NEED HELP Cruise Control (Electrical issue)

Stingray

Original poster
Member
May 28, 2020
3
Cleveland
Hello. I'm coming to you with a very specific issue that I'm having and I believe that it's some type of electrical fault, but I've never seen anyone else have it. My cruise control will not work when the vehicle is first started. After a few minutes of driving (must be driving, cannot be idling), I can shift into park, turn the entire car off and back on again and then back into drive with cruise control functioning completely normally. Other strange electrical issues that might hint to smarter minds than I as to what the problem are things such as my 4WD selector switch intermittently does not light up or work, I do not believe that the recirculation climate control button is working either. As to the 4WD selector, I can usually get it to work by shutting the car off and on again (no driving required.) I have no idea, if they are at all, how these would be related but more information is always better than less. Thank you. 03 Envoy 4.2 @ 240k miles
 
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Stingray

Original poster
Member
May 28, 2020
3
Cleveland
Have access to any kind of scanner?
I generally haven't needed one. The car has been very reliable for years. I can buy one though, so long as it's not one of those expensive Tech II (I believe they're called) dealer servicing scanners. What are we looking for?
 

TJBaker57

Member
Aug 16, 2015
2,897
Colorado
A lot can be done with an inexpensive OBD Bluetooth elm327 clone paired with an Android app called Torque pro. Another useful app for pre-2008 TrailBlazer/envoys/etc is Car Gauge Pro. The apps are like $5 to $8 and the Bluetooth adapters can be had from $10 on up at eBay or Amazon. I have had unusually good luck with these cheap Chinese knockoffs but be aware a lot of them are really low quality. Also they are nearly universally NOT true 'ELM' chips. The poop is this. When ELM Electronics of Canada developed and produced their early chips they overlooked the copy protection and the Chinese quickly copied the software. When shopping on eBay and Amazon you will see a number of ads touting version 1.5, 'newest version' and so on. That's all bull****. ELM never produced those version numbers. Pretty much ALL of the adapters you will find do not use true ELM chips. With that in mind I generally look for a seller with a high number (thousands) of good reviews and so on. There is still a chance of it not working though I suppose. I have had 3 for over 6 years and they all still work.
 
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budwich

Member
Jun 16, 2013
2,027
kanata
does your check engine light actually work? Further, codes pending or otherwise impact the operation of cruise control.
Also, the brake light switch is a potential "on again off again" issue that could impact the operation.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
As well as a burnt or flaky brake light bulb or CMHSL. Check your fuses.
 

jsinga

Member
Jan 5, 2014
38
GA
I know what your problem is...
If you get a scan when you first start up you'll see a pending PO1350 fault ( I might have the code wrong) Anyway it's a cam phaser solenoid. When you restart the engine the fault clears and cruise works. Ours did same thing. Found cause when we got Torque Pro and bluetooth ELM327
 
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TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,047
Brighton, CO
Copy and pasted @jsinga 's response, as the font color he uses is nearly impossible for me to read. I likely am not the only one...

I know what your problem is...
If you get a scan when you first start up you'll see a pending PO1350 fault ( I might have the code wrong) Anyway it's a cam phaser solenoid. When you restart the engine the fault clears and cruise works. Ours did same thing. Found cause when we got Torque Pro and bluetooth ELM327


This is quite common for many auto manufactures to do. CEL on, and sometimes pending (Subaru is really bad at pending codes), the Cruise Control will not work. This is the manufactures idea of getting you, or forcing you, to look at your guages and lights to see a possible problem.
 

Stingray

Original poster
Member
May 28, 2020
3
Cleveland
Copy and pasted @jsinga 's response, as the font color he uses is nearly impossible for me to read. I likely am not the only one...

I know what your problem is...
If you get a scan when you first start up you'll see a pending PO1350 fault ( I might have the code wrong) Anyway it's a cam phaser solenoid. When you restart the engine the fault clears and cruise works. Ours did same thing. Found cause when we got Torque Pro and bluetooth ELM327


This is quite common for many auto manufactures to do. CEL on, and sometimes pending (Subaru is really bad at pending codes), the Cruise Control will not work. This is the manufactures idea of getting you, or forcing you, to look at your guages and lights to see a possible problem.
Thank you both very much! I have been absent on here for a while because of life but I suspect that he is right! My check engine is active and I have gotten a cam phaser code in the past. It would not surprise me, it all makes sense. You guys are a great help.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
@jsinga 's post has been fixed.

The cam phaser codes are one of many that will disable cruise control. I suspect engineers did that to annoy people enough to get it fixed at the stealership.
 
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