Cruise control 2005 4 whl dr sport trac

[Michael Geller]

My cruise controls don't work. My mechanic says to replace them or fix he would have to remove steering wheel cover which exposes the air bag and I would have to replace it. I think he said $800 for new bag because you can't put older unused ones in. Very cost prohibitive just to fix/replace cruise control.

Has anyone encountered this and found it to be true?

Thanks for any help.

Mike

 

[RedRanger 7]

Someone just asked about their cruise switches a couple of days ago. Never heard that airbag story before, maybe someone will post a schematic to see what is involved. The switch replacement question has definitely been asked quite often lately. Good Luck!!! :supercool:

 

[Duane Foster]

You need to find a different mechanic ASAP. The airbag module needs to be removed to get to the mounting screws and wiring for the cruise control switches, but nothing gets opened up to expose the airbag. Unless he screws up and sets off the airbag.

 

[Jacob V]

Here's a link to the Project by Todd Z that I will be following tomorrow morning.



http://www.mysporttrac.com/MySportTrac/projects/Replacing_The_Steering_Wheel_Cruise_Switches.pdf



I will let you know how well it goes. I've never done any work on a vehicle before besides replacing a stereo and a couple of oil changes. So I've got very little experience. My biggest worry is setting off the air bag...



also here's a link to the Cruise Control Switches I purchased.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C5DUN2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00



Also, you can find the Cruise Control Switches cheaper on ebay, but I have an amazon prime account, so this was quick and easy for me.

 

[Scott Tanner]

Try replacing the switch on the master cylinder first. Common problem. Jump it out temporarily to test

 

[EddieS'04]

Get anothe mechanic or do it yourself. I ordered wheel switches from ebay. Very easy job.

Just disconect battery and drain all power.

Around here body shops use used unblown air bags all the time. The covers on my switches were crumbling, but still worked if i pushed the right place.



Tanner is right about the master cylinder switch also.

 

[Jacob V]

I just got done replacing my Cruise Control Switches. First thing I notice was that my horn didn't work before I even started, so that was probably my issue on why my CC didn't work in the first place because I believe they are on the same relay, and when I looked under the hood, the relay wasn't there at all. ( I just got my truck last Tuesday so i'm assuming the previous owner took it out to go get a new one and never did.) But, my CC switches were still old and faded and I already had the new ones so I went on and replaced them anyways. The whole process was pretty easy,... the hardest part is getting the wires off the old (and new switches if they came with new wires on them, like mine did). I ended up using a needle-nose pliers and took my time and was very gentle,.. its very easy to pull the wires out of the connector when you use a pliers so be careful,.. try with your hands first for a while. Just be patient and take you time, they come off eventually.



Hope this helps!

 

[Duane Foster]

I think there's a whole thread, maybe on explorerforum, about disconnecting those wires. If I remember correctly, there's a tab that holds each wire and can be released with something very thin, but patience is the key regardless.