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Cruise control not working/unreliability fix... |
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e3steve
 
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   Member No: #1163
Location: Warsash, Hants & Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
...at last! You need patience, some manual dexterity, a pick set, a Torx driver and a small strip of wood, about 40mm x 8 x 8, as a handheld resting block. A head torch, good eyesight and/or close-work glasses will help. Disconnect the battery, using the usual-and-approved method. Release the steering column adjustment lever and remove the lower nacelle -- 2 x Torx 20(?) screws. You need to bring the wheel reach all the way out and work the column up & down in order to jiggle the lower cover off. It's a snap-fit where it mates with the top cover. Free the wiring harness from its anchors and disconnect the five little plugs from their sockets; this is including the connector to the ignition switch. Some of the latches require pressing inwards/together, and some need the little latch pulling away from the plug, using a fingernail, pick or small flat-blade screwdriver. The plugs are colour-coded and have differing keyways, so you can't mix them up! Study the connectors' plastic insulators; how to open the covers -- a gentle operation -- will become obvious. I used a 45-degree pick for everything hereonin. TIP: Some of the contact receptacles are tiny; others not so. Release the contacts from the insulators, ONE AT A TIME and remember where it came from. Phone images will help, obviously. LARGER CONTACTS -- 2-pole The larger contacts are removed by gently lifting a plastic retaining dog, using the tip of the pick, and pulling on the wire. Once free of its dog, push it out, also using the pick. Hold it against the wooden strip, between thumb and forefinger (or snipe-nosed pliers), with the wire crimp opening (where you can see it's been folded over) away from the wood and under your thumb then, using the pick tip, press inwards via the little opening in the main body of the contact and in order to create more tension within the receptacle's "jaws". Refit the contact into its home in the plastic insulator before doing the next one. SMALLER CONTACTS -- 3, 4, 5-pole within 6-way insulators These are removed by gently pressing in the raised barb which is part of the tinned brass contact itself. Once again, use the pick tip and pull on the wire, then push the contact with the pick until it becomes free. These are a little more difficult to re-tension, mainly because they're so tiny. The pliers will be of help in holding the crimped end of the contact against the wood strip! Prise up the retaining barb a little -- the one that you have to press in to release the contact -- then, using the pick tip again, force the pick in and towards the open end and compress the contact sleeve a small amount within the receptacle. This will make the receptacles maintain better contact with their respective pins. Whilst in there, re-tension them all (including the ones in the black connector to the ignition lock). To understand the reason behind the 'fix', one needs to have a basic understanding of CANbus. Controller Area Network is a message-based protocol along a twisted pair of wires; a type of multiplexing. With multiplexing, differing messages can be sent, verified and received along the same pair of wires. Each switch is not just a pair of contacts. The switch is a 'message generator', and the LED, whether present in the switch or shown on a display, acknowledges and reports that the command has been accepted by the relevant ECU and that the recipient (the device) has been actuated. If the route (the two twisted wires) is partially interrupted by a resistive connection (poor connector contact) then the message becomes corrupted or, more likely, not received at all by the ECU. I'll try to go in again, over the next day or two, and snap some tutorial images... |
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ul9601
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 Member No: #1975
Location: Auckland |
I disconnected some of the connectors and put them together without manipulating all the connector contacts. What I did though, was to leave out the big fat loom (the one going down from the back of the steering wheel to below the knee airbag cover and beyond) from its clips upon reassembly (I think there are two, one on the steering column lower cover, the other on the column, closer to the steering wheel). That did the trick for me, it's been a month and a half and still working. Before the fix, banging on the steering column cover would last a day maximum, usually stop working after turning the engine off. |
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MarkBevan
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 Member No: #3172
Location: Enfield |
My cruise control had the common problem. It initially worked intermittently, and could be coaxed back into life by moving the steering wheel up & down and in & out, but eventually that stopped fixing it. Slapping the underside of the steering wheel cowl (as per the 'Cruise Control and Speed Limiter not working' thread), didn't work for me. I wasn't brave enough to completely follow Steve's comprehensive procedure above, but removing the lower half of the steering wheel cowl, removing just the two outside connectors, and cleaning them with WD-40 Specialist Fast Drying Contact Cleaner (available from Halfords and safe for plastics) and waggling (a technical term) the rest of the wires, seems to have reliably fixed my cruise control (touch wood). |
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e3steve
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Member No: #1163
Location: Warsash, Hants & Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
I tried that method, Mark, but it turned out to be impermanent. Same with the ty-wrap method of securing the wiring harnesses more securely. My “3” occasionally allows its cruise to ‘play-up’; not to the point where it doesn’t function, but it does cause the buttons to get confused as to their functions! E.g. the ‘pause/resume’ button becomes ‘increase’... But with the cars with powered steering wheel adjustment it’s not possible to do the “violent thing”, so I just need to jar the steering wheel using the heel of my hand, bashing inwards toward the centre. The good thing with later cars is that things like the cruise and the sport/comfort suspension setting are semi-permanent selections, resuming their settings when the car is restarted. This software script is nice, but it doesn’t stop the cruise buttons’ occasional confusion. |
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321dave
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Member No: #614
Location: Dublin |
The good thing with later cars is that things like the cruise and the sport/comfort suspension setting are semi-permanent selections, resuming their settings when the car is restarted. This software script is nice, but it doesn’t stop the cruise buttons’ occasional confusion. [/quote1537864287] Hi Steve, hadn't realised. Very interesting. I guess the ECU that controls such functions is different or is running updated software? I've always found the reset of the cruise setting annoying, as if you turn off the car and pop into a shop for a few mins it needs resetting again when you switch back on. It would be interesting to see if that can be upgrade as well on the 2.7. I'm starting to upgrade the 2.7 car now to the 09 spec this year and ahead of the NCT(MOT). I recently found out that new alloy wheels are fairly expensive and the 09 spec wheel is a good bit cheaper currently. And I also noticed the software to control the retractable steering column is actually present even in the older 2.7 with the manual adjustment. That might be interesting one to upgrade. |
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e3steve
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Member No: #1163
Location: Warsash, Hants & Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
Hey, Dave! Good to know that your restoration is still underway. What’s the difference between the earlier Rocastrada and the ‘09? Or are you referring to the Atlantique, which was fitted to some C5X7s? |
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C6Dave
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  Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
e3steve wrote ... My “3” occasionally allows its cruise to ‘play-up’; not to the point where it doesn’t function, but it does cause the buttons to get confused as to their functions! E.g. the ‘pause/resume’ button becomes ‘increase’... Don't "they all do that sir?" Mine works fine when I set off but after a while it sometimes has the same 'confused button' syndrome but the 'pause resume' becomes a 'decrease' button with the + & - both increasing the speed setting, must be a French thing made to confuse us mere English 
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321dave
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Member No: #614
Location: Dublin |
e3steve wrote ... Hey, Dave! Good to know that your restoration is still underway. What’s the difference between the earlier Rocastrada and the ‘09? Or are you referring to the Atlantique, which was fitted to some C5X7s? Hi Steve, that's correct, I was referring to the C5 X7 wheel. But they are about €260-€300 each now! Depending on dealer discount. The same design in diamond is actually cheaper now. But I think they might decay faster if my diamond cut X7 wheels were anything to go by. But I've gone ahead and ordered a new wheel. At least I'll have a original spare if I get it restored. |
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