Wiring in Cav Mk3 Cruise Control - Discussion Thread.

[Robsey]

Problematic is not the correct phrase.

Spent two hours today trying to get the cruise to engage.
Nothing. Checked all my wiring over and over. Still nothing.

Getting close to launching my rattle out of the pram.

So going to leave it alone for a day or two, and then check the voltage outputs at each module wire as per Squigs guidance notes.

If it still refuses to work,then it is either a faulty module or an unsuitable speed pulse signal.
Tried linking at the SDVC/ pin 5 of the radio,
And also at the fuel computer.
Still nothing.
I could try tapping into the transducer on the gearbox as this is the same wire as the blue / red on the back of my instrument cluster.

[Robsey]

I have finally got the cruise control to work. (A more in depth post than my WIP thread)

I had checked my wiring, and found that my black / yellows were wired the wrong way round.
Frustrating as I had checked the wires a few weeks ago when making up the loom.

Anyway swapped them about and went for a drive... still nothing.
I dipped the clutch on the motorway whilst pressing the 'I' button on the stalk.
Suddenly the engine revs shot up and my cruise light lit up.
Quickly released the clutch pedal to kill the cruise and prevent the revs getting too high.

A-ha - I had wired my clutch pedal the wrong way round (on a 4 pin brake switch).
Swapped to the other pins (switch is closed when pedal released),
And went back on the motorway back towards home.

Hey presto - all working spot on.
Amazingly, it seems to work as low as 12mph all the way up to normal motorway speed.

There is a forum phrase.
"No pictures means it never happened."
Here is the proof, taken as I was testing the car at the entrance of the motorway.
Note - even the cruise light works!!

[Kevster]

Rob,

Glad to read you got it fitted and all is well, now!

Do you have any pictures of the unit in situ?

I still haven't found a loom or a car to get a loom from, so no further with mine.

I'll have to talk to the guy who programmed my Fuel/trip computer to see if the module/actuator has to be connected to the car to alter the programming too.

[Robsey]

Rob,

Do you have any pictures of the unit in situ?

Yep it is on the previous page - just not bracketed in place.

I still haven't found a loom or a car to get a loom from, so no further with mine.

I made my own loom. The only connectors you need are: -
1 - the 10 pin ALDL plug from any fuel injected Nova, early Frontera, Astra mk2 / Belmont, Cavalier mk3.
or the cruise connector for a 1995 to 1998 petrol Vectra B or early petrol Omega.

(Diesels are fly by wire and control is integral with the engine ECU.)

2 - the little 4 pin connector for the cruise control stalk.

3 - EOBD2 connector from any 1996 onward Vauxhall if you wish to do any programming.

Everything else can be connected up using standard female 6.3mm Lucar (spade) connectors.

Parts wise, you will need
1 - Cruise module and cable.
2 - Cruise stalk
4 - 4 pin brake switch.
And some wire to suit.

I'll have to talk to the guy who programmed my Fuel/trip computer to see if the module/actuator has to be connected to the car to alter the programming too.

Nope it does not have to be on the car.
- assuming you are talking OpCom / VauxCom / Tech 2, then all you need is to have the following connections

Module -
ignition live supply (pin E)
Ground ( pin F)
Diagnostic wire running from pin H to the diagnostic plug.

Diagnostic plug - (EOBD 16 pin plug)
Permanent live to pin 16
Ground to pins 4 and 5
Diagnostic wire to pin 7.

[Kevster]

Rob,

Do you have any pictures of the unit in situ?

Yep it is on the previous page - just not bracketed in place.

I still haven't found a loom or a car to get a loom from, so no further with mine.

I made my own loom. The only connectors you need are: -

2 - the little 4 pin connector for the cruise control stalk.

.

Appologies Rob, I haven't had notifications for a while on this thread (don't know why), then i get one and it takes me to page 3, so I hadn't seen page 2 at all!!!

As for the loom, I have all materials then, except the connector (male) that goes from cruise loom to cruise control stalk fly lead (female)

[Kevster]

Now then my friends, because I like taking a hit for the team, I decided to look at what the brake switch is like on my car.

Not the most comfortable task to twist your head and shoulders under the dash.

Anyway I discovered that on my 1994 LSi spec car, that I had 3 wires.
A - Black - Ignition live feed from fuse 7
B - Black/Yellow - switched live to brake lights.
C - Black/Green - switched live to 4 wheel drive and auto-box. Which is odd as I have neither on my car.

In appearance, it is identical to the standard Vectra-B, Omega-B etc four pin brake light switch.

[ Image ]

And here is the schematic for the Cavalier switch.
S8 is the standard 2 wire brake pedal switch.
S116 is the 4 pin (3 wire) brake pedal switch.

[ Image ]

Further observations revealed that when the brake pedal is pressed, the switch plunger is allowed to extend.

BUT

Due to the pivot position on the clutch pedal, the switch plunger is pressed when the clutch pedal is pressed.

On the Cavalier, as the performance Vauxhall article reports (and Squig's How 2), a standard Vauxhall brake light switch will fit into the slotted hole in the clutch pedal bracket.
A standard twist-in bayonet fitting.

The white clutch switch used on Omegas as shown in the article and my earlier photos will NOT fit the Cavalier clutch pedal.

Looked at my brake switch, it appears (without testing) to have the same wires/colours!

and yes what fun is that getting to it!!!

[Robsey]

Indeed, sprawled on your back reaching close up behind the dash trim.
Not much space to twist and withdraw the switch.

Not easy when you are 6ft tall, a little over weight and in your fifties - ha ha.

Regarding the switches.

BRAKE SWITCH.
Keep the existing brake switch where it is, and join your black / yellow trigger wire to the same pin in the switch socket already fitted with a black / yellow wire.

CLUTCH SWITCH.
Use a four pin Cavalier / Vectra brake switch for the clutch pedal switch. It fits perfectly in the socket in the clutch pedal housing.

Fit a black ignition live wire to one pin.
And
A black / blue clutch pedal switched wire to the opposite pin.

If at the test stage the cruise does not work,
Use the "other two" pins that are opposite to each other.
One pair will close the circuit when the pedal is released.
The other pair will open the circuit when the pedal is released.

I can dig in my footwell tomorrow if you need me to identify which two pins mine works on.

Note to self - vacuum the floor or fit a clean mat before burying your head in the footwell.
Chuff knows what crud I ended up with stuck in my hair and tee-shirt when I had finished.

[Kevster]

Indeed, sprawled on your back reaching close up behind the dash trim.
Not much space to twist and withdraw the switch.

Not easy when you are 6ft tall, a little over weight and in your fifties - ha ha.

///

I can dig in my footwell tomorrow if you need me to identify which two pins mine works on.

Note to self - vacuum the floor or fit a clean mat before burying your head in the footwell.
Chuff knows what crud I ended up with stuck in my hair and tee-shirt when I had finished.

Thanks for you continued help, there is no painic with indentifiy those pins, but it would be handy in time.

I ended up with almost carpet burn on my shoulder! Luckily the Calibra is quite tidy, due to roll over 56k in the next few weeks - only does up to 2k per year.

[Robsey]

Very low mileage.
My work horse stands at 265,800 miles at the moment.

[Kevster]

Wow!

this is my brake switch

[Kevster]

and the location for the clutch switch, does this look the same as yours? Looks like hlaf a sqaure whole hole rather than a full square like the brake switch appears to be in?

[Kevster]

Following the part numbers from either the Vectra B 90245780, or the Astra G/Zafira A 90508804, on ecat24 it takes me to these on eBay they appear the same square profile as the exisiting brake switch I have rather than the brake switch you used for the clutch (it has a radius profile on part of it)

Importantly they look the same in the 'twist in' fitment... used parts albeit from another GM car

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Saab-9-5-9-5 ... 1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAAB-9-3-2-2 ... 1438.l2649

[Robsey]

Saab and Vauxhall share a lot of parts so as long as they have a twist in bayonet fitting, they will work.

Here is where the mounting hole is on the clutch pedal mounting frame.



Much higher up behind the dash than your picture shows.

As for the wiring format.

The two pins are those above and below the "T" shaped plastic post.

So pins are.
BLACK
T
BLACK / BLUE.

The pins either side are not required.

[Kevster]

Well I've had another really good look, head completely under with seat folded right back and my feet round the head rest!

Looked with phone camera, torch, mirror and a enderscope with light that plugs in my phone.

I just can't see anything like that you have above the pivot/spring.

There is a large slot (front to back long ways) in the bracket above the pivot and there is a cresent shaped plastic guide where the cable sits and curves round in a vee round to where the end is held.

The only bracket that is spot welded on and bridges at 90deg across (side to side) the main bracket is the one in my previous photos with a half open rectangular slot.

This only slot I have is pretty much same place where the brake switch in the brake pedal sits, hence I thought that was it and where I was looking first of all.

So nothing above and I can't see how it would work against a rotating curve of plastic that's vee'd and has the cable in......


Ecat24 doesn't give me enough detail, I can see the long slot in the bracket I have but it also shows a clutch cable which connets by a right angled hook which I don't have!

First picture shows the clutch pedal and end of cable pretty much looking forward toward engine bay and up.

The second picture shows taken looking up but directly looking down in the mirror on top of above the clutch pivot spring.
I can see the top of this curved plastic guide. I cannot see the top of the pivot spring like in your picture.

[Robsey]

If yours is a rectangular hole, I wonder if you require the Onega clutch switch instead.
It is white with a rectangular neck on it.
Look in my How 2, and you will see what I mean.

[Kevster]

I know the one you mean, the white one on your picture in the how to.

The retangular slot I have is open along one long side (the top) so it wouldn't stay in when you look how it shpuld clip in, it's a long U cut out if you like.

[Robsey]

All I can suggest then is that you ignore the clutch pedal switch.
Just wire the black / blue connection so that it allows the cruise to be engaged.
You still have the brake pedal switch and the stalk switch available to disengage the cruise function.

Your pictures look like you are trying to look behind the pedal almost.
That rectangular cut out looks merely like the pedal return spring guide.

In reality, my clutch switch is in a similar position to the switch of the brake pedal.
I would have thought that a Calibra pedal assembly would be the same as the Cavalier pedal assembly.
But I must confess, that I have never been inside a Calibra, and nothing about Vauxhall would surprise me.

[Kevster]

It just seems odd to me, but I was speaking to a guy at the VBOA who is gathering information for a book on the Calibra, he says under the facelift of the later cars there is so much they changed compared to the early ones. Mines one of the last, I assume your Cavalier is a facelift?

No the pictures are of the front/side of the pedal, the yellow arrow is pointing towards the bulkhead. As shown by the steering column going through it.

The cable exits 180 deg opposite to the half slot.



As we said it's akward to get to, the only way I could go higher was to look on top of the pedal main bracket.

The spring loaded part of the brake pedal switch that touches the pedal lever points mainly towards the front of the car, slightly down.

But yes it doesn't have to have the clutch switch to make it work!

From reading elsewhere it's best to buy several of the actuator units because they are known to fail or may not even work

[Kevster]

Here's a picture from a V6 Cavalier, looks like yours does, note you can also see the steering column. Confirms our thoughts of differences!!!



Pinched photo from here, this guy's done a few things to his V6

https://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk ... 287/page-5

[Robsey]

A very good useful photo to show the "standard" layout.

This is indeed like mine - but a lot cleaner

Hopefully, despite the differences, it shouldn't be too dificult to get it all fitted and working in your Calibra.

[Robsey]

From reading elsewhere it's best to buy several of the actuator units because they are known to fail or may not even work

I only bought one Vectra-B unit from a 1995 2 litre petrol car.
Maybe I am just lucky, as it works perfectly fine.

I am wondering if others have had incorrect wiring, as it can take a lot of head scratching if just one wire is wrong or you use the wrong pins from a brake or clutch pedal switch.

I am sure the "unreliable" units were those of the earlier cars, such as the Carltons and Senators.

[Kevster]

I think you might be correct with the unreliable units!

I had the Calibra 1995 V6 wiring loom out and found the 10 way plug, and can see that where it's not fully wired it can be made so with pins from another 5 pin plug, also on the loom, but the wires are not the correct colours.

Might be able to pull out the correct colours from the loom to join on....

Sadly I can't see any male plug to suit the 4 pin female plug on the mini loom from the cruise control stalk. Although I could I'd prefer not to cut and join here, so I will try a scrap yard or two.

[Robsey]

With regard to the 10 pin plug,
Most people will only use 7 or 8 wires.

Most people do not bother with the dash warning light, due to almost all threads historically saying that the light cannot be made to work.

And everybody ignores the diagnostic wire. Purely because it is felt that if the unit does not work, "it must be faulty" or it is for the "wrong engine type".
The biggest reason is also that most threads pre-date the introduction of VauxCom / OpCom so until then it was a dealer only job to reprogram.

For the 4 pin plug, I am sure that in my early days of fitting cruise stalk controlled radio controls, I modified an ISO connector block as used on the main plug at the back of the radio.
That is - cut the ISO in half as you only need 4 pins, and then dremmel / file / linnish the plastic block to the desired dimensions.

Worked well for me. Especially as I kept the block size quite snug and tight.

There are probably not many Vectra-Bs and Omega-Bs left in scrap yards now, hence why I made my own.
Pretty hard to find any in yards near me these days.

[Robsey]

I forgot to add, that on my C20NE, I had to modify the cable guide on the plenum (inlet manifold body).

Just found these images on a really early facecloth thread.

My original bracket.



The Omega bracket modified to suit.



The modified bracket fitted.


And all connected up.


Squig had to do similar on his V6 install.
I think it is only the X20XEV mounted guides that do not need modification.

[Robsey]

This isn't really part of the How 2, but it is a final tweak to the aesthetics of my set up.

I did not like the appearance of my cruise module carrier straps when I first fitted them in early July 2019.
They were fitted as a get-you-by thing ready for Vauxfest '19.
Definitely function over form.



Yesterday I removed the straps, and brought them indoors...




At silly o'clock this morning, I fitted heat shrink sleeving to make them look tidier.





And then tonight, I refitted it all again.



A small job, but worth it for the "o.c.d." within me.