Why did My Cruise Control Stop Working – Troubleshoot Yourself

Cruise control is one of the greatest inventions, in my opinion, especially when you have to travel long distances daily. 

It is just like autopilot. Get on a highway and relax; set your foot aside, maintain a speed, turn the cruise control on and let it take control. The modern ones even have extraordinary features like maintain a particular speed and a distance from other vehicles.

If you are used to the luxury and ease of cruise control and it becomes faulty, then it can get pretty annoying. Nonetheless, it can also be quite dangerous. How may you ask?

A failed cruise control can lead to severe consequences like collision with other vehicles.

Why did My Cruise Control Stop Working?

There are many reasons which may lead to cruise control stop working. Some of the most commons ones include a lousy cruise control switch, blown a fuse, brake switch, or faulty cruise control motor. 

If you wonder why your cruise control is not working, it could be any of these reasons. Let us a better look into it.

Vehicle Speed Sensor

Cruise control needs to monitor the vehicle’s actual speed to adjust the speed utilizing that information. For this purpose, it has a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the transmission. 

A problem with this sensor can hinder the cruise control’s function as if it misreads the speed irregularly or doesn’t show any reading at all. It won’t work correctly.

Point to remember:  Most cruise control won’t work at 25-30mph.

Bad Cruise Control Switch

One of the most known and experienced symptoms of a bad cruise control switch is if your cruise control turns on but does not set. 

It happens when the contacts present inside the lever aren’t touching each other properly or have worn out. In this case, the switch fails to contact the CCM (Cruise Control Module).

If it happens to your vehicle, the cruise control might go off completely, or it might not respond to the acceleration or the cancel function.

Cruise Control Fuse

Most of the electric problems can sort out by replacing a blown fuse. If out of nowhere, your cruise control stops working and even pushing the cruise button does not illuminate the indicator lights, then a blown fuse could be the culprit.

To fix the fuse, you will first need to locate it. Check the user’s manual for this.

Cruise Control Relays

When there is a problem with the relays of the cruise control, the lights don’t stay on. The light will remain on only when you are holding the switch.

As soon as you let it go, the light will go off too. It shows that the relays have gone bad and require replacement.

Brake Switch

Another culprit could be the brake pedal switch. To get to the root of the problem, you need an answer: Do your brake lights work? That is what will indicate a problem.

If the brake switch isn’t functional, the cruise control won’t work either. For the CCM to work, it needs to detect the brake light switch signal. Otherwise, it would disengage the cruise control. Remember applying the brakes cancels the cruise control automatically.

Loose Throttle Cable

Ensure all the cables are fixed in their places properly, and nothing is loose because it can hinder the vehicle’s performance. 

A loose cable at the throttle plate can also cause a cruise control switch not to function correctly, but if you hear a clicking sound on engaging the throttle cable, that means the wires have entirely come off.

Don’t worry, though. Putting back the cable in its place is no big deal. It takes no more than 30 seconds and is pretty easy to locate, too, so it won’t be much hassle.

Cruise Control Servo

If the cable is attached correctly, but the cruise controls are still not working, the servo or the regulator itself might have an issue. In this case, the little motor in there becomes faulty and fails to generate enough power to pull on the throttle and control the speed. 

LED Tail Lights/ Back Lights

If your vehicle has LED tail lights, there is a high chance the cruise control would not work unless you solder in a resister in there.

I have personally faced this problem in my Honda Civic. Some systems might also experience a disabled cruise control when the brake light blows.

Aftermarket lighting like LED brake light conversion, draws less current than an incandescent bulb, so doing so will trick your car’s CCM into thinking the brake light has gone out. 

Check Engine Light

The first thing you should try doing when you suspect a faulty cruise control is to checks the engine light; if it is on and cruise control is not working.

Some modern vehicles have ETCS (Electronic Throttle Control System). Cruise control in such vehicles gets disabled when a problem in the transmission or engine occurs.

Vacuum Leak

Older models of various vehicles used vacuum actuators to control the throttle body when the cruise control is in operation. If the vacuum has a leak, most likely caused by a crack in the hose of the tube, the system won’t carry the functions correctly.

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Why Does My Cruise Control Not Work Sometimes?

Sometimes a cruise control works intermittently. There can be three common reasons why it would happen. It is either lousy vehicle speed sensors, a problem with LED tail lights, or some fault in the engine lights.

A faulty brake pedal switch can be another reason, but that happens rarely.

Where is the Fuse for Cruise Control?

To locate the fuse for the cruise control, look into the steering wheel cable reel. It is the point where the horn and cruise control circuits are present simultaneously. 

To distinguish it in the whole mechanism, look for a cowling knee, that is, the panel. You can find it behind the steering wheel, towards the south.

Nonetheless, I always recommend consulting the user manual to locate it more accurately.

What is the Cruise Control Fuse Called?

Unlike most car equipment, a fuse cruise control fuse has got no specific name. There are numbers on the fuse for identification purposes.

Usually, cruise control has the number 47 on it in the fuse box.