Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 10:43:55 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Fritz <jfritz@DECORAH.K12.IA.US>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Fritz <jfritz@DECORAH.K12.IA.US>
Subject: cruise control - aargh!
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Volks,
Well, some of you can say "I told you so!" (Carl H. - I know you're shaking your head right now! :-)
I wanted a OEM cruise for my 89 Westy. Had various reasons for desiring OEM over aftermarket. Moot point now so I won't go into them.
I went ahead and bought the only OEM cruise I could find. It was from a you-pull place in CA. Taken from an 89 Vanagon, same year as mine. I talked with the guy about what parts it came with. Everything seemed fine.
Got it, my mechanic installed it. Unfortunately, in my own naivete, I didn't think to ask if it was for a manual trans. It was from an automatic - naturally! All the parts were essentially there except the brackets :-( My mechanic installed it, made the right brackets and made necessary adjustments to convert it from an auto trans to a manual. (something about there is additional sensor wires for an automatic that he ended up just jumpering together to get the unit to work.) Adapted the cut switch to include clutch and brakes. Added the 3 wires to the wire loom that goes from front to back (apparently you don't get that if you don't have cruise installed at factory.) He said that all of the components appeared to be in good condition.
Basically it works. Turn it on and you can feel it pull the accelerator away from your foot. Unfortunately it won't hold speed. I set it at 65 and in rolling terrain it dropped to 45. Would "sorta" speed up on slight downhill. One large downhill got it back up to 65 and it was apparent that it was holding it at that speed.
The Bentley offers darned little in the way of troubleshooting. Is there some sensitivity adjustment that can be made? I know this is the case on American cars but we couldn't find any on the brain component. Also, does this comonpent need to be installed vertically or can it just "lay" in the engine compartment? So far, thats the way its installed. I think it sounds like a vacuum pressure problem, but what do I know?!?!?
Help!?!?!?!
Jim in Iowa
91 Passat Wagon GL
89 Westy
66 Beetle