Ive never used cruise control before (on my 83). Tried it today and i got it to maintain speed, but what do i do if i want to increase the speed? I thought you do that by pressing that circular button but when i do, the gas goes away. I tried it once before and i could have sworn when you press that that it increases by 5mph or something...maybe its broken.

<clearing the cobwebs from my brain before I answer :lol: >
First off congratulations on having a cruise control system that old that is still operable after 26 years. Many of my older GMs never worked. :crying:
Does the unit on the stalk have a small lever that you can slide? If so, is there any wording like "accel" on the unit by that lever? If so, that is how you increase speed. IIRC pushing the button engages the CC and pushing it a second time disengages the unit. Sometimes any wording on the little unit on the stalk is worn off over time so you might have to really look. I believe those CC units were basically the same through most of the '80s

<clearing the cobwebs from my brain before I answer :lol: >
First off congratulations on having a cruise control system that old that is still operable after 26 years. Many of my older GMs never worked. :crying:
Does the unit on the stalk have a small lever that you can slide? If so, is there any wording like "accel" on the unit by that lever? If so, that is how you increase speed. IIRC pushing the button engages the CC and pushing it a second time disengages the unit. Sometimes any wording on the little unit on the stalk is worn off over time so you might have to really look. I believe those CC units were basically the same through most of the '80s

Yeah the words are worn off and it does have that little slide button. Seriously, i'm probably the first one to ever use the cruise control in over 15 years on this car at least. So maybe thats why its still working.

I went out again and tried it. I think i was just getting impatient and i kept pressing teh accelerate button not giving it a chance to do anything. When i press it theres a delay where it takes away the gas for a sec and then it goes back on and accelerates. Kind of wierd but it works and i won't be using it that often anyway.

....I forgot i actually have the original drivers manual, didn't think think about that earlier but i shoulda checked that.

Belive it or not, mine still works too :O

Yeah the words are worn off and it does have that little slide button. Seriously, i'm probably the first one to ever use the cruise control in over 15 years on this car at least. So maybe thats why its still working.

I went out again and tried it. I think i was just getting impatient and i kept pressing teh accelerate button not giving it a chance to do anything. When i press it theres a delay where it takes away the gas for a sec and then it goes back on and accelerates. Kind of wierd but it works and i won't be using it that often anyway.

....I forgot i actually have the original drivers manual, didn't think think about that earlier but i shoulda checked that.
Yeah, I do remember they were a little slow to react when you pushed the button back then. Also given the age of the system, it's probably a little slower too, like us humans as we get older :lol:
I remember when I bought my 1976 Monte Carlo back in 1986 and I took it out on the highway for the first time. I hit the cruise button, and after a few attempts it started to work. The all of a sudden the car started to go faster in 5 mph increments. I shut it off nad tried again with the same results. Come to find out there was a vacuum problem of some sort and would cause the system to increase speed. I can imagine trying to explain that to a cop.:uhoh:

yeah im pretty sure the button on the end is a coast button. does your lever have the wiper controls on it too?? i had an 86 silverado with the 4.3L v6 4bbl carb and the cruise worked, my car doesn't have cruise and the wiper controls are on the dash... lol 2 speed wipers ftw!

When I bought my '06 Uplander I knew it had cruise, but when I looked fore it in the usual spot it wasn't there. They moved it to the right side of the steering column at the 5 o'clock position on a stalk. It's a little different shape, more of a flattened end rather than round, and it has a piece that pushes in similar to the old style to engage it. It took a long time for me to get used to it in it's new location, as everytime I wanted to use it I was turning on the wipers, or hitting the high beams which is in the same location as the older cruise levers.

Found my original owners manual. Learned some stuff i didn't know before!

http://i42.tinypic.com/sct3cj.jpg