Anyone familiar with late 90s Nissan cruise control?

Joined
May 7, 2004
Messages
14,966
Location
Nokesville, VA
I have a 1998 Nissan Frontier. The cruise control doesn't work. It has never worked since I've owned this pickup.

When I push this button up:

1646272169059.png


I hear a relay click. The light on it does not light up, but I think it's broken/burned out (and the schematic leads me to believe that bulb is not required for the cruise control to work, it's connected in parallel with the coil of the relay I hear clicking).

And when I push it down, I again hear a relay click

After I push it up, I try to set the cruise control by pushing the COAST/SET button on this steering wheel switch:

1646272300100.png


When I do that (with the Frontier going at a speed which should allow cruise control to turn on), nothing happens. The service manual leads me to believe that a cruise control telltale on the instrument cluster is supposed to light up.

It also leads me to believe that when I push the first switch up and hear the relay click, if there's a problem with any of the switches or it detects some other error, the cruise control telltale is supposed to blink.

I've actually tried to make it detect an error by holding down the steering wheel switches while turning the cruise control with the first switch, and nothing happens. The cruise control telltale doesn't light up.

Nothing I've done has gotten the cruise control telltale on the instrument cluster to light up or blink. It also doesn't light up in "bulb test" mode when you first turn the key, but I don't think it's supposed to.

My theory, without having done any troubleshooting with a meter, is that the steering wheel cruise control switch is bad. The picture above is not the one installed in the Frontier. The one in the Frontier is badly worn out. The lettering on all of the switches is gone.

The horn works fine and that's where the steering wheel switch gets it's power.
 
Automatic or Manual?

Anything look amiss down by the brake pedal, supposedly there's two switches, one for brake lights/BTSI, and another for ASCD (cruise control) cancel
 
Automatic or Manual?

Anything look amiss down by the brake pedal, supposedly there's two switches, one for brake lights/BTSI, and another for ASCD (cruise control) cancel

It's a manual. I look at it a while ago and didn't see anything wrong there but I didn't examine it closely. The service manual leads me to believe that the cruise control telltale will blink if there's a problem with the brake or clutch pedal switches (they are wired in series).
 
Have you checked the fuses? Also, since this is a manual transmission truck, isn’t there a switch at the clutch pedal similar to the one at the brake pedal that would disconnect the cruise if the pedal is pushed?
 
Have you checked the fuses? Also, since this is a manual transmission truck, isn’t there a switch at the clutch pedal similar to the one at the brake pedal that would disconnect the cruise if the pedal is pushed?

Yes, fuses are OK, and there is also a clutch switch. I haven't tested either the clutch or brake switch yet, though it suggests that if these switches are not working I should get a blinking cruise control light when I set the speed.
 
Try pushing down, not up and then try to set the cruise.

That was it. Needed to push it down. Then it works exactly as it should.

I have a couple of replacement switches coming today, even though both switches work they are in real bad shape. The steering wheel switch is a lot easer to replace than I thought it'd be, the side cover pops right off and 2 phillips screws hold it in.
 
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