Cruise control comes on but doesn't engage

Heya all... I have a 2021 TRD Off Road, manual. I bought the truck with 10k miles on it and the cruise control has never worked. I understand I can take it to dealer, but trying to avoid that mess if possible.

I have the adaptive and normal cruise control options I believe, but neither work. The light DOES come on (for both options) when I turn on the cruise control, but it will not set the speed. It doesn't seem to matter how fast I'm going, or what gear I'm in (I have a 6 speed.)

Anything I can check before settling for the dealer?

 

Following for a solution. My 2020 cruise control quit working. Haven't taken the time to troubleshoot it.

 

Double check the owner manual for specific operating conditions, just to be sure.

Have you checked fuses? System may have more than one.

Then exercise the warranty that most claim as a justification for buying new.

 

Haven't checked fuses... figured since the light comes on, that wouldn't be it, but I'll check them and report back.

 

There should be some type of switch or pad for both the clutch and brake that disengages the cruise when the pedal is pushed.

Verify those are not causing a problem by making the system think a pedal is pushed.

 

All fuses are good, although there are no fuses specifically for the cruise control. I checked the clutch switch, but its in a spot that I dont think I'll be able to get to and actually test without some work. The brake switch I believe is the same switch that engages the taillights and those work fine, and both come on.

Took it out for a ride and went into 6th gear and 60mpg just to make sure it wasn't user error, although the manual doesn't give any details other than I think minimum speed of 25mpg, as well as not using atrac, or just having switched to 4wd or something.

I'm thinking either the knob itself, or the clockspring. Everything seems to work fine, other than actually SETTING the speed. No errors, or anything.

 

If you can turn the system on it's almost certainly not the clockspring as all functions including on/off go through the same wire.

If you have any warranty I'd use it, otherwise your going to need a scan tool that can talk to the cruise system in order to see what is keeping the system from activating.

 

May come to that, but I have a trip coming up next weekend (probably 40 hours of driving over two weeks,) and I just don't have time to get the dealer to look at it! When you say a scan tool, do you mean something to read error codes, or something else? I've not seen any errors pop up yet, or issues with check engine light.

 

Mainly to see data parameters so you can see what the Cruise System is seeing on it's inputs, some things that can disable the cruise won't necessarily set codes and some codes won't necessarily turn on a warning light.
The truck doesn't happen to have aftermarket/LED Stop light bulbs in it does it?

 

I only put LED lights on the inside. I have not changed the bulbs in the brake lights, although, that doesn't mean they are not there. I bought it with 10k miles, so it had a previous owner. I'll check on that tomorrow.v

 

That's the only variable I can think of outside of an input problem as I have seen certain LED bulbs installed in the brake or turn signals mess with various systems on newer vehicles causing unintended effects.

 

Thanks for the tip... checked all 3 bulbs in the taillight, and they appear to be standard bulbs.

 

That's about all the simple stuff I can think of aside from the brake and clutch switches that have already been mentioned that can be checked without a scan tool to see inputs.

 

I have to ask.

You are pushing the button on the end of the stalk.

And then pushing downward (and holding) the stalk itself, correct?

Sorry, I know its pedantic, but there are two steps to engage. That, and setting the speed is not just a click down, you need to hold it down for a second or so. I say this because the set and resume get me once in a while when I just click down (or up) on the stalk and don't hold it long enough.

 

So there are two modes, the adaptive (shows radar on the truck,) and the constant speed mode. I can go into either one of those, and the light does come on indicating it is in that mode, but no matter what I do, the speed simply will not set. I've tried pushing it down, holding it down, etc. I can't say for certain how long I held it down for, but I will certainly try it again and hold down longer!

 

Push the button at the end of the stalk and let go. Then take the stalk and push it down like you would do a turn signal. That should engage the cruise control.
Down engages the cruise and lowers speed and up increases the speed. I hope this helps

 

Yea, I've done that... just not sure for how long I held it down for (based off Firn's comment) to set the speed. I've not had to actually hold it down on any of my previous vehicles, and to be honest, i can't remember the last vehicle I had that didn't have cruise control.

 

Came to ask the same exact thing. Light coming on doesn't indicate cruise is set. The "set" button needs to be engaged after the light is on to actually "set" a particular speed.

 

Yes, push the button on the end of the stalk to engage radar cruise, HOLD the button on the end of the stalk to switch to constant speed cruise. Light/icon comes on and the cruise is ready but not active, similar but different icons for the two modes.

Then in a separate step move the lever (not the button) downward/clockwise to set the speed (or upward/CCW to resume).

A solid one count should be enough. Its not long, a second is more than enough, but it does take more than just a flick down.

Also make sure you are not slightly pulling the lever towards you as that is cancel and could possibly prevent setting the speed.

You should then see your cruise speed value appear on the gauge cluster just across from the cruise icon. Unlike some of my older GMs it won't slightly surge ahead when engaged.

Again, not trying to be pedantic and most likely saying the same thing, just making sure the wording is explicit so their is no ambiguity. You seem to have checked everything else and you say its never worked so just stepping through the simple things in precise terms.

 

I get it... I take no offense from folks trying to help, even though the steps are pretty much 2nd nature by now. I try it pretty much every time I get in my truck, so if there are any nuances (holding it down, not pulling it towards me, etc,) I probably would have got lucky by now and set it if there were not something wrong.

I have an appt at a dealership next monday, along path of my trip, so if I don't figure it out by then, I'll know then and report back.