No Cruise Control. Working then stopped.

[1994GMCSierra]

As the title states i was cruising down the highway at 55mph when my cruise just stopped working. Thought it was just a blown fuse but when i took a look all of the fuses were good and nothing seemed wrong. Anyone know if there are additional relays associated with just the cruise control? I dont believe its a bad multifunction switch as everything else works fine on it. Help?

 

[Purefection]

My 97 did the same thing. Cruise randomly shut off. Especially when the wipers were on. It was the multifunction even though everything else worked fine

 

[poncho62]

The wires in the multifunction switch are quite small and break after time due to the movement of the switch arm.....most likely the cause

 

[Scotty.92]

I had problems with my cruise when I had bought my truck, turned out to be my brake switch. Also my torque converter sometimes locked up and sometimes not, depended on what day it wanted to work -- because of my brake switch.

 

[someotherguy]

Both are big suspects especially on a 1994.

Multifunction lever - just because other things are working doesn't mean anything. The cruise wiring as mentioned often breaks, right where it bends to go into the column. The wire breaks internally so you won't be able to tell from just looking. This is from years of using the turn signals and high beam function. It can sometimes still work intermittently. I've had several that worked but would fall out of cruise whenever I touched the lever. (Note: other functions like turn signals, wipers, high beam, are separate switches that the 88-94 lever simply operates physically - not electrically. Not until 1995 did all those functions get integrated into one big switch.)

Brake switch is your second main suspect, 1994 was the redesign to the new style switch used for the rest of the GMT400 era and there was a recall (or TSB, can't remember) on them for early failure many years ago. Very inexpensive and easy to replace. If you pop one open and see how cheaply these are made you'd be surprised you've been depending on it for brake lights, cruise function, and torque converter lockup all these years.

Richard

 

[1994GMCSierra]

So today it was working for about 1 minute then stopped. I have Accel when i push the switch but when i let go i hear a click (sounds like a relay) could that be the brake switch? If so what is involved in switching it.

 

[OlSmokie]

I have the same problem on my '90. How hard is it to replace that multi switch? Do you replace the whole unit or just the harness?

 

[someotherguy]

So today it was working for about 1 minute then stopped. I have Accel when i push the switch but when i let go i hear a click (sounds like a relay) could that be the brake switch? If so what is involved in switching it.

Not going to be the brake switch you're hearing, unless you're stepping on the brake at the same time. Probably broken wiring in your multifunction lever as described earlier, and the click you're hearing is the cruise kicking out as you let go of the button. You can test it with a multimeter pretty easily. Under the dash near the ALDL (diag connector) will be a harness socket clipped to the dash support, with the cruise wiring plugged into it. Kind of easy to find as it's a flat cable with a shiny black sheath, sort of looks like a telephone cord (flat and straight, not curly) and has a bright orange connector on the end.

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Has four connections on it. One is power from the fuse block (pink/black) the other three are the cruise functions. On/off, set/decel, resume/accel. Should be able to look at the harness socket to see which 'finger' on the connector is the power wire. Been a while since I've had to test one so I can't remember. Anyway you can't tell looking directly at the connector because all the wiring is covered in the black jacket. Anyway meter set on continuity...unplug the connector, put one meter probe on the finger for power, then other probe on the next finger and try each of the three switches. You should be able to get a beep when the switch for that finger is closed. Move to the next finger, etc. So you can see which of the three switches aren't working or are flaky (might help to have someone gently jiggle the lever while trying the switches, to see if it's intermittent.)

I have the same problem on my '90. How hard is it to replace that multi switch? Do you replace the whole unit or just the harness?

Not too hard at all. The lever pulls out of the column by gently tugging it straight out. It's held into the column by the actual electrical portion of the wiper switch, and has a sort of check ball/spring type retainer that takes a small amount of force to remove. Don't tug it too hard as you don't want to rip it away from the wiring. If the wiring breaks off inside the column you're screwed. At the connector under the dash, unplug it, and run a several foot long piece of mechanic's wire through the hole, bend it over so it can't pull out. Then gently pull the cruise wiring up through the column from where the lever was removed, pulling the mechanic's wire along with it. Then use the mechanic's wire to pull the new cruise wiring back down through. TAKE YOUR TIME...if you manhandle this job you'll regret it.

Richard

 

[1994GMCSierra]

Not going to be the brake switch you're hearing, unless you're stepping on the brake at the same time. Probably broken wiring in your multifunction lever as described earlier, and the click you're hearing is the cruise kicking out as you let go of the button. You can test it with a multimeter pretty easily. Under the dash near the ALDL (diag connector) will be a harness socket clipped to the dash support, with the cruise wiring plugged into it. Kind of easy to find as it's a flat cable with a shiny black sheath, sort of looks like a telephone cord (flat and straight, not curly) and has a bright orange connector on the end.

You must be registered for see images attach

Has four connections on it. One is power from the fuse block (pink/black) the other three are the cruise functions. On/off, set/decel, resume/accel. Should be able to look at the harness socket to see which 'finger' on the connector is the power wire. Been a while since I've had to test one so I can't remember. Anyway you can't tell looking directly at the connector because all the wiring is covered in the black jacket. Anyway meter set on continuity...unplug the connector, put one meter probe on the finger for power, then other probe on the next finger and try each of the three switches. You should be able to get a beep when the switch for that finger is closed. Move to the next finger, etc. So you can see which of the three switches aren't working or are flaky (might help to have someone gently jiggle the lever while trying the switches, to see if it's intermittent.)



Not too hard at all. The lever pulls out of the column by gently tugging it straight out. It's held into the column by the actual electrical portion of the wiper switch, and has a sort of check ball/spring type retainer that takes a small amount of force to remove. Don't tug it too hard as you don't want to rip it away from the wiring. If the wiring breaks off inside the column you're screwed. At the connector under the dash, unplug it, and run a several foot long piece of mechanic's wire through the hole, bend it over so it can't pull out. Then gently pull the cruise wiring up through the column from where the lever was removed, pulling the mechanic's wire along with it. Then use the mechanic's wire to pull the new cruise wiring back down through. TAKE YOUR TIME...if you manhandle this job you'll regret it.

Richard

Thanks A lot Richard, will be testing it out on Thursday