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Cruise control + other questions


rbaum94
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Although I have changed out and repaired a hell of a lot on my pathy, I still have a few more bugs to work out before its golden. When I was given my pathy, the cruise control didn't work.

 

I want to find out why and what to do but I don't know where to start? I think it could be a missing relay because I'm missing one on of the three that are on the drivers side of the engine bay, the one thats a beige color and in the middle of the two If I remember correctly.

 

Also on a few side note questions for the sake of not spamming the forum, My speed sensor fails every once in a while and the check engine light comes on for it. It does work properly I believe when the car is warmed up, but sometimes it will stay not working for quite a while before engaging. I was wondering what that could possibly be?

 

Another question is that sometimes when I'm in idle with the AC on, the idle rev will drop to 0 for a second (like sputtering every once in a while) and I was wondering what that could be? MAF sensor maybe?

 

Thanks guys, I really love this forum!

 

Also my pathy is

 

1994

XE-V6

213K miles and still kickin'!

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Does the cruise do anything? Meaning does the light come on ? If it does but doesn't work it could be the rubber button on the brake pedal is missing, check the vacuum line coming from the cruise control pump under the hood, Pass side rear, make sure the hose it attached and not leaking. Could also be a contact problem with the rings on the back of the steering wheel not making contact with the pins in the steering column.

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That rubber pad on the break peddal is gone.. If you mean the rubber thing that went there to engage the stop light to come on (it was originally gone so I have a nut and bolt through that hole to make the stop light work)

 

Yes the light does come on but the buttons just do not work as to accelerating and such.

 

No leaks from the hoses.. How would i check the contacts on the steering wheel?

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Another thing I forgot to mention, My wiper fluid sprayers wont shoot, when I engage the sprayer, the wipers move but no fluid gets sprayed out. Thoughts?

 

Sorry for being a newbie, Its the first real car I've ever taken seriously and am learning as I go and I've learned a lot so far and I'm in love with working on my own vehicle! *would really hate having to work on anyone else's though haha*

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There are 2 rubber bumpers on the brake pedal, one for the brake lights one for the cruise, if you are missing one that may be why the cruise does not work.

 

(If your truck has a clutch there would be one of the rubber bumpers on that pedal too)

 

You can download the factory service manual from here, it's free, and you will use it a lot:

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Pathfinder/

 

just click on your year, open each section and than save each section into a folder, you can go thru the troubleshooting steps for the cruise if none of the common problems fixes your problem.

 

As for testing the steering wheel contacts, does your horn work? Does the horn work when the steering wheel is in different positions? If so I doubt the contacts are your problem.

 

As for the wiper washer it is pretty common for the pump to stop working, there are two pumps in the washer fluid bottle, one front one rear, does either one work? Have someone try move the wiper switch to the spray position and listen under the hood to see if either one makes any noise. Mine wasn't working and I removed the pump, removed the bottom (3 small phillip screws) and turned the shaft a few times carefully with a pliers, mine was frozen, and after that it worked, for a while anyway. You may also want to try blowing some air at LOW pressure thru the washer fluid lines to make sure there is not a blockage and to make sure water actually moves thru the lines. It is also common for the small holes on the spray nozzles to get clogged from wax, the nozzles (front) are easy to remove, I usually will remove them, and hold them under hot water in the sink while using a small sewing needle to clean out the holes.

 

Let me know anything you find out and we will go from there. I also have a 94 and am also in Florida but in Central Florida just above Orlando, good luck

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Okay, so I checked out the brake pedal, the green rubber stopper is still on the right most button, (and my screw and bolt are still on the button that engages my stoplight) and the button is being striked by the green rubber stopper.

 

The cruise control light comes on and my horn works, but the buttons seem to do absolutely nothing..

 

Thoughts?

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Which light comes on? The one on the master switch below the vent or the "cruise" light on the dash. If you only get the light on the master switch I would check the continuity of the brake pedal switch for the cruise, mine was failed and even though the rubber pad was there it didn't matter because the switch was broken.

 

If the "cruise" light near the speedo comes on when you press the SET button. I would look into the vacuum pump for the cruise. There is a test procedure where you apply voltage across the terminals in the service manual.

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When you checked the vacuum hose, did you remove it to check that the end wasn't cracked? That was the issue on mine, and you couldn't see the cracks because the nipple on the actuator is recessed.

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Also I forgot to mention if you have a speed sensor code, that could be affecting your cruise. I had this issue as well, on my old pathy.

 

You don't need to remove the switch to test it, just unplug the plug, and make contact with your multimeter. Press and release the pedal and see what happens.

 

X2 on that vacuum hose. Although on my old rig (it had almost everything wrong with the cruise) all lights would come on when the hose was bad, it would just set and then start losing speed.

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When my cruise was acting up, if you pushed against the bottom of the steering wheel away from you while driving, it would engage. The contacts were just a hair away from contacting the ring

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When my cruise was acting up, if you pushed against the bottom of the steering wheel away from you while driving, it would engage. The contacts were just a hair away from contacting the ring

 

Mine was doing the same thing, I ended up picking up a 6" long piece of copper tubing and than I cut 3 aprox. 1/4" wide spacers out of it, smoothed the edges and used them as spacers to move the ring closer to the contacts, works perfect and can't even tell the spacers are there. I was looking for spacers at the local Ace Hardware and one of the guys there suggested the copper since I could cut it to what ever length I needed and being 6" long gave me plenty in case I made a mistake or had to try more than one thickness. Now cruise and horn work perfect.

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  • 3 weeks later...

okay it seems we are in a confusion, how do i test the cruise control switch? and what switch is it that i am testing? the button on the vent has a green led, but i do not get the cruise light on the cluster when trying to engage it. now are you talking about the buttons on the steering wheel as a switch? or the wire that is near the break pedal?

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I am now requesting pictures on the location on the speed sensor, and if my cruise control switch is faulty, a picture of that so I know what I need to go get. =p

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  • 2 years later...

Another thing I forgot to mention, My wiper fluid sprayers wont shoot, when I engage the sprayer, the wipers move but no fluid gets sprayed out. Thoughts?

 

Sorry for being a newbie, Its the first real car I've ever taken seriously and am learning as I go and I've learned a lot so far and I'm in love with working on my own vehicle! *would really hate having to work on anyone else's though haha*

Oh wow, I know this is an old thread but I could have thought you were talking about my new pathy!

 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

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