Faulty cruise control

Th Cruise Control on my '02 Honda CRV wil just shut down for seemingly no reason. The issue started the first winter I owned it.It seemed that if the heater was directed at the floor, after a while (an hour or more) the cruise would surge then crash then surge again, ect. until it would shut down. I would then have to repower it and then it would run a while longer. Over the last two years it has gotten to the point that it may only work for a few minutes and shut down. There also seems to be a problem with the transmission as it (or something) shudders as if it needs to downshift but it doesn’t. The mechanics “think” the tranny is going bad but I don’t want to throw a $4000.00 tranny at it an in case it is bad.

I think, in my very limited knowledge of the matter, that the computer is failing.