time with the fly by wire system. They simply eliminated the cable from the pedal to the servo motor and use the computer to control the servo motor based on signals from the gas pedal or cruise control, whichever is doing the work at the moment.

The computer is seeing too much speed loss to quickly on up slopes and adding enough throttle to cause the transmission kickdown. The driver is able to be somewhat more subtle about this and ride the ragged edge of maintaining speed without kickdown of the trans.

The reality is, with the driver operating the throttle, there are probably some excursions in speed that the computer would not allow on the cruise control.

Charles