Do to a feeling of pending disaster, the cruise switch at the master cylinder has officially been disconnected. I dont want to risk losing a good truck over a faulty cruise switch. I am hearing Ford may recall more vehicles. I have a 2001 5.4 Supercab that was not originally included in the recall. (missed it by 4 months) I was looking at the cruise wiring schematic this evening and quite frankly dont see why Ford even used this switch to begin with. (Extra safety maybe?) It is a secondary cruise disconnect switch. There is also a switch on the brake pedal which I believe is the primary disconnect for the cruise. I have thought about bypassing the secondary switch completely and seeing if the cruise would function correctly. Any thoughts?

 

The CCD switch is a redundant safety disconnect for the cruise system.

If you disconnect the switch and bypass it, the system will work normally albeit without the redundant safety measure.

Steve

 

can anyone post a pic of which wire needs to be unpulged on the master cylinder i want to be sure there wont be a fire also. called the dealership and they said dont worry but just to be safe. any help would be great

 

from what i understand, it is the one on the front of th mc. check out the thread in the lightning forum for pics.

-matt

 

You have no need to. Your BPP switch is protected by fuse #15 (20A). If it makes you feel better, certainly buy the new switch and wiring harness and do the install. Personally, I'd just install a 2A fuse in place of the 20 and forget about it until it blows that fuse (at which point the cruise will stop working, telling you the switch is bad/leaking and needs to be replaced).

-Joe

 

i never use the cruise anyways so after i disconnet the switch and zip tie it out of the way. so i need to do anything with the orange piece on on the master cylinder or just leave it alone. any need to cover it any way

 

No need to cover it unless you just want to. It is just a switch that no longer has power going to it. The more importat thing is to secure the wiring safly out of the way as there is a hot wire there.

 

17 june did anyone else see the news last night on the cruise pressure switch on the brake master cyl fires ??? i have a 1999 F-150 and i have the exact switch they showed on the news and it does have power to it even when the truck is turned off. the problem is my year is not on the recall yet. i disconnected the switch. has anyone talked to a dealer about a replacement switch {2004 and up have a different switch} and will the newer switch work on other models??? i like to use my cruise but don't wantto loose my truck either..........any info would be appreciated.
thanks Danbowhntr in maryland

 

See my numerous other posts on the issue. Short version is that even if you have the same switch, if there is a fuse in-line with it, the odds of it sparking a fire are slim at best. That's what the fuse is there for: To protect that circuit.

I can't speak for the '99 MY offhand, but if my memory serves, it's on its own fuse, a 15A to be specific. If it makes you feel better, YES you can replace the switch you have with the new one being used in the recall. If it makes you feel better, replace the 15A fuse with a 1A or 2A fuse.

I didn't see the TV news report myself, but the CNN web site has a bunch of mis-information on the issue. As usual, they are not a reputable source of information on the issues.

-Joe

 

do not trust the fuse to prevent a fire in the cruise ckt.... since this brake pressure switch is a normally closed switch if the brake fluid gets into the switch side of the switch it can ignite the fluid and NEVER blow the fuse because just burning the ckt open does not mean it will draw enough amps to blow the fuse.........get the new style switch or disconnect it ......a fuse does nothing to an open ckt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Being normally closed has nothing to do with it. The circuit is a VOLTAGE input to the speed control servo. It draws less then one milliamp of current. The heat/ignition source occurs after an extended amount of time, when the contacts inside the switch have corroded to the point that an arc occurs as the power tries to ground through the brake fluid. That's direct from one of the engineers doing the testing.

You are correct in that a fuse does nothing to protect an open circuit, but an open circuit needs no protection either. There's no heat source or overcurrent condition in an open circuit, so the argument is irrelevent.

As I've said 10 times already, should the switch short out, the fuse will burn open long before the wire heats up enough to start a fire. The recalled vehicles have no fuse, hence the fire danger.

-Joe

 

That’s the culprit

 

danbow, I tend to agree with your statement since there is no short to ground per se thus allowing enough heat to build at the internal contacts of the switch itself to ignite the brake fluid. I "assume" the vehicles that caught fire were fused as well, correct? The switch contacts act like an electric dynamite cap, albeit with less volatile medium to ignite. Matt

 

joe, could you tell us the location of the fuse for this circuit? I have a 99 F150. Also, are the new switches for 2004-05 immune from this hazard? Thanks, Matt

 

Does not matter that there is a fuse there, it is not a direct short, so the fuse does not blow. I had the bright idea to try to put an inline ATM fuse inline with a 1 amp fuse, but it could do the same thing, even with this.
For ~ 20.00 shipped from oemfordparts.com, I just went ahead and ordered the part, not waiting to see if they recall my truck ( still does not show as a recall item ).

P/N : 1L1Z-9F924-AA (KIT-BRAKE RE) List is 18.98 Southwest Ford price 11.96, add in shipping, and no TX sales tax ( out of state ship to ) total was 20.30.

Here is JMC's post in the thread, when I suggested the ATM line fuses.:

Full Thread :
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh....php?p=1707010

That picture above looks like a leaking switch, so good thing it is disco'd. If you put in the bypass that JMC talks about in the other thread, CC works fine, until you get the recall from the dealer, or order up the part yourself.
Crack open a ATM fuse, and solder a wire between the 2, and plug it in. Mine is still that way, until I can find time to install the new switch sitting on the work bench.