Rav4 Cruise Control

[crustyclam]

Hi,

I have come to use the Cruise control for the first time in my recently purchased RAV4 T180 and it appears not to be working.

When i press the button to activate it the green cruise control light comes on the dash, but my speed continues to drop.

Any suggestions, it does not seem to be a common issue as i have struggled to find any info via google.

Thanks

Lee

[Davrav]

Hi,

I have come to use the Cruise control for the first time in my recently purchased RAV4 T180 and it appears not to be working.

When i press the button to activate it the green cruise control light comes on the dash, but my speed continues to drop.

Any suggestions, it does not seem to be a common issue as i have struggled to find any info via google.

Thanks

Lee

Button to switch it on, flick lever down to activate, flick up to accelerate in increments, hold up to accelerate continuously, down again to slow down in increments or pull towards wheel to deactivate, press button to switch off completely

[crustyclam]

Thanks, tried the set button(down). Does it need to be held down any length of time? Never used cruise before.

I think i was annoying the driver behind me as i kept slowing down, so i gave up!!

[Hoovie]

Should work as Dave says.  make sure that you are not tending to pull towards you while pushing down as I think it is quite sensitive to the actions.  There is also a minimum speed that it will not activate at -not sure what that is, but around 30mph at least.

[Davrav]

Thanks, tried the set button(down). Does it need to be held down any length of time? Never used cruise before.

I think i was annoying the driver behind me as i kept slowing down, so i gave up!!

You need to hold it down momentarily - you should feel it cut in.

I forgot to say previously that use of brake or clutch will also cancel it.

If you have not had cruise before I would advise reading the manual if you have one as there is some good advice with regard when and how to use and when not to use

Try to find a clear stretch of road and experiment. I had mine ages before I found out about flicking the stalk towards the wheel

Once you get used to it you won't want another car without.

[Big Kev]

Thanks, tried the set button(down). Does it need to be held down any length of time? Never used cruise before.

I think i was annoying the driver behind me as i kept slowing down, so i gave up!!

You need to hold it down momentarily - you should feel it cut in.

I forgot to say previously that use of brake or clutch will also cancel it.

If you have not had cruise before I would advise reading the manual if you have one as there is some good advice with regard when and how to use and when not to use

Try to find a clear stretch of road and experiment. I had mine ages before I found out about flicking the stalk towards the wheel

Once you get used to it you won't want another car without.

Encouraging others to "flick their stalk towards the wheel" eh, Davrav....? I am pretty certain the use of a mobile phone whilst driving would even prove safer.....

Bad Kev

[Davrav]

Thanks, tried the set button(down). Does it need to be held down any length of time? Never used cruise before.

I think i was annoying the driver behind me as i kept slowing down, so i gave up!!

You need to hold it down momentarily - you should feel it cut in.

I forgot to say previously that use of brake or clutch will also cancel it.

If you have not had cruise before I would advise reading the manual if you have one as there is some good advice with regard when and how to use and when not to use

Try to find a clear stretch of road and experiment. I had mine ages before I found out about flicking the stalk towards the wheel

Once you get used to it you won't want another car without.

Encouraging others to "flick their stalk towards the wheel" eh, Davrav....? I am pretty certain the use of a mobile phone whilst driving would even prove safer.....

Bad Kev

Well, I did think of getting a third party to flick it for me when driving became stressful but didn't fancy ending up like Hugh Grant or Geoff Knight

[crustyclam]

Yes you are all correct its all about how its flicked. After a little practice i got the hang of it. (was prob being a div in the first place... should have read instructions instead of faffing around)

Not much chance to use it though on my journey to and from work, its a bit stop and start, managed about 4 miles at 45 and really liked it.

Looking forward to my next long motorway trip.

Cheers

Lee

[Hoovie]

Good Stuff

I think the controls on the Cruise can be over-sensitive. I was using mine driving to Edinburgh on Saturday and after a while wondered why I was losing speed (bit like you) and found I had somehow actually turned off the CC

[benxt5]

Cruise control is amazing on long journeys. I try to see how far I can go without touching any pedals. It's like a computer game, only using the stick to speed up and slow down. Best I got so far is bristol to bham on our way back from Devon hols, about 75 miles!!!

As has already been said, once use to it you will wonder how you ever survived without!

I must say that the rav's is the first CC I have had that applies the brake when you hold the stick down rather than just coasting along to slow down. Very impressive, great for sections of 50mph roadworks.

...and then you get to push it up to get back up to 70!

Not as much fun as setting the 3MPS on cruise in third gear, then using the stick to go from 40-80 in about 5 seconds! That was like playing forza!!!

[jblaze]

Gents,

I'm having issues with the cruise control on my Rav4.3 2008 d4d. I bought the car an year ago and the CC was working fine. Few months ago I've noticed that it's turning on after few presses of the ON/OFF button. Until few weeks ago when even 10-20 presses of the button won't turn the CC on. 

I've tried testing with Techstream the CC Live data but the only readings I get are if the brake or clutch pedals are pressed and the current speed (see attached image). Non of the CC stalk parameters are indicating if I press/pull/push the stalk.

So I'm leaning towards faulty stalk but I was wondering if there is another test to confirm if it's really the stalk. I would appreciate any ideas.

Thanks!

[Gerg]

I don't know anything about typical cruise control failures, but, I have taken apart a 'clone' cruise control stalk that looks exactly the same as the original part. 

There is nothing electronic in the stalk, just a ladder of resistors, and some simple wiping-contact switches that are used to connect these to the two wires that go to the rest of the car.  The button on the end of the stalk (to enable cruise control) is a simple extra switch that short-circuits those same two wires momentarily. 

The switch is not sealed.  If you were to delicately remove the single philips screw on the back of the control then you would be able to see the switch contacts inside and gently clean them, or use an aero duster on them.  But it is a bit intricate, so it'll be easy to drop the screw, and it might be quite easy to bend the switch contacts accidentally, as this is on the far side of the control when the stalk is fitted on the car.

HTH

[jblaze]

Gerg, thanks for your input.

Yesterday I disassembled the wheel and stalk (pics below). The wiring plugs & wires looked fine. The stalk seemed ok, too. So I started googling again and came across this Toyota Tacoma video describing the same issue and that it was resolved after changing the spiral cable. The video gave me the idea to try turning the wheel and pressing the CC button and found out that it's working fine if I rotate the wheel one full left turn but not when the wheel is straight which confirms that the cable is faulty.

So the next step is replacing the spiral cable with audio controls (84306-48030) and I have to decide if I should get a 15$ eBay replacement, ~40-50$ used from junkyard or new OEM (still waiting on the price - but probably around 70-80$). According to this video the replacement is not so difficult but have to be careful about the wheel alignment and not spining the spiral cable during the assembly process. Which brings the second question are there any other tricky moments that I have to be careful about and is it worth going to a specialist to do the replacement?

Any tips and info is greatly appreciated.

 

[Gerg]

Sorry, only just spotted your reply.  So this answer is probably no longer relevant.

Good fault finding!  

I have only taken of the spiral cable and put the same one on again later.  So I can't be of much use to you! 

I imagine making sure that the steering is straight ahead before you start is a bit too obvious!

Then the usual one: take photos of everything!  Hopefully it wont be difficult to set the new clock spring so that it is in exactly the same rotational position as your old (centred) one.  I'd guess that you could try to peek under the rotating cover to see how many turns the flexible cable has on it.  And then try to set the new one exactly the same.  A game of 'spot the difference', really.  I think the front covers are sometimes 'see-thru' to help with this.  Might be worth scribing some alignment marks on the old spring assembly in case you have to put it back on.

The two threaded holes on either side of the steering wheel securing nut are likely where the Toyota puller would fit.  I'm just a regular owner, so I didn't have the puller - I improvised one with some scrap steel I had in the garage and some bolts.  Mine bent a bit in use, but it did get the wheel off - expect the wheel to sit quite tightly on the taper shaft!

HTH