cruise control & turn signals [Archive] - S2000 Club of America Forums

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Coop

03-11-2008, 05:37 AM

I have had a problem for about 8 months now, every once in a while, my cruise control will kick off while driving along. Tonight, on my way home, I had the cruise on and when I put on the turn signal or hazards, the cruise control would kick off.

I would guess that I have a short someplace, guessing in the steering column. Any input?

repiv

03-11-2008, 06:23 AM

That sounds like a reasonable diagnosis. If you're handy, I suggest you remove the airbag to expose the guts of the steering wheel center. Make sure you disconnect the battery for at least 15 minutes before proceding (airbag) and have your radio code. If you check out Rick's site, he has a PDF file for how to remove the steering wheel. Once inside, you can check all the wiring to see if any of it is getting bare or cracked from movement and all connectors are tight. If all seems well, then the next guess would be something is wrong with the cable reel. It's this reel that maintains electrical contact for all the controls as the steering wheel turns.

Coop

03-11-2008, 02:10 PM

thank you again for all your knowledge

Coop

03-18-2008, 06:38 PM

I think I found the problem, my trailer light connection seemed to cause the problem.

I can only find a short (shows some resistance, not a complete short) between the brake and ground, but it seems to make my brake lights (dim) come on when the turn signal lights come on.

repiv

03-18-2008, 07:19 PM

I think I found the problem, my trailer light connection seemed to cause the problem.
Did you splice this in under the dash or at the rear of the car? I always thought the application of the brake disengaged the CC due to the switch mounted at the brake pedal. Interesting if it turns out that the electrical activation of the brake light would also trigger the CC cancellation.

Coop

03-19-2008, 04:28 AM

in the trunk, so yes it is the electrical activation of the brake light that trigger the CC cancellation

dlq04

03-19-2008, 05:39 AM

Trailer light connection? Your race car for the street is just trying to tell you it is not a tow vehicle. That's why they build F-150s. :poke:

Coop

03-19-2008, 11:44 AM

no it's telling me not to buy the stuff at WalMart :LOL:

daverx7

03-25-2008, 06:15 PM

BTW, I have the exact same symptom with my 2001. In fact, I have the LED windscreen and it shows the brake light coming on and off at the same time as the blinker. When I removed the trailer light converter, it didn't exhibit this symptom. I then replaced the converter and it still does it. ugh.

The guy that custom fab'ed my hitch did the wire taps on the tail lights, so I might recheck things there. I just haven't done it yet.

If you figure things out, would you mind sharing this? It would be awesome to fix this problem as I hate the CC being canceled when I used the blinker.

Thanks,

-Dave

Coop

04-11-2008, 11:32 PM

Today, I went to hook up the trailer lights harness again. For some reason, since changing to the AP2 tail lights, the tailer light harness cause the brake lights to come on, very dim, but still on.

It happens when I took up the brake light wire and either one of the turn signal wire(s) or both of them. Does not matter if the ground is hooked up or not.

Coop

04-11-2008, 11:39 PM

Just talked to Ajay, he got his stuff from Chase hitch for his AP2 and will check his hook up tonight. But he does remember the cruise kicking off when he put the turn signal on.

Stratocaster

04-12-2008, 12:35 AM

Coop send a PM/Email to MacGyver. I think the fix to this is a diode. MacGyver had this same brake light issue with his first windscreen lighted mod he sold. He posted a fix and sent all of his customers a diode. I think I still have mine.

I too have the same issue, now that I have both trailer lights (harness) installed and a lighted Windscreen (thanks s2kday)

Coop

04-12-2008, 02:17 AM

Thanks Jeff, I did just that.
Found out Ajay, also has the same problem. So it is with AP2's.

I did read that there maybe a fix, a "Taillight Converter with Integrated Circuit Protection"
http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/products/Taillight_Converter,119175

MacGyver

04-12-2008, 02:15 PM

It's going to be difficult to say without knowing how the blinker unit is connected into the system, so you guys will have to help me out on that one... the more electrical details, the better. What I CAN say for certain is the blinker unit is obviously allowing some feed-through from your blinkers to your brake line... why it would ever have a need to make such a connection is beyond me, but I'm willing to bet it has to do with some poor connections in the circuit itself (i.e., bad design). I can say this as even a flicker of power on the brake line will turn off your cruise control and cause the LEDs to flash red... this is something you may never see flicker when using standard incandescent bulbs due to their slow turn on time, therefore the manufacturer of the blinker unit may have not seen the problem before. Send me a link to where one is sold, the company that makes it, whatever, so I can try to get a feel for what they might have designed into it.

The diode for the original windscreen design was a band-aid of sorts... if the windscreen was hooked up in a particular manner (and only in this one manner), the circuit would allow some current to flow from the brake line back into the main power line, lighting up the dash. The diode prevented this special case from being a problem. It sounds as if the unit is leaking blinker power back into the brake line, and depending upon the unit's design, a diode may be an easy solution here.

Anyone with an AP1 having this issue? I was able to look into the guts of an AP2 tail for the first time last week, and I was surprised by how much circuitry was buried in there for such simplistic functionality. If it's just on AP2 tails, I may need to look into what's going on there.

daverx7

04-12-2008, 02:58 PM

Hi there! I am having this problem with my AP1, but I have your cool custom animated LED tail lights. I cannot remember if it was a problem prior to the new LED tail lights.

Thanks,

-Dave

repiv

04-12-2008, 03:39 PM

Hi there! I am having this problem with my AP1, but I have your cool custom animated LED tail lights. I cannot remember if it was a problem prior to the new LED tail lights.

Thanks,

-Dave

Is this only associated with a trailer harness? I also have the animated brake lights and have never experienced the problem, perhaps I should actually go out and set the CC and hit a turn signal to see. I don't have a trailer harness.

MacGyver

04-13-2008, 12:11 AM

Ok, that removes the tails from being the cause, then.

Someone needs to send me a link to the info I requested above so I can try and narrow down the possible cause and solution. It's obviously the flasher unit, but I need to know how it hooks into the flashers and brakes before I can suggest a solution.

Coop

04-13-2008, 03:25 AM

MacGyver

04-13-2008, 08:06 AM

Well damn, Dave, now you got me curious as to what the problem was... I hope you're not giving up on finding out now that you have a replacement for the unit :(

Coop

04-13-2008, 02:27 PM

Well damn, Dave, now you got me curious as to what the problem was... I hope you're not giving up on finding out now that you have a replacement for the unit :(

If that for me, No I would still like to find out why and how this part was able to fix it.

Both modules have to take the brake wire and add them to the turn signal wire to be able to send a signal to the trailer for brakes lights. I am guessing that in the new module, it has added a diode or something, to keep the signal from feeding back to the other circuit. So now why on AP2 and not AP1, what is different. What type of bulb does the AP2 use for tail & brake lights, I didn't pull it, but is it an LED bulb(s) or just a plain bulb.

repiv

04-13-2008, 07:27 PM

Is this only associated with a trailer harness? I also have the animated brake lights and have never experienced the problem, perhaps I should actually go out and set the CC and hit a turn signal to see. I don't have a trailer harness.

I can now confirm that Mac's animated brake lights have NO effects on any other of the car's systems. CC and signals work normally.

MacGyver

04-13-2008, 09:02 PM

Brakelights for AP2 are two separate LED circuits... and outer ring that is always on, and a middle section that comes on with the pedal.

Coop

04-13-2008, 09:59 PM

Brakelights for AP2 are two separate LED circuits... and outer ring that is always on, and a middle section that comes on with the pedal.

so could the LED circuits must be what is causing the the problem. Is it more sensitive than regular bulbs.

Since installing the new module, the cruise works as it should.

daverx7

04-13-2008, 10:21 PM

I think I fixed my problem today. Stopped in a big trailer supply place and they seem to know the problem. I got a ModuLite® HD Trailer Light Module" part # 118190 by Tow Ready (http://www.towready.com/) I also have not hooked up the power wire yet, but the problem seems to be corrected.

I can no longer see the brake lights coming on and tomorrow I will check the cruise control.This is great news!!! Thanks for sharing it. I will likely give this module a chance and see if it works for me as well. I have tried two different ones, but I anticipate that they are of low quality... Who'd thunk that there would be a difference in quality in this device? :)

Well damn, Dave, now you got me curious as to what the problem was... I hope you're not giving up on finding out now that you have a replacement for the unit I am game to help figure out the cause, but I have to level set that I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff... however, I am a quick study with good instructions. :) Let me know how I can help you out with this.

Thanks,

-Dave

ajay

04-14-2008, 12:58 AM

daverx7

05-02-2008, 07:18 PM

I just ordered this light module. I hope it does the trick! Thanks for sharing as this was starting to drive me crazy. LOL

-Dave

daverx7

05-24-2008, 03:45 PM

I just now got around to installing ModuLite® HD Trailer Light Module" part # 118190 by Tow Ready, and it solved my problem.

Thanks for sharing this!

-Dave

Goku

11-22-2008, 07:08 PM

Has anyone got info if just adding a Diode/Relay will solve the problem?