After a recent oil change that I had done by a mechanic, I noticed my
cruise control stopped working. The light goes on, the fuses all check
out. I suspect it is the brake sending unit that the mechanic
accidentally yanked out. Trouble is, I don't know how to find it under
the hood.
Can someone direct in the right direction.
The car is a '96 OB Legacy 5-speed.
many thanks
Did he say that he accidentally pulled out the brake sensing unit? If
so that would be odd since it is under the dash on the brake pedal. I
don't really see any need for the mechanic to be anywhere near
anythign that could hur the functioning of the cruise control. Not
saying it isn't related, but just that looking near the front of the
engine, where the oil changing stuff goes on, likely wont' yield any
answers as to how to fix it.
The things to check are:
--Brake pedal sensor, which is at the pedal under the dash.
--Neutral sensor. It is mounted to the transmission on the drivers
side, and the wire runs from it, up to the back of the engine on the
passenger side to a connector there where it then dissapears into a
wire harness. The reverse light switch is also on the transmission and
the wires run up to the same place. The neutral switch should be a
closed switch(as in pass juice and have continuity between the two
contacts.) if the car is in gear, any gear. The reverse switch only
has continuity when the car is in reverse.
--There is another switch for the clutch. I am not sure where this
sensor is, but assume it is on the clutch pedal arm just like the
brake pedal switch. Another possible place would be in the engine
compartment near the hill holder mechanism, which you can find by
tracing brkae lines to a unit that has a cable running into it. That
cable is the clutch cable. If there are wires running into that mess,
then the clutch sensor might be there.
I am pretty sure that those are the only sensors that the car uses for
CC, other than the speed input, but I assume you would have noticed
that not working. I coudl be wrong. I read about troubleshooting this
system years ago and it turned out to be the fuse, so if I didn't have
to look at it, I might not remember it right now.
Good luck,
Bill
