cruise control light does not come on and cruise control is not working -
is it safe to drive the car - mercury sable, 97 model, automatic?
since this is an older car with many miles, I don’t want to invest unnecessary money -
I can live without that feature - or do I need to have a mechanic look at it?
Yes…Safe to drive with no cruise function.
Step one…check fuses.
Step two…Check for burned out tail lights.
Tester
Step three … Check to see if the brake lights are on when they should not be.
thanks for everyone’s comments, suggestions-
backlights did not come on, brake lights worked, i checked the fuse box, checked car manual, backlights and cruise control are on the same fuse, fuse was burnt thru, replaced it - cruise control works again= thanks - you saved me a trip to the mechanic and money.
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It’s nice you found the blown fuse. It might not blow again; but, if it does, look for a bare wire somewhere in those circuits common to each other. Especially, check the wiring that goes to the backup lights.
just returned driving the car, while driving turned the a/c on, now the a/c is not working- worked fine before the trouble with the fuse for the cruise control/ back lights started - is there any connection??? is the car shutting down?
Hmm, multiple organ failure? I had a car that did that once. I suppose you could have messed up an AC fuse while you were messing around.
Was the AC working right before you had the cruise fail and fix, or has it been a few weeks since you used it? How many miles are on this '97? Has it ever had any AC work? What do you mean by “not working”, does the fan blow, but no cold? Does this Sable have knobs to control the AC, or do you have the fancy-pants automatic controls? Does the heat respond to the controls, changing air temp from warm to hot? Check to see if the AC compressor clutch pulls in when you turn it to AC or defrost.
That ought to be enough to keep you busy for a while. Report back and maybe someone that knows something will have some ideas.
I went back to the car manual to see on which fuse the a/c is- turns out back-up lights, cruise control, climate control are all on the same fuse- the car will be dropped off at the garage for diagnosis-thanks for all the responses
Diagnosis from the mechanic: bad manual level position sensor, part cost about $100
I know this is an old post… but I have a 2002 Sable, all back/beak lights work, fuses seem to all be ok. Is there something else I should be looking for, that might be an easy fix?
Do you have the same problem @Cord_Coslor , cc doesn’t work? Is the check engine light on? Any other warning lights on the dashboard lit?
yes, cruise control just suddenly stopped working. No warning lights, etc. I’ve checked break lights, reverse lights, horn, fuses, etc.
It sounds like you’ve done the obvious things. Sometime the cause of cc problems is another system (like abs) isn’t working, but w/no warning lights, that’s not likely. You’ll get better help here if you post your problem in a new thread. Click “maintenance/repairs” above left, then “new topic”, above right.