Cruise control turns off when hitting a bump

[mclasser]

On a 100 mile drive recently, my Accord's cruise control turned off on two occasions when going over road bumps. I could immediately turn it back on without issue. My foot wasn't near the brake pedal or anything. I tried to recerate it by going over various other bumps but it didn't turn off. I checked to see if the brake lights were stuck on, indicating a bad brake switch but no dice. Any thoughts?

 

[zzyzzx]

I'm thinking that the bump was enough to shake the brake pedal and make it hit the brake light switch just enough to turn off the cruise control.

 

[nicklx]

Had that happen on my 01 Jetta. I dealt with it for a bit and then the resume function wouldn't work. Replaced the cruise control stalk and all is well. Could be a lose connection to the controls?

 

[mahansm]

Honda uses two sets of contacts in the brake light switch. One normally open that activates the brake lights, and one normally closed that, when opened, cancels cruise.

Check the brake light switch. They're cheap and easily replaced.

 

[Branson304]

That's very odd. I'd probably just forget about it & reset the cruise when it happens.

My father had a 2010 F-150, there was a turn on US Route 50 in Doddridge Co., WV. Every time he went through that turn the cruise control would go off... every single time. Lol It never did that anywhere else & I've never seen any other vehicle do that in that turn.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: mclasser
On a 100 mile drive recently, my Accord's cruise control turned off on two occasions when going over road bumps.

Was the bump bad enough or passed while on a curve, so that it engaged your stability/traction control momentarily? I had this happen on wife's C300 on a few occasions. Essentially when the car is "thrown out of composure" as a result of hitting a large bump and momentarily loses traction, ESP will engage, which will automatically turn off cruise control. That's normal. You've got two systems giving conflicting commands: ESP wants to selectively brake while CC wants to continuously apply throttle. ESP wins.

 

[NMBurb02]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: mclasser
On a 100 mile drive recently, my Accord's cruise control turned off on two occasions when going over road bumps.

Was the bump bad enough or passed while on a curve, so that it engaged your stability/traction control momentarily? I had this happen on wife's C300 on a few occasions. Essentially when the car is "thrown out of composure" as a result of hitting a large bump and momentarily loses traction, ESP will engage, which will automatically turn off cruise control. That's normal. You've got two systems giving conflicting commands: ESP wants to selectively brake while CC wants to continuously apply throttle. ESP wins.

That was my initial thought as well.

 

[silveravant]

Don't think an '02 Accord has ESP.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I'm thinking that the bump was enough to shake the brake pedal and make it hit the brake light switch just enough to turn off the cruise control.


This. Crawl under there and look at the pedal and switch, see if anything is loose or worn.

 

[bubbatime]

How big was that bump exactly?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: silveravant
Don't think an '02 Accord has ESP.

Good catch. I missed the model year.

I suppose there could have been some wheelspin under acceleration as he hit the bump, which would trigger his traction control, so maybe TC in this case caused CC to turn off?

 

[tgrudzin]

Had similar issue with a '97 Dodge Neon. There are two switches on the brake pedal, (or was it one?). In the Neon, you removed the switch by 1/4 turn and basically pulled out the self-adjuster pole on the switch. Re-installed and it never caused an issue again. In my case, it wasn't just bumps, it would always engage or just disappear. But it didn't require a new switch.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: mclasser
On a 100 mile drive recently, my Accord's cruise control turned off on two occasions when going over road bumps.

Was the bump bad enough or passed while on a curve, so that it engaged your stability/traction control momentarily? I had this happen on wife's C300 on a few occasions. Essentially when the car is "thrown out of composure" as a result of hitting a large bump and momentarily loses traction, ESP will engage, which will automatically turn off cruise control. That's normal. You've got two systems giving conflicting commands: ESP wants to selectively brake while CC wants to continuously apply throttle. ESP wins.




this

 

[artificialist]

The stalk switch may have failed, but before you replace it, you should try the following things:
1. Disconnect the wiring harness from the switch
2. Clean the terminals as well as you can
3. Apply a small amount of dielectric grease.
4. Re-connect the switch to the wiring harness and push the two together with extra force.