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Topic: Cruise control tech question..... (Read 1357 times) previous topic - next topic

Cruise control tech question.....

I am moving my cruise buttons.I need to extend the harness from the column.There are (if I remember),4 wires from the cruise buttons going to 3 wires in the column via the copper disc on the steering wheel.Now,the question..............When making the cruise button wires directly connect to the column wires,which colors go where?The simpler the explanation (or picture),the better.Thanks.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #1 –
remove horn button and lay to the side.
remove lower column cover (does nothing but let you see what your doing better)
remove two screws for each switch on back of wheel.
push / roll switch out from the outter part of the wheel on each switch.

one wire jumps from one switch to the other


snip wires on switches leaving as much slack as possible.
extend them to where ever( a cat5 harness would work good)
re-jumper the one wire that went from one switch to the other.

done.

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #2 –
I have a separate set of buttons.I'm swapping steering wheels.Wouldn't I have to tie into the wires that are mounted in the column behind the wheel.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #3 –
totally different situation compared to the original post.  I had no idea that was what you were doing.

your post said you were moving the switches (ie- relocating them).

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #4 –
Right.I'm taking the factory switches,and moving them to another location in the car.I need to wire them up.From what I can tell,there's a column harbess (appears to be 3 wires),that is mounted right behind the steering wheel,and then,there's the cruis button harness that has (I believe),4 wires (2 of them together).I THINK they can be tied in together directly (column wires and button wires) bypassing the copper disc in the wheel where they make contact.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #5 –
Do the colors not match on the other side of the slip rings?  Also, what will you do for a horn button?
1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
'89 5.0 w/ ported intakes, Mallory Adjustable FPR, BBK shorties and H with 2.5" Flows, 130 amp 3G, 89 Mustang comp/wiring, Aluminum radiator w/ elec fan, T5 trans, King Cobra clutch, 3.55 gears, 13" Cobra brakes (front), Wilwood prop valve, Mustang A-arms, Front Coil-overs, MM CC plates, Silver 17x9 R's, 03 Cobra IRS, Aluminum DS, 2002 Mustang dash/console etc..., custom leather seats

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #6 –
Colors I believe are different.As far as a horn button,the steering wheel will have one in the middle.I believe the horn runs separately than the cruise.I may be wrong.I'm getting into all of this for the first time.I may end up trying to find one at a boneyard and see what I can tear up.I just don't know when that will be.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #7 –
you cant extend the harness from the connector in the column,,

you have to extend the wiring from the switches.

your switch wiring is only 3 or 4 inches long (coming from the slip rings)

the wiring in the column you speak of leads to the input of the slip rings.


so,,,,,,what i said earlier is the only way.

Simply unhooking the plug in the column and extending those wires do nothing.,, especially if you are relocating the switches.

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #8 –
actually,, im totally wrong,, now that i think about it.

the only reason for slip rings is the principle that the buttons are in the wheel.

yes you are correct,  extend the column harness. 

Im sure you can figure out the horn.

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #9 –
Quote from: vinnietbird;273924
Colors I believe are different.As far as a horn button,the steering wheel will have one in the middle.I believe the horn runs separately than the cruise.I may be wrong.I'm getting into all of this for the first time.I may end up trying to find one at a boneyard and see what I can tear up.I just don't know when that will be.


The horn does share the slip ring for ground and power. 

save that for last,, just yell out the window for now :Dif you have a problem:D

dont get to curious about the switches,, they are not your average switch by no means.  Ive had them apart and they are made to do so.  there are three resistors in there that define the operation parameters of the cruise circuit input to the servo within the driver fender.

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #10 –
The switches are pretty cool actually!  I had some modified at one point to create several independent on/off circuits (rather than one circuit using various resistances) to trigger a wireless device... pretty sweet.

Anyway, I asked about the horn because 1. you'll need to keep the wires connected to the slip rings to maintain the horn (tap in when you add the remote buttons) and 2. the wheel has the slip rings built in so, unless you are swapping to another similar wheel you might have problems with getting power to and from the horn switch.
1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
'89 5.0 w/ ported intakes, Mallory Adjustable FPR, BBK shorties and H with 2.5" Flows, 130 amp 3G, 89 Mustang comp/wiring, Aluminum radiator w/ elec fan, T5 trans, King Cobra clutch, 3.55 gears, 13" Cobra brakes (front), Wilwood prop valve, Mustang A-arms, Front Coil-overs, MM CC plates, Silver 17x9 R's, 03 Cobra IRS, Aluminum DS, 2002 Mustang dash/console etc..., custom leather seats

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #11 –
yeah,, i dont really have my head around what you are saying but im sure your right.

havent cracked the manual yet but im sure the horn could be kept alive.

IIRC,, when you press the horn, cruies shuts off,, or goes to hold.

either way, getting power to stay up at the slip rings shouldnt be all that difficult.

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #12 –
LOL, sorry, kinda confusing and off topic but I was adding a second set of cruise buttons to the wheel that would be relabeled and wired to wirelessly control audio volume, audio source, navigation and speaker phone answer/hang up.  I did this by opening the buttons up, removing the resistors and soldering extra wires in so each switch was independent rather than all being in a series.  Then the were wired to a wireless USB keyboard PCB (hidden in the back of the wheel) to send specific commands for each button.

Anyway, it's been a while since I had a thunderbird wheel but I remember 3 rings and it's possible that on was a dedicated return for thee horn button.  Either way, as long as all wiring is kept intact and just tapped into it'll be fine.

Vinn, what I suggest is pulling the thunderbird wheel and taking note of how the buttons are wired to the rings.  A few observations here should be enough to allow you to tap in at the column and have everything working.

What wheel are you using and where are you going to put the buttons?
1988 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
'89 5.0 w/ ported intakes, Mallory Adjustable FPR, BBK shorties and H with 2.5" Flows, 130 amp 3G, 89 Mustang comp/wiring, Aluminum radiator w/ elec fan, T5 trans, King Cobra clutch, 3.55 gears, 13" Cobra brakes (front), Wilwood prop valve, Mustang A-arms, Front Coil-overs, MM CC plates, Silver 17x9 R's, 03 Cobra IRS, Aluminum DS, 2002 Mustang dash/console etc..., custom leather seats
 

Cruise control tech question.....

Reply #13 –
Thanks guys.I may leave the column wires in place,and tap into them with the cruise button wires from behind (coming into the column from behind instead of the front).I'll do some looking and observing.I'm unsure of the wheel right now that I want.I'm looking around for one that doesn't look REALLY custom.I want a totally different wheel that matches the interior,I don't see everyone else using,and is about the same feel as the factory wheel (but better looking).I appreciate the help.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..