The cruise control on my '96 (AT & the 318 engine) doesn't work and hasn't worked since I bought it last summer. While driving the truck at a speed above 40 mph, I can press the on/off switch at the bottom of the steering wheel and the little light beside it does NOT come on. The light is probably not burned out cuz I can then press the Set button & nothing happens. BTW, the truck also has a new speed sensor at the tranny.

In case it could be related, I should also add that I'm pretty sure the Park-neutral switch is bad or at least the reverse-lights portion of it doesn't (a continuity test of its middle port seems to confirm it). It cranks/doesn't crank in all the right gears. Any ideas where to start troubleshooting?

 

Take care of the known problem first( safety switch). Could be brake light switch also. But ,very commonly, the vac hose going to the CC servo motor under the battery tray is broken. If that all checks out, maybe the CC switch is bad.

 

Regarding the cruise, wouldn't the CC's on/off light turn on whether there's a vac leak or not? I've read other posts about vac leaks, but in all those cases, their on/off lights & dash light still worked.

Regarding the Park/neutral sw, I have already purchased it and the tranny fluid...just haven't had time to do it yet. I was hoping someone would know if maybe the CC gets disabled if the safety switch is bad. It seems the engineers would want the PCM to make sure the tranny's not in P, R, or N before the CC could take control of the throttle, but I guess the speed sensor indirectly does that.

 

Light should work regardless of other issues. Find out why the switch isn't doing its job, AND fix the pnr switch.