Audiovox CCS-100

[odowda]

After working great for 6 yrs, my audiovox cruise control dropped out on me while I was driving home from the Yama dealer after a ticker fix. Always ran perfectly. After about and hour on the road it just stopped working. Got the bike home and pulled the plastic, tested all the leads for both continuity and power, cable moves freely. The red led flashes appropriatly and there is vacuum in the lines, but when driving and I turn it on and hit "set" from the hand control it momentarily surges, then dies. I can turn it off, then back on and it repeats the scenerio again. Is there some sort of maintenance item I am overlooking, i.e. lubing the selenoid valves or vacuum piston? I would appreciate anyones thoughts on the issue. Nice lady at Audiovox said because it was a discontinued item I could mail it in with $39 and they may or may not try to fix it. She said there was no way to talk to a Tech. Is there anyone out the that has a used functioning unit they would like to sell. Could go with a new on from Murphy's Kits, but they are currently out of stock and the whole kit (which I do not need) goes for $180 & S/H.

TIA, odowda

 

[ionbeam]

First suspect a sticking brake pedal. Hook your toe under the pedal and lift, then try to set the cruise. If the cruise sets, the brake pedal is sticking. Simply lube the pivot which requires some significant hardware removal. Look at the voltage on the brake system first, that is most likely where you will find the problem, especially because of a sticking brake pedal.

Also, if there is too much play in the throttle cable the cruise servo will try to take up slack until it senses that the attempt to set the cruise resulted in no response from the engine then it shuts off. Definitely check the slack in the throttle cable and the servo bead chain.

If that doesn't fix the cruise I have troubleshot some systems that had sticking solenoids in the servo unit. Most people will be in a system replacement situation if that is the root cause. I can fix a servo with bad solenoids but it is beyond most casual users.

 

[garyahouse]

I've got a Gen 1 as well. On my bike, the front brake switch was sticking. So the problem can happen on front OR rear.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[kaitsdad]

First suspect a sticking brake pedal. Hook your toe under the pedal and lift, then try to set the cruise. If the cruise sets, the brake pedal is sticking. Simply lube the pivot which requires some significant hardware removal. Look at the voltage on the brake system first, that is most likely where you will find the problem, especially because of a sticking brake pedal.
Also, if there is too much play in the throttle cable the cruise servo will try to take up slack until it senses that the attempt to set the cruise resulted in no response from the engine then it shuts off. Definitely check the slack in the throttle cable and the servo bead chain.

If that doesn't fix the cruise I have troubleshot some systems that had sticking solenoids in the servo unit. Most people will be in a system replacement situation if that is the root cause. I can fix a servo with bad solenoids but it is beyond most casual users.

As you just had a ticker fix, it would make sense to check the chain length/cable play. It may not have been properly reinstalled. Secondarily would be the sticking brake switch rear/front.

I've replaced three failures (three different bikes) and they were all sticking solenoids in the unit itself. However - they did not even attempt to set. Your symptoms suggest Ionbeam's focus as the way to go.

 

[JR'SFJR]

A couple of weeks ago, mine went from lazy apply to nothing. All the servo red led light switch and ignition signal tests passed. Good engine vacuum and held with engine off. I opened the servo and applied vacuum with my mityvac to the diaphragm with the engine running to make sure the cable was free and the engine idle did increase quickly. I separated the 3 vacuum solenoids from the circuit board, being careful to not drop the three o-rings. Each coil tested at approx. 45 ohms. Then jumped each solenoid coil with 12 volts to check each solenoid plunger movement. Each appeared to move ok, but sounded different, so I put a drop of WD 40 down each plunger hole. Fixed.

 

[ionbeam]

[Pre-Edit -- FU Photobucket, to view the photos you will need to install one of these addons Firefox fix Chrome fix ]

Ding, ding, ding -- Good troubleshooting!!!

..All the servo red led light switch and ignition signal tests passed. Good engine vacuum and held with engine off. I opened the servo and applied vacuum with my mityvac to the diaphragm with the engine running to make sure the cable was free and the engine idle did increase quickly. I separated the 3 vacuum solenoids from the circuit board, being careful to not drop the three o-rings. Each coil tested at approx. 45 ohms. Then jumped each solenoid coil with 12 volts to check each solenoid plunger movement. Each appeared to move ok, but sounded different, so I put a drop of WD 40 down each plunger hole. Fixed.

When I take the solenoids apart what I usually find is that the plunger is slightly cocked in the bore. I put a small bit of vacuum grease on the red vacuum seal on the plunger and put it back together. The stroke of the piston is really too long for the support of the bore to keep it true and in line. I would suspect that a sharp rap (only on the black or white plastic, never, ever, ever, never on the yellow coil) would also free a sticking plunger, but that would only be a temporary band aid, very lightly lubing the piston should be a near permanent fix. Trotting out a well used photo:

Newer cruise controls don't seem to have the DUMP solenoid. On the plastic strip at the top of the yellow solenoid windings you can see the ends of metal tabs. Holding the solenoid bank like shown, the individual solenoids will pull/slide off straight forward giving you access to da guts. If you are brave ;-) I mean, what the heck, it's already dead. In the few servos I have looked at it has been the main vacuum solenoid that sticks.

 

[Harald]

Althought it sounds like a loose cable/chain based on your situation, I'll second checking your brake input for ANY voltage when brakes are not applied. My AVCC install worked fine for years and then suddenly started having problems engaging. I only found a fraction of a volt on the brake line, but that was enough to kill it. After installing a relay, it's been working fine.

 

[BrunDog]

+1 on sticking vacuum solenoid. I searched for this thread after troubleshooting my own... as usual on this forum, I am not alone.

I have been a bad boy and basically let my bike sit idle for a long time. I took it out the other day and had a great ride, but found out that the cruise was not working.

Took the unit out of the tray and checked all the electrical signals - perfect. Checked the operation via the diagnostic LED - perfect. Lifted the tank and checked my vacuum lines, check valves, tees, etc. - perfect. Checked the cable connection to make sure everything was working as intended. - perfect.

So, I figured the unit was toast, and there was no worry breaking it open... the electronics looked fine, as did solenoids. Since there was no regulator on the circuit board, I figured they were 12V. I used my powerlet wired to my battery for a quick and easy 12V. Testing the three solenoids, I found out that the middle one was not opening. After cycling power on & off of it a few times, it broke free and started working. Light reassemble, and it was functioning as it used to again.

SO, this is clearly a problem with this unit. I will lubricate everything lightly, and hope to buy time with it. It might be worth other owners to get a couple drops of lube down into the vacuum port to reduce/eliminate this issue. Good luck!

-BD

 

[Northwoods Snowman]

I had the exact same symptoms a while back where it would try and set and then not hold. Dug into it and the brown (i believe) wire in the plug for the controller had half pulled out of the plastic plug housing. Couldn't see it by just looking but once I secured the wire back in place normal operation resumed.