Caravan cruise control issue ....

Just recently happened in my 05 ... You set the cruise then 1 mile or 10 miles or even more later .. The cruise cuts off. Kills the cruise lite in the dash so to get it to restart you have to shut the car off and restart the vehicle OR "key" the car while rolling and restart it then. When I hit the on button the cruise could last 1 or maybe 50 miles or the cruise lite could go on and then immediately off. When the cruise is working - it works great. I've been putting some serious miles on this van - I sure miss that cruise.

Is the switch in the steering wheel? If so my best WAG would be the clock spring.

Nice to see you back, now behave yourself.

Hay GEEtar ... Yes on the steering wheel switch - The clock spring ? That's the wiring pack between the steering wheel and column ? Fractured wires ? What causes this ? Back and forth action of the s wheel over time ? Ez fix ??

Behave ? lol .. I know whose sandbox this is ! Btw - I saw your email some time ago ... It went poof on me !! I would have responded back. BTW - it's good to see your CONVERTER HUB is finally fixed !

From what Ive read some of the clock springs had problems.Our 12 Journey was perfect one day.The nextair bag light on .Typically if clock spring air bag light is on and lots of the wheel accs stop working completley like the cruise.Typically the switch in the wheel is the culprit.The journey at times wont come on.Smack the side of the wheel and it works.Will replace it one day.Oh yeah welcome back.Rocky

Thx Rocky .... I called a two diff dealers to see if there was or ever was a recall. I was told no. But who knows if that is true? I was LIED TO when I had an MAJOR ISSUE with a headlight switch/wiring on a 98 diesel dually some years ago. Kind of serious when you suddenly lose headlights on I-55 in Illinois at midnite !

How big of a deal is it to r and r that clock spring ?

No recalls on it from what I know.Its not bad to do.Just have to discharge the electric r&R the air bag and then wheel.Then the retainer and the clock spring.I did some at work but that was years ago.When mine went cruise was totally nothing.Rocky

R ... What should that job cost in the fair market ? I still don't have a building ... Jsta small man cave / storage unit that's full of bikes presently

Had the dealer do the clock spring in the Journey.I could have done it but wasnt sure that was the problem.Was like 95% sure but not totally since I dont have the scanners and shop now.Cost parts labor and diag was around 500.Wife said she would rather pay than not and still not fixed.I do know my wheel switch for cruise will need replaced one day.Ill do that as its pretty easy and the switch isnt a lot.Rocky

500 beans ? Holy Chit !! ... What's the grocery list of those charges ? How about jsta going to a junkyard and pulling the whole steering column out of a car there and hoping it works ??!! .. I've never done any steering wheel work that has a air bag in it

What about a brake pedal switch or a parking brake pedal switch? I have had a vehicle where the switch was too sensitive and a bump in the road would kill the cruise. Had to adjust the switch out a bit, problem solved.

Mine does that but sometimes doesn't come on in mu 06 T&C. I found that the main connector behind the drivers fender comes loose and turns random things on and off. I once lost my power window on the drivers side, jiggled the connector and it worked again. Terrible design is all I can say...

my wife's concorde cruise would work sporadically, and sometimes just cut out while working. had to tear out the complete dash for an evaporator replacement, found a loose connection at the brake light switch, so that was fixed. it's been two years since that job, and there hasn't been a cruise issue since. so it appears my problem was the brake light switch. you're mileage may vary .......

Wonder if you could pull codes by turning the ign switch on & off a few times and get the flashing light.For instance 3 blinks is a 3 with a pause then 4 blinks would be 4 making the fault code 34

DT .. I did consider that but this situation kills the system temporally ... A brake lite deal would allow you to hit the resume button and be on your way.

Main connector ? ... I'll have to check that tomorrow THX

X ... The brake lite switch ON/near the brake pedal ? Did your issue make you have to restart the car to make the dash lite AND THE SYSTEM ITSELF to operate again ?

Good idea itis !! ... I talked to a Bud today about taking this in and have someone with a big scanner to pull up some deep codes. Do you think the keying codes would reveal these issues ?

sometimes yes, and sometimes no. that was the mystery. i tried different steering wheel switches, and other things, but i forget exactly what. ["oldtimers" disease] i couldn't get any codes from the 'puter. after it started working, i got a set of factory diagnostic manuals, but it has worked flawlessly since i fixed that wire. so

The dealer can record the electronics while driving it as I used to do it all the time. The scanner will also tell you why the cruise cut out the last time it was on. I could drive and record the electronics or I could install what we called the Co-Pilot and let the owner drive it and hit a button on it when the cruise cut out. Then he brings it back and I would download the info in the shop computer and I could see just what caused it to cut out. But have the codes checked first as it may have a code in it for the problem. Sometimes it would but not all the time. I replaced clocksprings and brakelite switches , cruise servo's and cruise switches along with even PCM's to fix cruise problems over the years. This sounds to an electrical problem and not vacuum related. Ron

Ron. Doc dosent probally want to spend $$$ on diag.Most peopledont.They will spend a bundle guessing etc but when it comes to paying say 100 bucks for diag no way.Saw it all the time at work.Rocky

Believe me living on disability I completely understand. To bad he don't have a friend working at a dealer who could check it for him as a favor. I did that a lot for my buddies but I was a shop foreman and had a key to our shop and could stay as late as I liked. Ron

Hay Guys .... THANKS MUCH for this enlightening convo .... Seriously !!! ..., and this is serious because I am being FLAT OUT lied to by two smaller shops and a big Chrysler dealer. Now remember - this is a 2005. They are all saying that this is NOT a simple hook up to a machine. They are all basically suggesting that finding out the problem here is a painstaking time consuming electrical issue. NOW ... Putting this on the scope and getting a result in 60 seconds ? .... for 100$ ... on a machine that costs maybe 2400$ ? .... Isn't that a little pricey ?

Its a shame we don't live closer and I don't still work at the dealer. The Mopar scanner will tell the tech what caused the cruise to cut out the last time it cut off. That right there would point me in the right direction if I was diagnosing it. That would take me about 2 minutes to see on the scanner we used at the dealer. A good tech with a good scanner should be able to find what caused the problem without much trouble. The cruise is worked by the PCM on your vehicle as the PCM monitors the switches and then works the servo to make the cruise set. You can also check the brake switch and all the cruise switches in a few minutes with the right scanner. I loved electrical work and did all the big electrical jobs at my dealer. Most techs thought I was nuts because most techs don't like electrical work but I loved it. Wish I could do more for you but I cant diagnose over the internet I can only guess this way. Ron

My cruise quit and I did a hard reset to the system and that fixed it. Hard reset is basically taking both battery cables off the battery and hooking them together for a couple of hours. I tied them together with a zip tie. My truck is a 2012 so I don't know if that will work for you.

Thx Ron ... Generous offer ! If only huh ?!! .. What type of scanner is needed to pull these codes up ? Hell - if I could BUY ONE reasonable I might consider doing that ! How long are the codes saved to be pulled up ? ... Stumpy - I can understand resetting the system
by disconnecting the pos battery cable but hooking the pos and neg together ?

I would not do a hard reset 'till after reading the currant codes with a scanner.As Ron and Joe said,hook to a good scanner!!!

I hear you itis .. Define a good scanner ?

None of the aftermarket scanners can hold a candle to the factory piece.

and i don't think you are going to get a factory machine [new] for $2400.

Yea the factory scanner I used on yours would be the DRBIII as it could do so much when diagnosing Mopars it was great. I don't know if any other scanners will do as much because I always used the Mopar scanners. But you should at least be able to see it any codes are set with any scanner. Since the PCM works your cruise it can set codes for most everything on the cruise circuit other then a vacuum problem to the servo which that don't sound like your problem. Ron

Hay guys .... So this scanner is MORE than 2400$ ? Who makes this piece ? Maybe Miller ?