So I finally got around to something I've been trying to get to for the past year. I installed the factory Cruise control in the Electra. Found all the right bits, made a wiring harness because my car did not have the composite harness, and solved a lot of situational problems that arose (like there being no proper mount for the brake pedal cut -off and a pin on the brake pedal) and got it all installed and wired up. It actually looks like it was in the car from day one. And it doesn't work. I guess that's what happens when you get 50 year old parts pulled from wrecks. I'm going on a major road trip with the car on Friday so I haven't got time to read up on how to troubleshoot it. It's a fairly complex set up for 66 anyway, so it's going to take time. At least there are no vacuum leaks and it's set up so I can quickly disconnect it from the motor if it gives trouble. On the positive side, I got the clock working again, and I replaced most of the dash lights with LEDs and cleaned up the new cluster. At least that all looks nice, and my speedometer looks like it might be accurate. So if nothing else, that's a good thing. Tomorrow I'll install the spare 8 track and an external mount thermometer I have. They at least work; it's just for want of a #$%@ set screw that I didn't get it done today. I've got a million old screws laying around, but do you think I have the right one? So it's a trip to NAPA again tomorrow for one lousy screw. The last thing to do is to install the cornering lamps and the tilt column I have. Obviously I'm kind of scared to cut a hole. Does anyone have the exact dimensions of that hole (66 Buick fullsize, they're all the same) that the cornering lights go in? I took a picture of one years ago but it's not good enough. Somewhere I wrote out the dimensions but that's long gone too. The column needs some paint; it's actually in worse shape than I thought. So that will be a winter project. So where can I find the dimensions of those cut outs, and has anyone ever cut virginal painted fenders before without developing a drinking problem?
Hey Marc... that's a good'n! Id make an accurate template from some shirt cardboard or the like and trace out the hole with a sharpie. Take some good 2 inch blue tape to protect the area and use a cut off grinder. Make sure you seal/paint the edges to prevent rust. That cruise control is gonna be something simple like a plugged (CC) air filter or a bad diaphragm on the chain puller. ws
I put a factory cruise set-up in my 72 C10 and it worked right off. Did you get the turn signal switch and transducer from the same car? Did you use a normally open switch on the brake pedal along with the vacuum bleed off switch. Those vacuum bleed of switches leak especially when they're old and the rubber on the valve seat dries up. You can cap off the port to the bleed off switch for trouble shooting (and leave it off), be sure you have 12 volts to both sides of the normally open switch (when the plunger is depressed) and that it's getting to the transducer and make sure you have a good ground. Check the engage signal at the transducer pin while having someone press the switch. If all that is good it should work.
I wish the cruise was a "simple" as the later versions, the ones made after 1968. This one has a switch mounted in the instrument panel, there's a lead going from the speedometer back to the "brain", which is the transducer. It looks like an old vacuum tube style thing, and the second part has a couple of resistors and capacitors on a primitive printed circuit. The dash panel came from a 67 Electra, it's the same as my 66. The "brain" came out of a mid-sixties Riviera, and from the looks of it, it had been sitting for a long, long time. The diaphragm has a couple of leads coming from the switch to the "brain', and it has two vacuum leads, one to the manifold and the other to the brake cut-off. The brake cut-off has a lead from the switch on the dash and is hooked up to the main power source. It's older than dirt too, but didn't look bad. So I set it all up as per the Chassis manual, which actually had a good wiring diagram and a half-decent picture of how and where things fit. I also found some pictures of cars so equipped on this site and on line. This whole project has taken me 5 years to accumulate, Cruise is far more common in a Riviera than the full size Electra for some reason. So the obvious first part is to check the brake pedal switch and see if I have power coming up from there. I tested the lead I used, which was the proper colour and fuse rating. (pink) . My car originally had the "speed alert" in it that uses two of the same leads as the electro-cruise does, so I re-used them. I'll check the positioning of the vacuum cut-out; essentially all it is, is a vacuum dump that's activated by the brake pedal. I thought the line up was OK, but it might be that the electric side might be open, I'll have to figure out a way to check that with the car standing still. That's going to be the problem, there's no real way to see if things are functioning in the driveway, one pretty much has to be moving. I'll do as you suggest, maybe it'll work the same way, it's worth a shot. I did not check the air filter on the diaphragm, could it be that simple? The diaphragm itself seemed to hold a vacuum charge when I tested it. Not sure about the electronics in it though.
Thanks for that; - I'm going to go and see if that car still exists and grab a proper template. and then attack it...and then sit down with a bottle of scotch and contemplate what I have done...
welcome to my world!! On a '64 the speedo is imperative to cruise operation. It uses the speed minder needle to set the speed you want to stay at. I am using a riviera speed (140 mph) that had factory cruise. I don't know if yours uses the speedo but that might be something to ponder. cheers, Larry
When you installed it you didn't cut & shorten any wiring did you??? Or maybe somebody else did??? Were they any cut & splices in any wiring????
Oh there's lots of splicing going on. I had a couple of the plugs (pigtails) with only a bit of wire left on them, I spliced new wires on to them and ran them direct. But the lines to the transducer are all spliced, as are the ones on the switch plug on the dash. If anything, the harness I built was way too long, and it's in 16 gauge wire. I followed the wiring code in the book explicitly, right down to the right colours. The only two factory wires I used were the pink power feed and the blue one to the dash cluster, the rest are added in. My car unfortunately did not come with the composite harness. And yes Larry, the speedo is an integral part on mine too. It's essentially the same set up as yours would be, except that the cruise light and switch were built into the cluster as opposed to a separate switch an light assembly bolted to the upper dash housing. I used a factory Cruise control speedo, I didn't use my speed alert one, I wasn't sure if they were the same. So my car has an extra 2000 miles on it that never got put on as a result too. The needle is a little bouncy, but at 60 it seems to be pretty steady. It's an improvement over my original one which bounced a lot, and cost me a few tickets.
The reason I asked is that there is one wire that is a resistor type. Installing the cruise on my ca, being anal, I shortened some wires & the cruise stopped working. I spliced the resistor wire I cut & re-installed it all was now working & Ok.
Just got a chance to get on the forum again today...I had no idea there's a resistor wire, any idea which one it is? The cruise didn't work, but the car has been absolutely flawless and a pleasure to drive so far on this trip. Even my "Ol Man" is impressed and he has no use for my old cars, the Electra is a veritable dream to drive. Finally got most of the bugs out, - except the cruise. oh well...
