I just bought a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse with 58k miles. After I bought it and got it on the freeway, I kicked myself becuase I realize I hadn’t tested the cruise control when taking it for a test drive. Lo and behold, the cruise control, though the light comes on, doesn’t work. Any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated. -John
It would be easier for us to make suggestions if you reported that a functioning cruise control suddenly quit. As it stands now, we don’t even know if all components are still present. Maybe something was disconnected or removed a year ago. Or a previous owner put in a wrong brake switch. Right now, your only hope is to have someone troubleshoot the system from scratch.
Check your brake lights, a burned out third brake light disabled the cruise control on one of my cars.
Ed B.
Excellent call! The center break light is out so I’m sure that must be it. I’m assuming all I have to do is replace the bulb? Also, how do I get to the bulb? Do I need to remove the panel on the inside of the hatch or can i just pop out the outer lense? Thanks in advance for your help.
Well, I changed the bulb and the break light is now working. However, I’m still having the issue with cruise control. Hmmmmmm…?
Have you checked that the brake lights go out? A stuck brake light switch will cause this. Also, if this is a manual transmission, some cars will disengage the cruise control when the clutch is engaged, so a faulty or misadjusted clutch switch could cause this too. To check that, you can try putting it and neutral and starting it without putting the clutch in. It shouldn’t start and if it does, the clutch switch would be a pretty good bet.
Also, have you actually read the part of the owner’s manual that covers the cruise control? Different manufacturers have different procedures for getting the cruise control to work. For example, I went nuts trying to get the cruise control to work on my old Honda before I noticed the little switch on the dash you have to push!