In the middle of a 5 hour drive today my cruise control went on the fritz. It would randomly shut itself off when engaged. Sometimes it would stay on for 20 minutes, sometimes for 30 seconds. It seemed to get worse and worse as time went on, to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore and just had to drive normally. Thoughts? :confused:

This is in a 2004 STi.

I just read a thread on this a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I cannot recall the conclusions (if there were any). If you do a search you might be able to find that thread. I have to go to work right now so I don't have time to search.

My searches have come up pretty dry. It looks like most peoples CC problems stem from broken sensors on the clutch/brake. I will check these out today, but the fact that the CC will engage makes me think these sensors aren't the problem since they'd keep the CC from engaging at all. I'll check it out though.

The 02 WRX has a cruise control recal. I don't know if this effects the 04's or the STI.

The recall doesn't affect the STi. It was for cars with cable-operated throttle and cruise, the STi is drive-by-wire.
By any chance are you trying to engage the cruise at a relatively high speed? I believe there is a limit of 89 MPH or so above which the cruise won't work.

you might examine your brake light switch.
It will cause the cc to drop out when you use your brakes.

if it's adjusted to close you could be:
1.accidentaly brushing your brake pedal and actuating it, or
2.weak brake pedal spring allowing the pedal to bounce a little while driving, thus actuating it.

Then again, it might be just fine, and have something else causing it to drop out: like a poor connection in the plug from your cc assy.

It's hard to say without further clues.
just my two cents worth.

Check the top clutch switch too.

If someone finds the answer to this it would great mmkay.

Midnight_Gold's STi is having this same exact issue. Its not anything to do with the brake switch as that has been checked.

-Tom

I was searching this forum to find a thread on this as the exact same thing started happening to me last week.....it happens all the time and its relatively annoying. Lo and behold....I found a thread on this. I'm taking mine in next week for a broken rear strut....so, maybe I'll have some more info on this after my trip to the dealer.

yup same problem here, usualy happens after longer periods like 2 or 3 hours of driving. Almost like something is getting hot and just shutting the cruise off. Also my SET light on the dash shuts off.

yup same problem here, usualy happens after longer periods like 2 or 3 hours of driving. Almost like something is getting hot and just shutting the cruise off. Also my SET light on the dash shuts off.
I had an outback come in with this problem. It was about 2 months ago I will go back and see if I can find how we fixed it.

I can't remember if the cruise control for the 04 STi throws DTC's. I know know the outbacks do becasue I had a problem with one not shutting off really recently. GO figure.

If I find the answer I will let you know. If you have a fried at the dealer ship see if they can pull codes with the select monitor (like I said can't remember if 04 STi will do it) if so they can look up the diag procedure too.

We had a Subi dealer here a few years back but they long left. Now all I have is Salt Lake City to go to for this problem. I work at a GM deaslership so I have access to some diag info but I dont think it is enough to scan my car, all I have is generic OBDII ones. Any help will be awesome.

Just wanted to bump this up, really would like to find a cure. I know were not the only ones who drive long distances in our Subies

have you checked all your switches like the ones just above the clutch and brake pedals? Have you checked all your connectors to be sure one isn't loose. Also check fuses 6, 16, 18. DO you have an abs light on or anything? Common fixes i found listed were the switches I mentioned above, cruise switch, neutral postion switch, stop light switch, vehical speed sensor.

I dont have an ABS light on but i will defiantly check all those other things you mentioned. If I find anythig Ill chime back in with my fix. Thanks for the help

I have fixed a few 05+ outbacks with this issue. it was the neutral switch. the crush washer was too thick causing the switch to trip thus making the ecu think the car was pulled into neutral and shutting off cruise control. All I did was grind the washer down a little and walla it was fixed and never came back.

Originally this issue was only occuring after the car warmed up a bit, so it seemed even odder to me. In the end (although I haven't fixed it yet since I rarely ever have a need for the CC) I believe I've determined it to be the neutral switch since if I do get the CC to engage and I tap on the shifter, the CC will turn off. Also, if I pull on the stick away from the neutral position I can usually get the CC to engage for a longer period of time. I am going to check that washer out for sure.

Thanks all.

There is a reflash for the ECM for the LGTs with this issue, maybe for the STi too?

actually i have this same issue as well. and the cruise works great for short trips. never fails. in fact i drove two hours to a resort last weekend and up and back it was fine. But. if i take it on a 7hr drive to the other end of the state, then yes, after a couple hrs, it will decide to drop off the set-point randomly. so you might reset it. and then it will do it again, maybe not instantly, but soon. then again, till it won't even engage the set at all. very erratic pattern. i've even tried restarting the car, no effect. Once i got it to work again after a bit, and it worked fine all the way home, but that was only once. The downside, is you're stuck for the rest of your trip, maybe 3-4 hrs in the above case, with no cruise. Unfortunately, with this being a DBW car, there's so many more potential areas to check (or that are uncheckable :( ) than a cable system.

What and where is this neutral switch?

The neutral safety switch or inhibit switch as it is also called, is usually mounted on top of the transmission. It is there as a safety switch so the engine can only be started in Park or Neutral.

really? but we have manuals. we can start ours in gear if we want to... Do we have such a switch?

For manual transmissions the safety switch is usually mounted near the clutch pedal. If you can start the car without pushing the clutch in then there is either no switch on the vehicle or it has been bypassed somehow. I though the newer vehicles had to have this installed but I may be wrong.

ah. ok. now i know what you're talking about there. so this would be basically the same thing. oh yes, most vehicles since the 80's at least that i know of have to have one. Idiot proofing basically.

I'll try, but i'm sure mine still works fine. And it doesn't really explain how it shuts off randomly during driving.... Its almost like something gets too hot or similar long-term cause. Snice my cruise always works great to start with or for 2hr or less drives for instance.

I had the same problem with my 04 STi, but it was not because of the switches.... it was in the street tuner map I had flashed to the ECU. After taking off the ST map and flashing back to the stage2 OTS map, everything worked great.... After looking into this a little more the ECU was picking up a code while in CC, this would usually happen WOT or quick blips of acceleration. Since I flashed back to the OTS maps though, I have not had this problem no matter how the car is driven. Might want to try a different map on the car (if you have an AP or any other kind of EM on the car) for a while and see what happens.

I'll try, but i'm sure mine still works fine. And it doesn't really explain how it shuts off randomly during driving.... Its almost like something gets too hot or similar long-term cause. Snice my cruise always works great to start with or for 2hr or less drives for instance.

The problem may not be with the switch but it still could be. The mechanical adjustment may be real close and when it warms up enough the swtich closes and shuts down the CC.

I have this problem as well, any solutions found yet? It seems to effect 04 stis it seems.. Ill check the clutch switch