Cruise Control for series 1 AU

[Steve M]

Hi,

I was wondering if you guys could give me some pointers here.

I am wanting to install cruise control on my AU, but don't know where to start as regarding sourcing the necessary parts.

The local Ford dealer has said that I should go to the wreckers and get an AU1 or AU11 assembly, however I have done a little research and there are lots of after market stuff out there.

Any suggestions where I could get one or what type to fit?

Regards

Steve

[Jack91]

Go the factory AU stuff so you can have the buttons on the steering wheel that dont look out of place. the aftermarket ones will cost more (about $250) than the original ford stuff.
Cant help with the install but I think the actuator and buttons plug straight into the looms that are already there.

[frd906]

Theres usualy a full cruise control kit which comes up on ebay every now and then, this is genuine ford stuff

[TK-421]

i just did the conversion to my forte ser1 this is the doco i followed from another member, except for the relearn procedure mine worked fine without it but i will add it incase. i paid $130 for the complete setup from ebay and now enjoy driving it even more.

Installing cruise control, AU1 6 cyl.

First, make sure you have all the parts, you should have
Wiring loom to suit cruise control,
Cruise buttons and rear trim for steering wheel,
Combination switch,
Brake master cylinder pressure switch,
Cruise control module (big thing with throttle cable hanging out of it),
Assorted nuts, bolts and screws.

Tools needed,
10mm socket and spanner,
5 point torx bit (or a flat head screwdriver),
8mm socket (for the bolt that goes into the rocker cover to hold the cable on),
T50 torx bit (standard 6 sided) for the bolt that holds the steering wheel on, and preferable a breaker bar to crack it with,
Philips head screwdriver,
Flat head screwdriver.

Disconnect battery (I didn’t, but you are better off doing this just to be safe),

On either side of the steering wheel are 2 plastic plugs, behind these are the 5 sided torx bits. There are 2 options here, if you haven’t managed to get hold of the required torx bit, you can modify a flad headed screw driver (or screw driver bit to go into a t handle driver) I also found with using a t handle driver that you don’t really even need to cut the middle out of it (although I did anyway) because you can get enough force on it to turn them. Undo the bolts, and the airbag assembly will come out of the wheel. On the back there is a yellow wire coming out of the airbag that is attached to the clock spring, unplug this and remove the airbag from the car.

Next is the steering wheel. With the key out of the ignition, turn the wheel until the steering lock activates. Then get the T50 torx bit and breaker bar and loosen the bolt off (you may not need a breaker, but it’s up to you). Unscrew the bolt most of the way, leaving it in a few turns so the wheel doesn’t come flying off the steering column and smack you in the face. To get the wheel off you may have to give it a few smacks from behind, some of them take a bit of effort, also it seems to help if you pull towards you from the bottom of the wheel.

Once you have the wheel off, you will see the clock spring, there is a wire coming from this to the steering wheel that you will need to unplug (probably before you remove the wheel). You need to remove the shroud surrounding the column next. It should have 3 philips head screws in the bottom section and 2 in the top section. The combination switch has 3 10mm bolts holding it to the steering column, remove these and unplug the wiring loom from the bottom of the column. You can then remove the combination switch and clock spring together as one unit.

Once off the car, you can remove the clock spring from the old combination switch and attach it to the new one, it only has clips holding it on, no tools needed. Once you have the clock spring attached, you can reinstall the new combination switch. Install is just the reverse of removal. Once you get to the steering wheel, before re attaching it to the car, remove the 3 screws holding the backing piece to the wheel. You can then remove this, but before putting the new one on, remove the screws holding the old volume control buttons to the wheel and remove them. Then fit the new volume and cruise control buttons, the wiring goes around the back of the wheel, that’s why you have to wait to put the new cover back on. The volume buttons screw back into the holes they came out of, but the cruise ones are a bit harder as they have no thread in yet. The alloy of the wheel is soft enough so as you screw the screws in, it taps a thread itself. You can then attach the new backing piece to the wheel and re install the wheel to the car.

Installing the airbag is simply the reverse of removing it, when I did mine, I made sure I wasn’t sitting in front of it at any time, but I didn’t have the battery disconnected. If you like you can replace the torx bits with normal allen key or even 6 sided torx bolts, I didn’t bother, but it’s up to you if you would like to.

Now for the module and wiring loom. The easiest way to remove the large orange plug from under the dash is to drop the fuse panel out of the way. Remove the fuse cover and undo the 2 screws holding it in, then unclip the bottom of the fuse box and pull it forward and down. If you then look straight in, you will see the big orange plug. This has a small tab on top of it holding it into the car, slide the flat head screwdriver slightly under this tab and slide the whole plug off the car. The grey clip unclips from the top of the plug, I think you need the screwdriver for this too and it raises up as you remove the plugs from each other. Unplug the plug from the brake pedal switch too.

You can then push the big rubber bung out from the firewall, just follow the wiring from the orange plug to where the bung is and push around the edges first. Under the bonnet you need to unplug the low brake fluid level switch, the wiper motor and the oxygen sensor. You can then feed the whole loom back into the cabin and remove it from the car. Feed the new loom in the way you removed the old loom and plug the oxygen sensor, wiper motor, brake fluid level switch and put the brake pressure into the master cylinder. When you remove the plug in the master cylinder you will need to bleed the master, to do this, I got someone to sit in the car, with the pressure switch in, but not done up tight I got them to press on the brake pedal very slowly until a small amount of fluid came out the thread where the pressure switch goes, this was enough to get rid of the small amount of air in there. You can then plug the pressure switch wiring plug in.

Then press the big rubber bung back into the hole in the firewall, this is done from the engine bay side. You can then install the cruise control module. To the rear of the coolant header tank, where the bonnet release cable comes out of the panel, there are 3 small round holes and a larger oblong hole. The 3 round holes are where the cruise module attaches. Feed it in between the strut tower and the brake booster, you may need to move it around to get it in there, it is sometimes a bit fiddly. Once in, put the 3 10mm nuts that should have come with it on and tighten them up.

Then plug the module plug from the wiring loom into it. Then, to attach the cable to the rocker cover it’s easiest to remove the last section of the intake pipe. You can remove the whole thing if you like. To the rear of where the throttle cable attaches to the rocker cover is another plain hole. This is for the cruise cable holder. Hopefully whoever you got the kit from has included the 8mm bolt that screws into this hole to attach the cable. If they have, simply hold the cable there and with the bolt straight, screw it into the rocker cover, keeping as straight as possible. Once again, this bolt will cut its own thread as you screw it in. When you have the bolt in tight, clip the grey end of the cable onto the attachment on the throttle body, then reinstall the intake piping.

Ok, now for the orange plug. Plug it in the same way you removed the other one, and make sure it’s attached securely. Then slide it back onto the tab to hold it in its position. You can also plug the brake pedal switch back in. On mine I had an extra plug near the accelerator pedal for a clutch pedal switch, this should have a plug in it, closing the circuit. If not, simply use a piece of wire (speaker wire will be fine) to bridge it out, if you don’t do this, the cruise won’t engage as it thinks the clutch pedal is depressed. You can then reinstall the fuse panel and replace the cover.

Reconnect the battery and do the relearn procedure, I will include it anyway,

Start the car,
Idle 2 min in park a/c off,
Idle 2 min in D a/c off,
Idle 2 min in D a/c on,
Idle 2 min in Park a/c on,
Drive under various throttle conditions and test out your cruise control if you like.

Enjoy

[AU101]

I bought the kit off ebay too ( genuine ford ) 2nd hand , really good kit, comes with every single piece needed for the install, Pretty easy to install yourself, took me about 1.5 hours. I also followed a members instructions same as above^^. Id go genuine ford any day over aftermarket!! Just make sure you have the special torx bits for the airbag and the steering wheel removal. It just makes long hwy trips so easy!!

[XYwagonAU]

I know this is an old thread but im keen to get cruise control in my AU1 wagon, ill keep a look out on ebay , hopefully the parts are still out there somewhere ,
Ive got sciatica in my right leg so i want to give it a rest now and then,
have tried driving with my left leg, works , but a bit slow to get foot accoss to brake, which could be a problem.........

[rmack]

EBay has one on there now

[XYwagonAU]

thanks rmack,
i saw that one but, i think the wagon / and au1 must be sightly different though
Ive sent the seller a message , i think he has listed different ones before
have a good one
ben

[Sox]

Originally Posted by XYwagonAU

thanks rmack,
i saw that one but, i think the wagon / and au1 must be sightly different though
Ive sent the seller a message , i think he has listed different ones before
have a good one
ben

As far as I'm aware there's no difference from sedan/ute/wagon.

However, there is a difference between series 1 and 2/3.
The main plug from the switches is slightly different and won't mate across series.

[XYwagonAU]

thanks for that sox,
apparentlly the wagon has slightly different a plug due to the rear wiper,
my local wreaker is getting one out of a car for me (not sure if from wagon)

one mechanic said it would take a day and a half for him to put in and he had to take the dash out cost $300 labour , so im hopeing to DIY

so it looks like ill be using this forum a lot

also ive got to get the torx bits

cheers
ben

[XYwagonAU]

Success !!
after pulling the steering wheel off 4 times I think ive got the cruise conversion done,
the main issue i had was misalignment of steering wheel, I ended up rooting my clockspring -i had to buy a second hand one, cost me $55


the car is ready for the conversion because cruise was an option across all models - so all the mounting points / plugs / etc are all in place


It probably helps that the ebay seller i got the kit off sent all the parts including screws, Its the same seller listed below 'im not george' postage was quick too
cost including post of kit -$172
the torx bits were $9 T50 repco
kit 5 sided security bits (t30 is one i needed) $14 bursons


I plan to post some pictures of the parts and conversion in the future
barring stuff ups this conversion can be done easily by a couple of blokes in an hour or two


One piece of advice- start with the steering wheel strait(dont need to put it on lock), note the position of the clock spring - wires should be at the top should not need to fiddle with clocksping if you put it back as it was -


Now i just have to learn how to cruise with the cruise......


p.s. My local wrecker was going to sell me a kit but wasn't sure if it was a do-able conversion - then he apparently rang Ford workshop who told him that computer needed to be reprogrammed which is a load of bulls#it


helpful link -

http://www.trueblueford.com/technica...ing_wheel.html

[gggsxr11]

I followed Intech Au's guide and it worked for me took about 2 hours reset the computer with scan tool and relearn the 2 min procedure and cruisin.

[XYwagonAU]

hi gsxr,
yeah i found intechAU post very helpful (probably wouldnt have given it a go unless i found it)
what do you mean about reseting computer and scan tool - i havent done this, havent done relearn procedure either becasue my AC is stuffed

still seems to work .......
cheers
ben

[gggsxr11]

I have a usb scan tool and use the forscan software,one of the options is reset the computer so i tried it and then did relearn the 2 minute deal and cruise just works.
Not sure if your supposed to do it that way but it worked for me.

[Davehoos]

I had to make a AU111 combination switch up to fit my 1999 AU.
I purchased it vandalised and most used items at wreckers had sloppy indicator levers.

I used the bits of a few brocken units units to make one up.the terminals and wiring colours are the same but the plugs are different. most of the plugs I got had been glued together and was easier to destroy them.