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Ok, being a bit lazy here as I have been working on the car all day. Last thing I did was change the high speed fan relay against the fire wall. Three speeds work but high didn't. Put new one on - no speeds worked. Oh well, maybe a bad relay?
As I was putting the old one back on I saw all these wires cut coming from the firewall right behind the drivers side head along with what looks like a cut vacuum line coming from the same hole in the firewall. The car runs great but not sure what these may be from anyone have an idea. I'm going to look through the PIM now as its dark out but I thought maybe someone would know at a glance. Thanks.
IN your picture there are some wires behind the distributor that look like some of the same colors. They go down and into something. Are they related to the ones in question?
I can't see where they terminate they come through the firewall go up over the brake pedal to along side the steering column. after a bit of looking my inclination is they may be for an aftermarket cruise control units. There is a clip-on-stalk attached to the turn signal stalk that is labeled "Cruise." I saw one wire that was attached to a sensor mounted next to the driveshaft under the floorboards. Maybe the wires are leading to that. The cut off vacuum hose was attached to the object on the brake pedal pictured below, again I think related to Cruise Control?
I can't see where they terminate they come through the firewall go up over the brake pedal to along side the steering column. after a bit of looking my inclination is they may be for an aftermarket cruise control units. There is a clip-on-stalk attached to the turn signal stalk that is labeled "Cruise." I saw one wire that was attached to a sensor mounted next to the driveshaft under the floorboards. Maybe the wires are leading to that. The cut off vacuum hose was attached to the object on the brake pedal pictured below, again I think related to Cruise Control?
Yes. Nothing there is factory. The factory never used those cheap crimp terminals with the pink insulation.
Well, TECHNICALLY, there is plenty in that image that is factory. If I'm not sure what I am looking at I may or may not know what is factory thus the additional question - patience master - grasshopper willing to learn.
Well, TECHNICALLY, there is plenty in that image that is factory.
I meant "of the stuff in focus"...
Seriously, a good rule of thumb is that if the device doesn't have GM connectors (Packard 56 with VERY few exceptions on these cars) then it isn't factory. The factory cruise has a switch on the brake pedal that has two sets of two terminals - one pair for the brake lights and one to cancel the cruise if you hit the brakes. The connectors use regular Packard 56 female terminals, not the cheezy crimp ones.
Also, the vacuum dump switch is a separate plastic unit on the factory cruise system, mounted above this electrical switch.
yes that's what my 70 W30 cruise setup uses. I just wasn't sure if that round adapter with pull chain was all aftermarket cruise control junk or part of a 72 update for brake lights I wasn't aware of. I will be removing it this weekend. Thanks for the clarification.
The aftermarket cruise controls of that era used a magnetic pick-up, like you mentioned, next to the driveline and anywhere from one to four magnets that were usually ziptied to the driveline for the speed sensing. It didn't really matter to the cruise unit what the speed was, just the number of pulses per minute. Any deviation of the pulses would trigger a throttle adjustment. An increase of pulses would reduce the throttle and a reduction of pulses would obviously increase it. The wiring inside the vehicle consisted of battery lead, ignition, ground, brake sensor, and a control stalk. The controls could be any number of styles depending on the kit. The best ones resembled the factory switch that was part of the turn signal stalk. Some were attached to the same turn signal stalk, and some were mounted to the dash. Manual trans vehicles were supposed to have an over-rev sensor wire that attached to the distributor/coil wire and if the engine began revving faster without the speed increasing the cruise would disconnect such as when stepping on the clutch pedal to begin coasting without stepping on the brake pedal. The brake sensor wire would also cause the cruise to disconnect if the brake pedal was pressed. The vacuum release switch as seen in the picture above was attached to the brake pedal and used as a fail safe to release vacuum from the throttle pull diaphragm in case the brake or over-rev sensor leads did not release it electrically.
Troubleshooting any of that can be a nightmare if you are not familiar with the particular cruise control that you are dealing with. They all worked more or less the same, but like cars themselves, they all get there differently. That is why most of them were removed the way yours was when they quit working. The engine compartment parts and pieces were removed and the wires were cut. Anything out of sight like the under-dash wiring was left for the next owner to find and scratch their head over, wondering what in the world it is!
Sorry for the long post, but maybe all that can help someone else understand what it is if they find something weird under the hood or dash of their car.
Last edited by cjsdad; March 25th, 2017 at 08:12 PM.
Great info, thanks. I just found another original 70 cruise set up I had in a box. most of its there but I don['t think I'm going to install it in the Cutlass
March 19th, 2017, 05:55 PM
