Re: <e28> cruise control

[Jim Cash <j.cash@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark Rich writes:

> Get ready.  It won't be long before it goes completely.  I have an 84 528e, and the same thing
> has happened.  The cruise control would work once per trip.  If I disengaged it, I would not be able
> to engage it again until I cut the engine.  I would be interested in a solution as well.


Mark

Assuming you have checked the usual things:

 - good ground connection all the way through to the brake lights.
 - fuses in good condition and firm in connectors.
 - speedometer reading steady - no cut outs caused by a bad connection
tothe sender in the differential.


Then you should also check the following.

 - Battery voltage at the fuse. The cruise seems to be one of the first
things that acts up when voltage is a bit low. If you have any
significant voltage drop between the battery + terminal and the cruise
fuse then look for a corroded battery cable (the small one to the fust
box) or a bad connection under the box.

 - I also had mine cut out at times due to a build up of dirt on the
potentiometer - inside the actuator (that is the little  control unit in
the engine compartment - has the cable going to the throttle).  To fix
that you have to open the unitup and clean the resistancer path on the
internal dial.  LOOK OUT - when you take it apart some springs are just
waiting to go sproing - you also need to make note of the way the cable
is wound or you could accidently put it in backward.

TIP - clue to low battery voltage
Look carefully at your battery/charge indicator on the dash at night. 
Be in a dark area with no street lights and turn down the dash
lighting.  Turn on some accessories  - if you see the indicator glowing
slightly then you have a voltage drop problem. I first noticed mine when
it would pulse slighty when the turn signals were flashing - at the same
time the cruise would also fluctuate the speed of the car. 

It did not take a genious to figure out there was something common with
this condition.


Cheers

Jim Cash
london. Ontario, Canada
BMW CCA 102929

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