Hi all,

I recently bought a new to me 2007 Dakota ST 4x4 3.7l and I absolutely love it so far. One thing that I really miss is cruise control and having searched the forum I was happy to find out that it was as simple as swapping out the buttons, the wheel is pre-wired and this truck has the electronic throttle.

I installed the buttons from a donor but unfortunately, no joy. I can't get the cruise control to turn on at all. I've tested the button functions, tried another set, made sure the brake light switch is working, replaced the brake light switch, checked to make sure my brake controller is wired correctly, unplugged the brake controller to test. Had it at the dealer for the airbag recall and they are scratching their heads as well as far as the cruise control is concerned.

Any suggestions on where to look next?

 

Does it need to have a sales code run?

 

I'm not familiar with that, could you explain? Like I mentioned I brought it to the dealership but they weren't too familiar with the prices. I mentioned it might bed to be unlocked via starscan but maybe this particular dealership isn't any good with older vehicles?

 

On the 07, it should be as simple as adding the controls, no dealer Starscan programming necessary.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...e-control.html

 

Okay I didn't think so based on all the great posts here, the one linked above and other research I've done. I'm totally stumped.

 

Two things: Either:

1) You actually don't have an electronic throttle body (my understanding is that only the 2008+ Dakota models do...You can double-check yours by looking at the top of the engine, underneath the black plastic box that says "3.7L", and see if a cable connects to the throttle body coming from the firewall which opens the internal butterfly valve). I added cruise to my 2005 with a conventional cable-operated throttle body, and in addition to the steering wheel controls, I also had to add the cruise-control vacuum servo inside the engine compartment. It was fairly simple to install, using a pre-existing, dedicated mounting point and electrical connector clipped to a dummy connector under the air filter box. I then routed the vacuum hose from the servo around the passenger side of the engine compartment, then turned along the firewall, and connected it to the dedicated "T" connector in the pre-existing vacuum hose on the firewall behind the engine. (The bottom part of the "T" connector was capped off from the factory). Finally, I routed the throttle cable from the servo around the same way along the passenger side then firewall, and connected it to the throttle body alongside the foot-operated throttle cable (dedicated space for that was available on the throttle body valve and cable retaining mount too). With the steering wheel buttons AND vacuum servo installed, the cruise worked WITHOUT a dealer scan...However, without the scan, it will not display any dash lights indicating it's working (only above 30mph), but it DOES. (I also thought I still needed the dealer scan after my installation because there still weren't any dash lights, but the night after the install while randomly driving over 30mph, I happened to push the "ON" button and then "SET", and it started working as intended! I prefer no lights anyway, so win-win.) If you want to see the dash lights, the dealer scan is necessary. If it turns out you DO have a cable-operated throttle body like mine, I can post pictures of the installation.

OR:

2) You do have an ELECTRONIC throttle body like you thought, and it may actually be working without the dash lights function turned on at the dealer, and you just don't realize it. If that is the case, drive over 30 mph, push "ON", and then "SET" (same switch, top then bottom buttons), and take your foot off the gas. You'll know right away if it's working correctly or not.

I can also tell you this: I installed ONLY a cruise lever on a friend's 2008 Jeep with the 3.7L electronic throttle (it uses a lever on the side of the steering wheel instead of buttons, and also had the dedicated pre-wiring inside the steering wheel), and the cruise/dash lights instantly both worked. So this tells me that if your dash lights aren't working after installing the buttons, you do more than likely have the same CABLE-operated throttle body like mine and also need the vacuum servo.