Cruise Control On/Off

[FlannelBoy711]

OK im driving on the interstate to school and I wanna set my cruise at 78mph, Ive done it before and worked fine, but previously a couple of times it doesn't work, ill press the button and no light will appear nor will it kick into position. So whats up?

 

[bradman]

is your main switch in?

 

[uclap5]

yeah, make sure the button on the btm/side is pushed in

 

[glyph]

yep, push the button on the end in to turn it on, then you should be able to work the lever. (my wife always turns it off!)

 

[NRRfrogmanP5]

it has to be the button that happend to me a few time forgettin to puch it in first

 

[dadij21]

the same thing just happened to me too. When you push the button you hear the relay in the dash board passenger side click. But the light doesn't go on, and the cruise doesn't engage.

 

[chuyler1]

this is one thing that bugs me...the light should turn on whether it is engaged or not, that's how Toyota does it...as soon as you press the button it should go on. I always end up pressing the set button 2 or 3 times before I get it to work because I can't figure out if the main button is pressed in or not.

 

[MP5 Tuner]

I thought the manual says to leave the main switch off?

 

[PeaB0dy]

I leave mine all the time..

Sometime I have to hit the set/coast button a couple times before it sets, but usually, just set it and forget it..

In Toyota's the Cruise light does come on when you turn it on, but I prefer t this way, so you know that it is working when you are actually using it.

Maybe of there were 2 lights, it would say cruise, and then on, when it was actually engaged..

 

[MikeBlueP5]

the way it works is you click the button on the side (on/off) then you have to push the set button for it to actually turn on. Thats when the light comes on. Then to cancel well you all know, either hit the brakes, the cancel button or just turn it off.

 

[johnsharpe]

It should really have 2 lights, like my Goldwing: A "Cruise On" light and a "Cruise Set" light...no confusion.

Actually, it probably wouldn't be hard to wiring up an LED or something off the main Cruise relay....

 

[grindMARC]

The cruise light on our WRX died about a week after the warranty expired. It would only come on when you actually had it 'set.' Turning the power main on (has a light on the button), did not turn on the dash light.

BTW, the smoothness of the P5 cruise is about 100x better than the clunkiness of the WRX cruise.

 

[Coqui258]

[slight threadjack] Quick question about cruise control... what will happen if the cruise is set to like, oh let's say 45, and you're in 4th gear... so then you accidentally hit the shifter up and it goes into neutral... will it rev up high and almost kill your engine? (I know we have rev limiters). Just curious as to what would happen...

[/slight threadjack]

 

[Murda]

To respond to the thread jack. I know, I shouldn't...

I've never let the rev past the redline, but yes, it will. And the rate at which it rises seems to accelerate. I'm assuming the computer is realizing that it needs more and more power to accelerate and while the car is deccelerating its needing more at the same time.

I've also tried stalling but the cruise control turns off at a low enough rev.

 

[mcstark]

The "main" switch is a failsafe...so you don't accidentally tap the button while turning, or drumming on the steering wheel. I think it's convenient, but the location isn't the best. My wife's Prizm (err..Toyota Corolla) has a separate stalk for the cruise and it's very convenient. The design could be better, but the two-step process has to be there for liability/idiot purposes.

I'm not defending the design just acknowledging the reason behind it. Remember a lady sued MacDonald's because she spilled coffee in her lap and the cup didn't say the contents were HOT -- so our cruise control is just a way for Mazda to protect themselves against lawsuits from the shallow end of the gene pool.

 

[Brian MP5T]

Button thing...

 

[clownphish]

So is it detremental to the vehicle to leave it in the ON position all the time? I have it there so I don't have to futz around when I want to set it in cruise. Thanks!

 

[Brian MP5T]

When you turn it on there is a relay sound. You could burn out the relay over time...

 

[clownphish]

Yikes! Thanks for the info, I'll make sure to turn it on now only when I use it.

 

[MikeBlueP5]

i dont have an auto so i cant speak for how it works when shifting, but in the 5spd when you shift with the cruise on it cuts it off.