Cruise Control Shuts itself off

JEUVIDEO

MEMBER
2001 HONDA CIVIC

4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 167000 miles

Hello-

I've recently begun to experience issues with my 2001 Civic LX cruise control. The issue is that the cruise turns itself off, most notably when hitting slight bumps on the highway. After it shuts itself off, I can sometimes turn it back on after waiting a bit (~1 min), and other times it won't turn back on until after stopping and restarting the car. Occasionally it shuts down even without any noticeable bumps in the road.

It seems that perhaps something is loose somewhere? Any direction you can provide would be much appreciated.

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Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 AT 7:08 PM

13 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi jeuvideo,

Thank you for the donation.

Yes, you are correct about something being loose and the most probable cause would be the brake and/or clutch switch.

Check the clearance between the switches and pedal stopper. Excessive clearance would cause the switch to activate if there is any vibrations.

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Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 AT 8:55 AM

JEUVIDEO

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thanks for the quick reply!

Your response leads to me to a couple of questions, which relate to my lack of familiarity with the parts of my car.

1. I obviously know where my brake and clutch pedals are. Where do I look to find the associated switches and stoppers? How can I recognize these?

2. How much clearance is too much?

3. What can I do about the clearance, if it is in fact excessive?

Thanks.

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Thursday, October 8th, 2009 AT 2:05 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

If you look up the pedals from under the dash,you would see the switches on a bracket. On the pedal there would be a small brcket that holds a rubber stopper.

If the stopper is bad, you would only see a bracket with a small hole. The switch pin is supposed to pushed by the stopper.

When the pedals are released, the stopper should have minimal clearance between the switch.

CLUTCH PEDAL, CLUTCH PEDAL POSITION SWITCH, AND CLUTCH INTERLOCK SWITCH ADJUSTMENT
NOTE:

"� Remove the driver's side floor mat before adjusting the clutch pedal.
"� The clutch is self-adjusting to compensate for wear.

If there is no clearance between the master cylinder piston and pushrod, the release bearing will be held against the diaphragm spring, which can result in clutch slippage or other clutch problems.

1 . Loosen locknut (A), and back off the clutch pedal position switch (B) (or adjusting bolt)
until it no longer touches the clutch pedal (C).

2 . Loosen locknut (D), and turn the pushrod (E) in or out to get the specified height (F) and stroke (G) at the clutch pedal.

3 . Clutch Pedal Stroke: 130 - 140 mm (5.1 - 5.5 in.)
Clutch Pedal Height: 198 mm (7.8 in.)
Tighten locknut (D).

4 . With the clutch pedal released, turn in the clutch pedal position switch (B) until it contacts the clutch pedal (C).

5 . Turn in the clutch pedal position switch (B) an additional 3/4 to 1 turn.

6 . Tighten locknut (A).

7 . Loosen locknut (H) and the clutch interlock switch (I).

8 . Press the clutch pedal to the floor.

9 . Release the clutch pedal 15 -20 mm (0.59 - 0.79 in.) from the fully pressed position, and hold
it there. Adjust the position of the clutch interlock switch (I) so the engine will start with the
clutch pedal in this position.

10 . Tighten locknut (H).

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Thursday, October 8th, 2009 AT 2:20 PM

HERMANJC

MEMBER
3 POSTS

I have a 2001 Honda Civic LX as well, only it has 133,000 miles and it is an automatic. Recently I too have begun to experience a similar problem, where my cruise control will engage just fine, but it will shut off after various amounts of time driving. When it does this, I need to turn off the cruise control (using the button by the drivers door at knee level) and turn it back on if I want the cruise to engage again, but it will not stay on long after that.

Any suggestions? Did the looking into the brake/clutch switch solve your problem? Thanks.

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Thursday, April 15th, 2010 AT 7:05 AM

JJFORD81

MEMBER
1 POST

I also have a 2001 Civic LX, but mine has 210,000 miles. I have had a bunch of small problems with the car. Just today I replaced the heat sensor that activates the cooling fans. This was a simple solution to a serious problem that you will probally face somewhere down the road. I wasn't sure what was wrong at first, but I was stuck in horrible traffic on the GWB in New York. So I turned the heat on full blast which managed to get me back home without destroying the engine(I had to turn the engine off a few times).

When you are faced with this, it might be an emergency situation. Make a mental note, don't put the heater on, try putting the air conditioner on high. The A/C compressor will engage the cooling fan bypassing the heat sensor.

To get back on the subject, here I am driving home with the heat on full blast and the vents almost melting. I could barely focus on my speed with all the heat, so I tried the cruise control. What do you know, it shuts off after 5 to 10 minutes and refuses to turn on again. With the heat and blower on full blast, windows open and two bikes on the roof racks, I didn't get too far without having to pull off to the service area and refuel. Once I got back on the road I tried my cruise control and sure enough it was working again. But what do you know. It shuts off again in around the same amount of time.

I will continue to keep an eye on the functionallity of my cruise control, but it might have something to do with overheating. I've been noticing that my key has been overheating as well.

Here's another issue I ran into, the blower stopped working some time before. All that needed to be replaced was the resistor switch thing. Cheap fix you can diagnose yourself using a paperclip to bypass the resistor switch. The part is usually stocked at Honda dealers for about $80.

Another issue I had involved a moaning sound from under the hood coming from the compressor/alternator area. Turns out the bearing went bad on the clutch for the A/C compressor. This is another simple fix, but it involves removing your alternator. At this time buy a new alternator and same yourself the work of replacing it later. You may not have this problem if the plastic shields under your car are in good condition. Mine had fallen off over the years. If yours are missing, put new ones on. I paid alot for my new plastic, about the same amount for the alternator and clutch.

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Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 AT 10:07 PM

MEMBER
0 POST
2001 HONDA CIVIC
152,900 MILES

Cruise controls works sometimes good but then shuts off !

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Check the brake (and clutch pedal, if equipped) switch adjustment. There might be too much clearance in between. The next time, try using you foot to lift the pedals and test if the cruise controls coninue to work.

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

HOARHEY

MEMBER
1 POST
2002 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
129,000 MILES

Electrical problem
2002 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 129000 miles

Power comes on at the main dash switch. The steering wheel controls do not appear to work. The indicator light in the instument cluster does not come on.

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

Use troubleshooting charts below to pinpoint culprit. Let me know if you need further assistance..

Thanks for using 2CarPros.com!

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

WARDR

MEMBER
1 POST
2002 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
87,000 MILES

Electrical problem
2002 Honda Civic 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 87000 miles

Hello,

I drive my car with cruise control on for about 30 miles at 60 miles per hour and then it just turns off. The cruise control light on the side of the car is still on, but the light on dash is off. I turn the crusie control off and then back on and the same thing happens but about 15 miles down the road at 60 miles per hour. What needs to be checked?

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi wardr,

I would start by checking the brake pedal switch and gear shift switch.

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

MEMBER
0 POST
1998 HONDA CIVIC
169,000 MILES

The problem I am having is after miles of driving, when the engine should be really warm it starts to surge just a little at idle(you can hear it out the tailpipe bum. Bum. Bum). Also in every single gear it falls on its face when you let off the gas and surges when you press the gas, if I set the cruise control it does the same thing.
I took it to a shop and they replaced a couple of messed up vaccum lines but the problem is still there. Some mechanics at the shop told me the radiator had no pressure they removed the cap with the engine hot and no coolant shot up( dont know if thats relavent).
Also its seemed to stop surging(at least at idle)when the MAF was unpluged but im not sure if that is relavent either.
The only modification to the car that I know of thats relavent is that it has performace fuel injectors(or at least thats what I was told).

I dont know if you guys can help but Im at a loss about to take it to the Honda dealer if I can't figure it out in hopes that they can.

Thanks

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)

DRCRANKNWRENCH

MECHANIC
3,380 POSTS

I am going to give you a walk through diagnostic that will take you through the most likely possiblities. Just use the link below to get to it;

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-surges

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Tuesday, May 30th, 2017 AT 11:52 AM (Merged)