r_kage

I have a 1995 Honda Accord EX, 4-cyl engine. I have never used cruise control on this car, but did try once and found that it did not work. I don't commonly drive on the highway, so I never really gave it too much thought.

Well, the other day, I was driving along a long stretch of hilly roads, and I braked as I approached the bottom of the hill, and then when I released the brake, the car decided to accelerate back up the hill all on its own. Then, I noticed that the cruise control button was lit. I hit the button and the light went out, but the car proceeded to accelerate. For the next mile, I did not put my foot on the gas at all, and used the brake to keep the speed within the speed limit; meanwhile, just wanted to get it to a safe area to stop.

Even though the car decided to supply gas on it's own to accelerate, when I braked to slow down, the transmission did downshift, and I don't know if that is odd or not.

When it came time to stop, I pressed on the brake with all my weight until it stopped, then threw the car into park (I thought I could because it downshifted) and removed the key, after which the car revved once very loudly, then shut down. Meanwhile, the brakes smoked.

The man who towed the car back to my house said he could not get the car out of park, which makes sense....I imagine the brakes are stuck, as they are completely burned up.

I consider myself very lucky given that I was on long road with no stop signs/traffic signals and actually TRAFFIC, because I recognize if this happened on the usual roads I drive on, this could have ended badly. I would strongly recommend anyone whose cruise control simply doesn't activate to be sure to investigate why it doesn't work. Ironically, I wasn't scared WHILE I was driving this car and searching for a stopping point--but the wave of "holy crap, this could have been fatal" struck me later in the day.

Even so, I still need a car, and I would at least like to know if it's serviceable, if it's in fact a cruise control issue, if it can be disabled and so on. I'm not even sure if it's safe to just start the car to see if it even runs!

I know I'd be looking at new rotors, brake pads, tires... disabling the cruise control for good. Would I also need new wheel bearings? Is the transmission sure to be toast at this point?

If anyone has any suggestions where to begin, it would be greatly appreciated!!

r_kage

I've been reading about some other people's experiences--some people whose cruise control buttons on steering wheel activate cruise control; whereas the dash button does not. Well... truth be told, the text markings on the steering wheel were completely rubbed off, so I was unaware of the steering wheel buttons even being there. I do know that the switch on the dash has not activated cruise control in the past, nor did pushing it while accelerating do anything but turn off the light in that button. My new theory is that cruise control was possibly activated accidentally via the steering wheel button, and that it was faulty in that hitting the brakes did not shut it down. I read something about a switch in the brake itself--same one that activates the lights--as possibly being a problem. Any others?? Amazingly, brake fluid did not leak. I found an example of one other person online--though that person regularly used cruise control and was aware it was faulty--whose cruise control did not activate and not only did they smoke the brakes in riding them to a stop, they also melted the lines and leaked all the brake fluid. Serious stuff.

ALSO, my shifter WILL shift out of park by inserting the key in the interlock slot next to the shifter, but not by inserting the key in the ignition.

Right now, I do believe my car is serviceable, and would like info on what to look for, as well as tips regarding cruise control replacement/or disable it altogether (and I would be completely fine with the latter--probably feel safer overall).

r_kage

So by throwing vehicle into park, is it possible to have destroyed the shift park solenoid? Is that the right direction?

r_kage

I've found online instances in which a) people with known cruise control issues experienced the car accelerating on its own and b) people who have taken their foot off the brake to shift into park only to have the car surge forward into a structure (trailer,garage,bank) with enough force to total their cars.

a) I did not engage cruise control on my car to my knowledge--can't really imagine hitting that button by accident though I can't entirely rule that out. I do think that's the issue I have.

b) I am not really certain how these people experienced a surge upon parking. I only GUESS that they took their foot off the brake after coming to a complete stop, then either tried to engage park with the foot off the brake OR lifted their foot off the brake to idle a bit forward.. Also, these threads are many years old, so I can't inquire as to whether a faulty cruise control is the issue, but I doubt they would know.

I'm especially disturbed to find in various such cases, upon having their cars inspected, no fault has been found with the cars, in some cases, the drivers were considered at fault in accidents and told they must have hit the gas, something they deny.

I have to cover the bases here and ask, is there any other situation besides faulty cruise control that can cause the car to accelerate on its own. I need to make a decision as to whether to repair or part out (body is great for age, only one tiny spot of rust on one fender)...

Please, does any one have any opinions on this?

tamboo

you can always unplug the under dash box to disable the cc.
looks like this:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/94-97-Honda-...FXML6M&vxp=mtr

r_kage

Thanks, Tamboo--Disabling it is a great start. Are you at all familiar with the electronics? It's not my strong suit--I need walked through using a multi-meter every time I try (which is rare). I'm trying to understand if it's possible that the cruise control activated itself, would not shut off via dash button after not shutting off via the brakes. I did read that when cruise control doesn't shut off at the brakes, that there is a faulty switch in the brakes--usually tied to the brake lights not working (in which case neither does cruise control) but my brake lights have always worked fine. It makes me wonder, though, if there was no connection in the brakes and then while I was driving there was some kind of contact enabling the cruise control.

I suppose the desire to understand this is far greater than my desire to get cruise control working--I'm still in shock over that driving experience.

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Also, I'll have to look at my car more thoroughly--it's outside and weather conditions weren't favorable last night. It does seem the accelerator cable is a little looser (not extremely so) when I pull at it under the hood. My understanding is a looser cable would more likely lead to problems acceleration, but caused me to think, well, maybe that cable could have played a role, too.

QUESTION: If you enable cruise control (even if by mistake, ugh), the accelerator cable is also pulled--is it possible then, that it's the accelerator cable that stuck, maybe faulty cruise accelerated car faster than I normally drive, possibly increasing the range of motion on the accelerator cable??

I mean, I haven't experienced any sticking of the gas pedal when I drive nor can I think of any stand out clues.

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Please tell me if this is *all* I need to do:

1) Disable cruise
2) Replace cruise and accelerator cables (I'm OK with replacing the cruise cable and still keeping it disengaged because you never know who ends up with the car in the future.)
3) Replace switch at brake pedal (again, for future's sake)
4) Replace rotors and brake pads. Is rotor replacement a given? They aren't that old. (If I have to replace rotors, I will do the rotor over hub conversion--really hated the week I thought I'd do an "easy brake job" on my new old car and had to take out the steering knuckle, replace wheel bearings, went ahead and replace some suspension components that didn't need urgent replacing *just because* I had the whole thing disassembled anyhow).
5) Replace front tires--Guessing I probably have some serious flat spots from braking over such distance.
6) Oh, and possibly the brake interlock solenoid.... (Unless park won't disengage because of the brake itself--any ideas?)

r_kage

My car's outside and it's been raining/slushing for days. I have a small window of opportunity and I'd like to test some circuits, but could use some assistance.

For step one, I checked to make sure the horn works and that the brake lights come on. It's a win! Still, I should check some fuses, so regarding...

CHECKING FUSES WITH MULTIMETER: Do I just put the black probe on ground and the red probe on one or the other of the fuse contacts? With dcv selected? With the key in the II switch position? Or with the car running (I''m REALLY afraid to start this car, lest it decides to take off on me.) Or do I put each of the leads on each on the contact points on the fuse? With continuity selected? I'm trying to follow youtube videos....they talk a lot but often don't really show how the leads are connected.

SECOND, from the schematic, it appears that the horn and brake lights work regardless of whether the key is in the II position or not; however, it appears that the cruise light should come on when the key is in the II position. It does not. I could be reading this wrong. Diagram shows blk/yel wire from fuse 4 ("hot in or on start") to cruise control main switch with indicator light. Suggests if I push the button I should get a light?

THIRD There's the issue that the I cannot shift out of park with the key in the ignition and foot on the brake. I CAN shift using the key in the slot next to the shifter.... so parking pin switch should be OK, right? ALSO, when I put the key in switch II position, the display panel DOES show the shifter to be in the park position. Would this rule out the AT Gear Position Switch? Because I'm guessing if the display is correct, it can determine the shifter position.... There is a Key Interlock Test, and I'm including an image that I recreated. I'm not sure what it is asking me to do. The directions say to "check for continuity between the terminals in each switch position according to the table." There are circles representing the terminals in question connected by a line. Do I test each of those terminals individually to ground? Or am I supposed to somehow connect each of the terminals together and check continuity across them (and if so, what is the best way of achieving this.)

SORRY for all the NOOB questions. And I will happily supply whatever additional info is needed to better answer whatever questions. Just want to make sure I am doing this right, so I can order the correct parts (hopefully) the first time.

Thank you!!