86 LeSabre cruise control wires

[homncruse]

http://yaganet.org/aaronb/cc.jpg

Notice the cut wire. I was curious if this is possible to fix, or if I'd have to get a new .. "stick" entirely (sorry for my lack of appropriate car terms). If I would require a new one, about how much do they cost, and are they available outside of a junk yard?

[buickmastermind]

Tried going to your link, but can't get there. You can fix the Cruise Control Switch if the wires are broken @ the steering column. Or, go to Radio Shack, and make a switch for it yourself. New they cost $70-$120, and from a salvage yard $25-$35.

[homncruse]

Originally Posted by buickmastermind

Tried going to your link, but can't get there. You can fix the Cruise Control Switch if the wires are broken @ the steering column. Or, go to Radio Shack, and make a switch for it yourself. New they cost $70-$120, and from a salvage yard $25-$35.

The wires are cut at the other end of the switch, near the end of the switch itself, not at the steering column. Is it still possible to rig something up or would I be better off picking up a new/salvaged one?

Sorry for the late reply, but the email address connected to this account has been down for a long time, and it recently was reactivated and I got the notification :P

[avatar307]

If you can get it out, just solder the two like colored pieces back together and cover it with heat shrink. If it's really close to the switch, you could just solder the wire right to the switch where it's supposed to go.

That is, if you can get the switch out of the control level so you can access it. I assume as you were able to take a pic of the cut wire, you can get to the two ends. If you can take a pic, you should be able to reconnect them. It just might take a little extra disassembly to get adaquate access to get to them.

If the switch is broken though, then you'll have to get a new switch. Or if you want to make it a good deal easier, find one at a junk yard. Then you just have to unplug the connector, route the wires in your car, snap everything back into place.

[buickmastermind]

If you can't use the existing one, seeing as how its a pain to change them, it is way, way easier to make your own.

[homncruse]

The wire has been cut almost CLEANLY off the switch area, but the switch itself remains intact. It almost looks deliberate. Whoever owned this car before me apparently hated cruise control *THAT* much.

Is it supposed to only be one wire? Would I be able to just solder some copper wiring to the clean-cut area and connect it to the other side? That would be pretty easy if it were only one wire, but if there are two or more, then I think I'll have to get a new assembly because I wouldn't be able to tell where one wire begins and the other ends since it's cut so close to the switch.

[buickmastermind]

Take the switch off the steering column to make the job easier. You can pop the end off the switch, but it is glued on rather well, and will be mutilated when your fininshed. There are four color coded wires. Red, blue, yellow, and green. You can take some wire that is the same size, solder short peices on the wires in the switch, and then solder them to the other end sticking out of the steering column. That is, if you can actually get at the wires in the switch without breaking them.
If you can't get at the wires in the switch, you can make your own. Heck, if you wanted to, you could mount it anywhere in the car, provided that you have enough wire. It is at most $10 to make your own, as opposed to pulling apart the entire steering column on yours to put a new one in, and pulling apart one in a junkyard to get one used.