If anyone has had experience with these things, I'm all ears. I didn't have my car long enough to test and see if there was any flicker of function left in my cruise control transducer, but with everything else wrong with this car, I'm just going to assume.... It was unplugged, and that's never a good sign. I've found a thread or two showing the disassembly of the transducer and basic cleaning and greasing that can be done, however my issue would be found in coming across a broken piece or some part I couldn't replace. Has anyone used a rebuilding service and been happy with the results? For a reasonable price, I would certainly send this unit off and focus elsewhere on this car. One more project is not what I'm looking for!

 

Have you checked the '67 chassis service manual? There is a huge section on the Toro cruise control, including, troubleshooting, an exploded-view diagram of the regulator assembly, and step-by-step instructions on disassembly and reassembly. If it's not working, anyway, what do you have to lose by tackling it yourself? You might learn something along the way.

If you come across a part that needs to be replaced, then you start a parts hunt. Any rebuilder would have to do the same thing.

 

Of course you're right, and I've ended up doing many, many things on this car and especially on my previous Rallye 350 that I wouldn't have done normally. I have the service manual, but since the car isn't running I can't conduct some of the testing quite yet. I could do the electrical evaluation with a little assistance. Basically this is me yelling to everyone that I'm lazy when it comes to this project and I'd just as soon write a check as turn a screw on this thing... Maybe this is a good "tweener" project as I wait for all the engine pieces to come back from the machine shop.

 

Before you go digging into the transducer, make sure the cable is operational. There are a few weak points here.

Does the control head dial move at all? If it moves, does it stop in both directions under light pressure? The system is designed to allow the dial to be rotated beyond it's stops, for adjustment purposes, but that requires a little extra effort and will feel "notchy."

The dial has a plastic gear and rack. The metal wire in the cable snaps into the rack and is clamped to the housing. The gear and rack get brittle with age. So does the plastic housing. If any work was done that required the dash to be moved/lowered, that plastic rack or the housing is likely to be broken. The cable should be disconnected at the transducer to allow it move with the dash if necessary. Otherwise - snap. There is a gentleman in Canada who has machined racks out of aluminum. I've been using one for years. The housing can be carefully disassembled and the rack replaced. I think he was also working on having the housing 3D printed.

The other end of that wire has a hook on the end going into the transducer. That hook fits into a cage-like thing in the transducer that is also made of plastic. You have to squeeze the hook to get it out of the cage. These cages get brittle too, probably more so because of the engine heat, and I have seen them fly apart when trying to remove the hook. That's not good because I don't know of a replacement. That's another part that ought be machined out of aluminum. This was a poor design. My '62 uses a metal ball on the wire and machined shaft in the transducer to accept it.

Lastly, with lack of use, that cable can bind. It took me a lot of patience and penetrating oil to get mine working smoothly.

I've had two '67s and this '62 with cruise control and I've yet to have a transducer problem. It's always been in the cable and control head.

 

As usual, all I had to do was just start and the project moved along smoothly. I only cleaned up the transducer, but at least I confirmed everything was working and no parts are broken. Once I get the engine in place and have electricity, I’ll be ready to drop the dash and attend to the dial control, which works as far as I can see. I appreciate the boot in the butt to give this a shot.