Torque Converter clutch won't stay locked up

Two years. TWO YEARS !! And today I find the problem, and it wasn't
what I thought. Two years ago I hooked up a trailer brake actuator,
which required tapping into the cold side of the brake light switch
wiring at the pedal. I had a bad ground on the actuator, and it buzzed
and protested. I found a better ground and it has worked fine ever
since. But ever since, my cruise stopped working. I figured the switch
also sent 12 volts to the cruise module to let it know the brakes were
applied. I also assumed my bad ground on the trailer brake actuator may
have caused a loop and fed some voltage back and blew the cruise unit.
But...it shouldn't have, since that's what happens when you apply the
brakes.. Anyway, it didn't work any more.

Since this is the first nice day we have had in a while, I got under
the hood for regular maintenance, and decided to check all the vacuum
hoses, etc. One I never noticed went from the cruise control diaphram
through the firewall. Hmmmm. I followed it to a button switch
(actually a valve) located above the brake pedal arm, and above a
plastic plate mounted to the brake pedal arm. It seems the valve is
mounted in a threaded tube that goes though a slip nut. I must have
accidentally pushed on the plastic plate when wiring the trailer brake
actuator, and thus pushed the tube back through the slip nut far enough
to not allow the plate to close the button valve when the brake was
released. I applied the brakes, slid the tube down all the way,
released the brake to allow it to reset the valve position and
---------cruise working like new. Duh TWO YEARS ! And even the Ford
mechanic couldn't tell me what was wrong and wanted to replace the
electonics. Sheeesh.

You went exactly where I thought you would. Glad you got it fixed.

"Craig" > wrote in message
oups.com...
| Two years. TWO YEARS !! And today I find the problem, and it wasn't
| what I thought. Two years ago I hooked up a trailer brake actuator,
| which required tapping into the cold side of the brake light switch
| wiring at the pedal. I had a bad ground on the actuator, and it buzzed
| and protested. I found a better ground and it has worked fine ever
| since. But ever since, my cruise stopped working. I figured the switch
| also sent 12 volts to the cruise module to let it know the brakes were
| applied. I also assumed my bad ground on the trailer brake actuator may
| have caused a loop and fed some voltage back and blew the cruise unit.
| But...it shouldn't have, since that's what happens when you apply the
| brakes.. Anyway, it didn't work any more.
|
| Since this is the first nice day we have had in a while, I got under
| the hood for regular maintenance, and decided to check all the vacuum
| hoses, etc. One I never noticed went from the cruise control diaphram
| through the firewall. Hmmmm. I followed it to a button switch
| (actually a valve) located above the brake pedal arm, and above a
| plastic plate mounted to the brake pedal arm. It seems the valve is
| mounted in a threaded tube that goes though a slip nut. I must have
| accidentally pushed on the plastic plate when wiring the trailer brake
| actuator, and thus pushed the tube back through the slip nut far enough
| to not allow the plate to close the button valve when the brake was
| released. I applied the brakes, slid the tube down all the way,
| released the brake to allow it to reset the valve position and
| ---------cruise working like new. Duh TWO YEARS ! And even the Ford
| mechanic couldn't tell me what was wrong and wanted to replace the
| electonics. Sheeesh.
|