Installed the cruise control
Got around to installing the Rostra cruise control for the fullsize Promaster that I mentioned in an earlier post.
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Looks pretty stock under the blinker stalk. It works well but I ran into a problem early on. Here is the text of my Amazon review:
[copy/paste]
This is the cruise control preferred on the promaster forum. My PM didn’t come with cruise so I knew I’d eventually install this one.
I am not particularly skilled but got it installed in about an hour. Most of it is plugging connector blocks together. This is good because the instructions are insufficient, printed in small type, and photocopied about 50 generations deep.
Exceptions:
- the power wire taps off the ignition power wire. This is a little fiddly; you have to remove insulation and solder the red wire onto the ignition wire. It’s a bit tight and was my least favorite part of the install.
- 8 pins need to be inserted into their connector block. They are shipped like this so you can pass them though the hole you drill for the stalk, THEN insert them and make the connection.
Mine acted insane when I started the van . Many codes were triggered. RPM was high at 1500, and climbed higher to about 2500rpm when the cruise was turned on. No accellerator. Pressing the brake cause the RPM to plummet and the engine to miss. WTH? The “instructions” had no troubleshooting steps, although some of their other product manuals do.
I called Rostra’s tech support but they were closed over the weekend. :-( Called them back this morning and got through immediately.
The tech immediately said I should cut the black wire that goes from the accelerator to the module, tape off the accel side and ground the end that goes to the module. They sounded confident (“that will fix the issue”) so I must not be the first one to report it. Support was a bit gruff, but quick and to the point so I was happy.
Cut the wires after work and connected the black wire to a ground – it worked immediately.
It’s a good cruise control. I think the instructions should be better, should include troubleshooting info, and if the ground issue with the provided connectors is that common they should consider changing it to a separate ground by default.