I bought a 2003 F-150 last April. The cruise control has never worked. I checked the cable, as well as the two fuses in the line, and everything looks good. The fuses in the box that other people say are for the cruise are good as well.

Anyone have any suggestions/ideas?

 

What cable did you check and how ?

"Looks good" or is good ?
- Testing with a meter is not subjective.

did you run the cruise control self test ?

 

I tried to run the self test, but nothing happened. I followed the procedure, but the cruise light never came on. When I hold the ON switch while I turn the key on, nothing happens. Then when I go through the sequence, nothing happens as well.

This leads me to believe that it is the ON switch...? I'm hesitant to go into the steering wheel with the airbag.

I'll be honest, I don't know much about cruise control systems.

 

i'm betting your switches are shot. i'm not sure on how to remove them, if they were like the ones on our '90 there are 2 screws on the back of the steering wheel, im sure these are plugged with a cap of some sort, and all you need to do is pull those, and im not sure what will need pulled first... if you pull the airbag you risk it going off, or not working... im not a genius, but that is what i would do. if you care to do this be VERY careful. the airbag thing is different because before the '92's they didnt have airbags in the f series.

 

Possibly the clock Spring. Had to replace teh one in my 98.

 

The question on the fuses, did you check it with a meter while installed or pull and stare at it, and put it back in ?

If you pull fuse #7 in the engine compartment, and measure resistance from the side without power ( use your meter to a known good ground to find which side is hot at all times ) to the Light Blue with Black stripe wire on the speed control servo, connector pin #5 ( Pin #4 is Tan w/ light blue stripe wire and #6 is Dark Green w/ Orange stripe wire ) do you get 1050 to 1100 ohms when pressing the on button ?

50 to 100 ohms of that is the coil in the horn relay, the other 1000 ohms is in the switch to the same circuit.

if you pull the horn relay, and test from the coil side without power, you should get ~ 1000 ohms to the same wire in the servo.

 

I found the ran this test, and I didn't get any reading. There was power to fuse #7, but I couldn't get a resistance reading to pin #5.

I tried to test to the horn relay, but I couldn't get it. My horn works FYI.

 

If you pulled the connector on the servo and the fuse and did this test, either the wiring to the clock spring is bad or the clock spring itself is bad.

That is what I read by the test results you provided.

 

oh random i just remembered this, but do the '97's have the light in the dash for CC?

 

No they don't. Good catch, I was still working from the OP's 2003 standpoint.

This was an addition to the 2000 ( don't think the '97-'99 had this in the cluster )

 

Thanks SSCULLY, I'll look into the clock spring.

 

1. Disconnect the battery and let sit for about 20 minutes or so (This will uncharge the airbag)

2. Take the plugs out from the back of the steering wheel and unscrew the bolts holding the air bag onto the wheel

3. After you take off the airbag, everything is exposed that you will need to be removed for the new controls. Disconnect old wires for controls and connect the new ones.

4. Reverse the steps!

 

does this get it to the clock spring too ???

I have never had a need to do it, but my (mis) understanding was it is a bit more involved.

 

I checked the clock spring...here is what I did:

Removed air bag, and checked for continuity through the clock spring. There was none. I almost replaced the clock spring, but...

I unhooked the cable from the connection BEFORE the clock spring, and I have continuity (Zero resistance). So the clock spring is good from what I know.

Therefore, my problem lies outside of the clock spring. I'm going to start exploring further into this, but I'm not sure where exactly to go.

Any other ideas?

 

Where did you test from / to ?

don't forget, the test is with the on button being pressed ( and don't forget to remove the fuse ).