Aguyinkcmo

I recently purchased a 97 Maxima GXE with 167,000 mi on the 3.0 V6 with a 5 speed manual transmission. The car is awesome and everything works as it should for the most part except the cruise control and its driving me crazy. I have read tons of posts online to find an answer to my cruise malfunction and there are a good number of posts out there from folks with almost the same cruise issue and countless replies of "I'm having the same exact problem with my Maxima" but not one actual solution nor another one with the same symptoms as mine..Just post after post of people writing that they have the same issue but no one has the solution. This makes the frustration worse.

Here is where my cruise control issue differs from ANY I have seen out there:
When you push the button on the dash to turn on the CC, the button lights up solid green. When you push the SET button on the steering wheel control to set your desired speed, the CRUISE light inside the gauge cluster under the fuel gauge lights up solid green to indicate the cruise control is set... but it isn't. Take your foot off the gas and the car slows down (as if the cruise had never been set at all) even though both lights stay on solid green indicating the system is on, desired speed set and everything's working properly..
There is a click sound that happens the same time the CRUISE lights up when you push the SET button. It seems to come from the area near the CRUISE light on the dash but I'm not positive.
I have tried to set the cruise with the same results at speeds ranging from 40 mph all the way up to 90 mph...the lights stay on but nothing happens. The CRUISE light does go off if the speed falls below 35 or either the brake or clutch is pressed.
I have tried every combination of button pressing on the steering wheel controls to actually engage the cruise but nothing has worked. I checked the switches on both the brake and clutch pedal and they're fine. I looked under the hood and there are no disconnected wires or hoses that I can find. I hooked up the OBD scanner and there are no error codes. .

Has anyone else had this issue and found the SOLUTION? .
Thanks for reading my long a$$ post. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

sdunker

On the brake pedal where the pedal contacts the cruise switch, there should be a rubber spacer. Check there.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

If your car is manual trans, there is also a switch on the clutch pedal.

Go under the hood and look at the vacuum hose that runs from the ASCD actuator in the center of the firewall to the ASCD pump unit behind the strut tower. Make sure that the hose is soft and flexible and doesn't have any cracks in it, especially at the ends.

Cruise control will not throw OBD codes.

Ramosnumber1

I'm having the exact same issue as OP and want to begin troubleshooting it. Why would a problem with a rubber spacer under the brake pedal result in cruise control not actually engaging?

Ramosnumber1

I might also add mine is an automatic 97 Maxima SE.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

The cruise control is designed to be turned off if you step on the brake pedal. This is so the cruise control will not try to keep the car's speed steady when you are trying to stop. To get the cruise control to turn off, there is an electric switch that that is operated by the brake pedal. The brake pedal has a plastic spacer on it that touches the switch and this plastic spacer dries up, breaks apart and falls off. No plastic piece is the same as stepping on the brake pedal. There is a second plastic spacer on the brake pedal that operated the brake light switch. If this one falls out, the brake lights will be on all the time.

Double check/replace the vacuum lines under the hood for the cruise control. They may be old and brittle with cracks the prevent the cruise control from working.

ShogunTX

iTrader: (2)

I wonder if the previous owner fiddled with the throttle wire position for cruise control, like it has too much slack.