cruise control switch mod

[chaonis]

Ever since I bought the QX4, I found the cruise control switch is the most useless item. Just hate to lean forward and hit the switch before I can use the steeling wheel buttons. The other day, my G20's switch broke and got stuck at "ON" position. Suddenly the sky is blue again. Now can I pull out the switch and solder a piece of wire to permanently "enable" it? Doing do, will I fry anything in the long run?

[bmlawless]

The real risk you run is inadvertently hitting the Resume button and having your vehicle accelerate unexpectedly. Image having your cruise set to 65, turning a corner at 20, and accidentally hitting the button while turning.

[fueler]

hes talking about the on/off switch in the dash, near the power mirror controls. Not the accel/decel buttons on the wheel.

It wouldnt be dangerous cause cruise control disengages (but doesnt turn off 100%) anytime you hit the brake. So bmlawless scenario would never happen with this mod done. Its a great idea, wish i could answer your question.

Post the results.

[nissandoms47]

You cant use cruise until a certain speed anyways. I think its enabled at 30 mph so you really wouldnt have that problem at low speeds where youre cornering and stuff like that.

[Qxxx4]

all a switch is generally is a gate that opens and closes the path for electrical contact. behind the switch there should be three wires, a ground, position a and position b. just solder position a and b and cruise control mode will always be active. Use a continuity tester (voltmeter set on beep) to test on the switch what wire is what. if it is a simple-general-standard switch the middle will be your ground.good luck

[chaonis]

Actually I already did the hot-wiring mod and it works beautifully. Now the setup is just like my 95' Civic's.

Initially I concerned about hot wiring the switch will draw too much current for too long and fry something. But checking with the service menu, EL.pdf, page 141, the ASCD Main Switch is used to trigger the ASCD Hold Relay. Once the hold relay is on, the switch remaining at "ON" position will not make any difference, at least electronically.

Yes, the cruise control shuts off when speed goes below about 30 MPH or you hit the break. If I really care about the function of the switch, I might go to the dealer and get a matching toggle switch and replace out the stock momentary switch. But for now, I am happy.

p.s. the ASCD Hold Relay + ASCD Main Switch is really a "fancy" setup. Nissan should have used a simple toggle switch instead and saved some material.

[bmlawless]

hes talking about the on/off switch in the dash, near the power mirror controls. Not the accel/decel buttons on the wheel.

It wouldnt be dangerous cause cruise control disengages (but doesnt turn off 100%) anytime you hit the brake. So bmlawless scenario would never happen with this mod done. Its a great idea, wish i could answer your question.

Post the results.

I totally understood that he was talking about the switch on the dash. My proposed scenario would be highly unlikely if the buttons were off the wheel because it would be almost impossible to accidentally hit them when turning.

While I agree that it is inactive below certain speeds, I stand by my first statement 100%. When you hit the brake, it disengages the cruise, but it does not reset the last speed setting. If you hit the brake, then hit resume, it will take off. Try it on the freeway.

The only way to clear the setting is to turn off the vehicle or turn the cruise control switch to off.

[fueler]

When you hit the brake, it disengages the cruise, but it does not reset the last speed setting. If you hit the brake, then hit resume, it will take off. Try it on the freeway.

interesting, i didn't know that. Ill try it out.

[SnowSurfLax]

Not exactly. If you hit cancel while using the cruise, it disengages it just as if you hit the brake. If you hit it a second time without hitting resume or set, you completely clear the memory.

[chaonis]

Not exactly. If you hit cancel while using the cruise, it disengages it just as if you hit the brake. If you hit it a second time without hitting resume or set, you completely clear the memory.

The only way to clear the setting is to turn off the vehicle or turn the cruise control switch to off.

OK, just for the heck, I took it out for a spin and found out: hit cancel twice or many times will not clear the memory; but hitting any two of the three buttons at the same time will. I guess this is the fail-safe feature.

Also, I don't think accidentally hitting the RESUME is a problem. At least HONDA does not think so. My Civic's uses the toggle switch and my mod makes the switches on the wheel behave exactly the same as the ones on the Civic's.

Giving the fact my QX4's slow accelerating speed, I have way higher chance to have such an accident in the Civic than in the QX4. My 93' 300z does not even have the main switch.


Modified by chaonis at 11:36 AM 1/8/2009

[bmlawless]

Also, I don't think accidentally hitting the RESUME is a problem. At least HONDA does not think so. My Civic's uses the toggle switch and my mod makes the switches on the wheel behave exactly the same as the ones on the Civic's. Modified by chaonis at 11:36 AM 1/8/2009

I guess I must not be expressing my thoughts properly. Are you saying that your Honda has NO main switch? You should have Resume/Accel, Coast/Set, and Cancel plus a main on/off position.

[fueler]

I guess I must not be expressing my thoughts properly. Are you saying that your Honda has NO main switch? You should have Resume/Accel, Coast/Set, and Cancel plus a main on/off position.

most hondas have it set up so that the switch is either on or off all the time..... it does not reset to off when you turn the car off, like our nissans do. In a honda you leave it on and forget about it.

[Chuck Tribolet]

Ditto my '87 Corvette. Turn the CC on, it stays on, until, months later, you turnit off. I like it that way.

Getting the message, Nissan?

[fueler]

the worst part is that the switch isnt lit. try finding it while on the freeway in the middle of the night. its impossible.

[timmack]

nissan fixed that issue, a little too late for some of us, by putting all the switches on the wheel. i dunno what year they started this but my acuras have the power switch on the dash, which as fueler mentioned, is a pain in the a$$ while driving. in the pathfinder i can do it all with my thumb.

[W O T]

Mine never worked......

[bmlawless]

the worst part is that the switch isnt lit. try finding it while on the freeway in the middle of the night. its impossible.

AMEN! I don't know why all of the switches aren't lit. I can't tell you how many times I've turned on my rear wiper trying to turn on the heated seats.

[Silverhorn]

So no one has done a mod to this? I pulled out the switch and its not a 3-wire Its six.

[Silverhorn]

Front


Back


I agree a 3 pole switch would be simple, but wtf are all these extra wires for?

[atraudes]

Illumination/status lights, more than likely. You can probably pull the switch apart to find out, or check out the EC section of the FSM and trace the wires back.

[Silverhorn]

Strangest switch I've seen in a while. I'd imagine all you would need to do was to wedge the switch in one direction or another. I'd say a piece of rubber should do the trick.

[atraudes]

If you wanted to get real fancy, you could just take a bit of wire and short it across the back of the cable plug. That way it'd be really easy to pull it back out if you change your mind.

Pretty goofy how that switch is on the dash, yeah. Ah, the days before ergonomics...

[Silverhorn]

Lol. Yeah, sounds easy when you say it. But figuring out which one is the hard part; this thing is confusing. :/ What is wrong with a 3-pole on/off. Come on. Everything on this car is over-engineered to the extreme. Unbelievable.