Cruise contol not always working

[FarmerPug]

The cruise control in my 2002 406, works most of the time, but occasionally i find that when i press set the car doesnt hold the speed, and this is when im on the motorway, in 5th, no feet on any pedals, and still it doesnt engage, however if i stop at a shop and go back to the car it works again, what would the cause of this be and does the 406 have an indicator light to show that cruise control is on

[DaiRees]

No indicator light.

Mine does this very rarely, I suspect that it's the clutch pedal switch on mine 'cos if I depress and release the clutch it works again. Have you tried that? Also have you tried turning it off and on again?

[FarmerPug]

ive tried turning it on and off, shifting gears, checking the handbrakes down, rattling it to check its in place, and sometimes it just doesnt work, but then i can stop the car and it works fine again, but in my uncles hulux the crusie control has a light to state its on, does the 406 have such a light, and could the indicator light have anything to do with it because all the bulbs seem to be fine on my car

[eoin27]

Put your foot under the brake pedal and pull it up. If the CC works fine while your doing that then thats the issue. The brake pedal CC switch is the most common offender. I just took mine out and put it back in again and its been working fine for the last couple of months

[FarmerPug]

ahy that sounds about the culprit, where is the switch in question found and is it just a case of taking it off

[mjb]

There's one switch under the clutch pedal for the cruise control, and another under the brake pedal. Either can be dodgy. The complicating factor is the brake pedal has two switches, the other being for the brake lights, and you don't want to touch this otherwise either your brake lights will be on permanently or they won't light at all

The easiest way to test is to find a quiet bit of road, put it in 3rd and try to activate the cruise control. Make sure it doesn't work, then shove your foot behind the brake and clutch in turn and pull the pedal upwards with your foot. If it makes your CC work, you've found your culprit

[Blue406]

...... either your brake lights will be on permanently or they won't light at all

[Tangent]
If I have a £1 for every car I see on the road each day with either their lights permanently on, or their only brake light being one LED in the centre hi-vis light!!!!!
[/Tangent]

[DaiRees]

The easiest way to test is to find a quiet bit of road, put it in 3rd and try to activate the cruise control.

Doesn't work in 3rd does it? Only in 4th and 5th??

[eoin27]

Yep. 3rd gear. Isnt it over 30mph too though?

The CC switch is the red one in the brake pedal. The white one is the brakelights. Its most likely the brake CC switch, which is a pain cos the clutch one is easy to get to.

[DaiRees]

Won't work under 25mph in mine

[mjb]

Yep. 3rd gear. Isnt it over 30mph too though?

Aye. 50kph, so 31mph

[DaiRees]

Yep. 3rd gear. Isnt it over 30mph too though?

Aye. 50kph, so 31mph

Mine deffo works under 30....

[eoin27]

Ya I cant go out and test mine now though cos my mate wanted to borrow the coupe for the weekend cos he's picking his parents up from the airport (with suitcases etc.) and driving to Limerick and back. He needs a proper car to do it in

What am I driving? His Silver 1998 Ford Escort 1.8 GTi 3dr. Lowered 40mm. Otherwise standard. A fast bugger of a thing but not fun or comfortable to drive. Dipping the clutch is like sticking your foot in a bin to make space. And if you brake hard, prepare to change lane, whether you want to or not. The latter problem will have to be resolved soon though.