Cruise control not working

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by B@fink

3 bits of the electronic dodads attached to the pcb break their solder joint and drop dead

Just had a look inside my old unit and 2 of the 3 "dodads" (capacitors ) do indeed look "suspicious" at one end and are probably in need of a resolder.

So, if anyone has a cruise control problem and is handy with a soldering iron and delving into the ECU box it's yours for the price of the postage (£2-£3).

[graynada]

I'd very happily take that off you hands to fix. My cruise a little intermitent and it would be handy to have on the shelf in case I found myself going in that area. I have the necessary soldering qualifications

Please PM me if you still have it.

[HPsauce]

Yes, I've got it, not the sort of thing I throw away!
This thread has good illustrations of the repair (ignore that it's about an A6 - it's the exact same unit): http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=1728645

The board itself is a very tight fit sliding into slots on either side of the casing - obvious once you pull the end cover off.
I found that squeezing the top and bottom of the casing firmly between fingers and thumb (I put my thumb on the centre of mounting bracket) just bowed the sides out very slightly, but enough to let the board slide in and out easily.

Looking again at the soldering I'd say all 3 (2 for definite) have one terminal that looks "different" so is suspect, but redoing all 6 is advisable.

I'll just wait until the weekend to see if there's any other interest before sending a pm.

I'm in South Bucks, but believe you're in Essex. I'm not going that way in the foreseable future. Are you likely to be near me?

---------------------------------------------------------------------

On a tenuously-related note I heard some woman on Radio 4 this morning describing how she liked walking along the Yorkshire coast near Scarborough. Saying that what made it unusual was seeing the sea, as she came from "landlocked Essex".

If you haven't explored the 350 miles of Essex coastline what are you waiting for?
As well as being a very rural county, dotted with pretty villages and picturesque countryside, Essex has one of the longest coastlines of any county in England. Indeed Essex boasts a real maritime flavour. The resorts of Southend-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, and the quieter resorts of Walton-on-the-Naze and Frinton-on-Sea offer all the traditional fun of the seaside and more.

[HPsauce]

Old control box sent to Graynada (who isn't in Essex, no idea why I thought that ) so no longer available.

Replacement (bought from A8parts) working perfectly.

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by IT

Its quite common for cruise to drop out when trying to increase speed, I've noticed it on a few cars, so you're not alone....

Interesting, the cruise on my FL S8 is definitely a bit iffy and that seems to be the commonest symptom.
It worked fine on the test drive and bringing the car home.

Then in the very cold weather it hardly ever worked.
Now it's bit warmer it's in part-time mode and any operation of the speed change (up or down) can cause it to drop out.

I guess I'll be out tomorrow to attack the switch with the cleaning fluid.........
(no box to change on this one)

[notorious]

I purchased a new stalk from Audi about 2 years ago and changed it. And it was dropping out when trying to increase speed from day one. I figured out it only drops out when I push it completely to leftmost position. If I push it just a bit it works fine.

[tonupkid]

So when you push it right its OK, and if you left it its not

[notorious]

No. When I push (or push-and-hold) left, which means increase speed, it will drop off if I push it fully left. If I push (or push-and-hold) left just a bit, not fully left, then it will work tip top.

[HPsauce]

Well having given mine a good clean and a good "thrashing" it's now consistently part-working.
Just about useable, but annoying.

The "set" button on the end is now working, almost all the time, both for setting speed and reducing it.

Touching the slide switch turns cruise off.
Doesn't matter how hard/softly or how much or in which direction, so there's no way of increasing speed in increments. You have to accelerate and press "set" which is a tad annoying but not a major hardship I guess. Grates though.

[HPsauce]

Very odd. This morning I indulged my cruise stalk with some serious "substance abuse" - well loads of WD40 and a good thrashing.

It then started working perfectly! Drove a couple of miles and every function worked as it should (except possibly the "resume").

Stopped briefly (delivering some stuff) and got back in the car, tried it when I could and it seemed to set, but then I tried to increase speed with the slider and it dropped out. After that it wouldn't work at all.

No opportunity to stop the car before getting home in case the system needed some sort of reset. More abuse and testing as and when I can.

Edit: been out again (looking at that RS4 http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5963 ) and it's working again.
But the "increase" slider is intermittent and when it stops doing what it should it fails totally until ignition off/on. And the "resume" never seems to work.


Meanwhile any thought from anyone on on these 2 questions:

1. Is anyone aware of the system needing a reset of any sort after a glitch?

2. As I asked (maybe not obviously) earlier in this thread, is there any way of taking apart the switch section without taking it off the car? There are no obvious screws so I'd guess there are covers that can be levered off, or is it all glued?

Has anyone taken one of these off and investigated the faulty one to see what's wrong inside? I would given the chance - anyone want to send me a faulty one?