Ive got a 2004 Dodge Dakota 4.7 with 5 speed manual and cruise is not working i just got done changing the clockspring and it almost seems thats when it stopped but it did work one time since then so i put the old one back in and still no work. reason for changing the clockspring was because of airbag light. the same day i changed the clockspring i also did a timing chain and H.O. cams but that shouldn't have anything to do with it.

 

I did that once on a different car, changed the clock spring and the cruise stopped working. Turned out I had to unplug the cruise control from the harness to get the clock spring out, and forgot to plug it back in. The plugs in the steering column are tiny and tight, easy to overlook one.

If that doesn't do it, check to see if the 3rd brake light is working correctly. Most vehicles with a 3rd brake light use that circuit to turn the cruise off when braking. And some, like the Chevy GMT800s (and probably newer,) will conduct a test on the 3rd brake light circuit on startup and if it doesn't see the expected resistance value, like say you replaced the 3rd brake light with LEDs, it will disable cruise. The fix to this stupidity is a resistor to put the line back in, which of course defeats the power saving aspect of installing LEDs in place of incandescent bulbs.

 

Look around for a vacuum hose or an electrical plug you forgot to reattach. After 50 years, I'll often get a package of paper price tag labels with string on them. I'll write what it is and set it aside. After all these years, it's amazing how often a simple plug can be forgot. Especially if everything was apart for a few days.

 

i guess i should clarify so it has an on off button on the steering wheel and an indicator that comes on in the dash then from there u set the cruise. kinda like turning on the whole system. and it wont turn on

 

Yes. The first step of troubleshooting is, what has changed? It was working, you changed the clock spring, now it is not. You've either left something unplugged under the steering wheel, or caught the control wire in something that moves and now have an open, and you have to pull it back off and find the problem. I've even made this mistake myself, and had to pull the steering wheel back off to fix it.

 

I've had it off several times trying to figure out what i did wrong is there a way to check the wiring as in is it supposed to have power coming to it or ground or how does it work? the button seems to be working i checked it with a continuity tester. could it be the brake switch? do the manual trans trucks have a clutch switch?

 

It could be a coincidental failure. The 3rd brake light switch is typically used for disabling cruise control. If the 3rd brake light is constantly on, or if the light doesn't work at all, this could be an issue. A manual trans will also have a clutch switch for preventing the starter from working when the clutch is not pushed in, but if this were an issue I'd think that the truck would not start. Unfortunately, if there is a way to test the steering column wiring short of finding the correct plug at the base and doing continuity checks I am unaware of it, and my shop manuals are currently not available to me. There is a sticky on this site at the top of the page to online manuals though, might check there.