2012 Tacoma Prerunner cruise control

i am new to this forum. i know nothing about cars or electronics for the most part.

the cruise control started acting up where it would turn on sometimes but not turn on other times. from my research, the most likely culprits was either the switch(arm). i did some trouble shooting before hand and tried to turn the wheel all the way to the left and right and trying to turn on the cruise control and wouldn't turn on.

horn works so i thought i would start with the switch. didn't turn on until i turned the wheel about a quarter turn to the left or right. either direction for a quarter turn would allow the cruise control on. my old switch didn't turn on but this new switch did.

when the wheels are straight, the cruise control will not turn on. because the new switch does turn on when i turn the wheel, it's insinuating to me that i had a bad switch? is that a fair assumption and can try to replace the clock spring? it seems highly unlikely that i had a bad switch AND a bad clock spring though

i am just wondering what my next step would be since the light does now turn on indicating the cruise control is working but only when i turn the wheel.

also, i wanted to see if the new wire that came with the new switch would fix the problem but i think the ground to the horn is in one of the small slots on the clip. i am not sure how to take that off and insert it in the to wire clip. i am not sure what is holding the wires in place there. does it just fit in the little hold and you don't need to crimp it and i can just pull the ground out(if that is in fact a ground for the horn). i personally would like to troubleshoot the wire from the switch first before buying a clock spring.

i kinda forget now but i believe it's a blue wire. so you have a wire and two clips on either end. one going to the cruise control switch and the other going to wherever it fits in there behind the steering wheel.

anyway, i think i have given enough information to at least try to get some help on this issue and willing to answer any questions. i am driving from missouri to california to visit family over christmas so i would like to get this fixed if i can without spending 250 for the oem part and labor. it's like that original part is made of gold or something haha

thanks in advance. for any help. and.....TACOMAS ROCK! i love my truck!

 

greater probability is the clock spring over the cable between the clock spring and the switch

 

thanks for responding. if it's the clock spring, any thoughts why the new switch turns on while the old one doesn't?

 

Yeah, I agree it's weird, but my guess is the clockspring. If it is working intermittently as a function of steering angle... even more likely it's the clockspring. And ultimately... the clocksprings are unreliable on these trucks -- they wear out! But not all at once... so the fact that your horn still works is irrelevant. You have a problem with the cruise wire(s), and the problem is most likely in the clockspring.

You can test the cruise switch independently with a multimeter... just measure the resistance across the correct wires while pressing each button. The relevant pages of the FSM are attached below.

Here is the most relevant image:


But open the PDF too, to see info on testing the clockspring as well, and all other wires to the ECM terminal block.

You are correct to want the oem clockspring part, there are tons of aftermarket and counterfeit ones out there, but they fail quickly. I don't know if there's actually gold in the OEM part, certainly priced like it... but it's worth paying for one!

It is a pretty easy job to do yourself, if you're comfortable with handling the airbag (i.e., make sure to unhook the battery and follow all other instructions!) Can save a few bucks on labor, at least. Just make sure to center the wheel first, so you don't wind up over-twisting and breaking the new clockspring.


One more edit: If you don't have a multimeter, well, you should probably get one. Even the cheapest one would work here, but I would recommend getting one with clamp-on DC current reading capability, as a good long-term investment. Those run around $50 last I checked.

But if you're really trying to save money, I would just buy the OEM clockspring and swap it out yourself. The problem is almost certainly just the clockspring. Mine failed, and it made my cruise stop working. Once I replaced it with an OEM part, it worked perfectly. I tried a couple cheaper parts first, though, which was a needless waste of money.

You should check the switch itself if you can, but the clocksprings are so notoriously problematic on these trucks, I can recommend in good faith that you should just replace it at this point!