Cruise Control - Turbo vs non-Turbo

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:24 pm

I have a 1990 Wagon LS. The cruise control stopped working. I checked all the linkage and found nothing out of the ordinary. I picked up a cruise control module for $15 thinking it was worth the chance but I failed to check for Turbo. The module is for a non-turbo Legacy and my car is a manual trans turbo. Seller isn't taking it back. (caveat emptor!!) Question: What would happen if I installed this unit? I'm not willing to total my electrical system just yet.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:06 pm

What module are you referring to?

Did you swap to a turbo module when you swapped the turbo engine in before?

ultrasonic · Post by **ultrasonic** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:36 pm

Do you have an auto or manual transmission? What are the symptoms of your cruise control not working?

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:39 am

The part is the MT Cruise Control Unit. (87022AA050) (w/o Turbo) It mounts to the right of the glove box.

The car is a 1990 Legacy LS Turbo Wagon.

The symptoms are: I depress the Cruise button (to the left of the steering column) The button lights up and I still hera a 'click.' Which may be the button itself. When I set the cruise using the small lever on the right side of the column, nothing happens. It will not set. There is no 'click' as I had heard in the past.

Thanks for the discussion guys.

Jeff ----

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:12 am

Sorry. I meant to add that the car is manual trans.
j ----

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:30 am

The part is the MT Cruise Control Unit. (87022AA050) (w/o Turbo) It mounts to the right of the glove box.

The car is a 1990 Legacy LS Turbo Wagon.

The symptoms are: I depress the Cruise button (to the left of the steering column) The button lights up and I still hera a 'click.' Which may be the button itself. When I set the cruise using the small lever on the right side of the column, nothing happens. It will not set. There is no 'click' as I had heard in the past.

Thanks for the discussion guys.

Jeff ----

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:32 am

I assume you swapped the engine... am I right? None of the 1990 Legacies came with turbos, and there were no turbo wagons until 1992, and then only with an auto.

If your car is completely stock, it doesn't have a turbo.

Sorry if you already know what I'm saying...

ultrasonic · Post by **ultrasonic** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:16 am

You've probably lost the little rubber plug on your clutch pedal. It is supposed to make contact with the plunger switch that deactivates the cruise control when you push the clutch pedal in. Get under the dash with a flashlight, look for the switch, and look the little flange that is supposed to push the plunger of the switch. There is supposed to be a rubber or plastic bumper there. It happened to me in my Impreza.

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:46 am

Reply to Thefultonhow:
You know, I alway thought it was a turbo but honestly never verified it one way or another. It is all stock so I defer to your expertise. I've seen the cruise control unit advertised for the '90 model where it specifically states w/o Turbo. I wonder why if the model never came with turbo that it would even be mentioned. So if I install it, it will not cause damage?

Reply to Ultrasonic:
The problem you describe sounds like it would cause the cruise control to not deactivate where as I cannot get it to activate. With your problem did your set/resume lever not work? I will certainly take a look.

Thank you both. I'll follow up with results tomorrow
Jeff ---

thefultonhow · Post by **thefultonhow** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 4:53 am

baseline11 wrote:Reply to Thefultonhow:
You know, I alway thought it was a turbo but honestly never verified it one way or another. It is all stock so I defer to your expertise. I've seen the cruise control unit advertised for the '90 model where it specifically states w/o Turbo. I wonder why if the model never came with turbo that it would even be mentioned. So if I install it, it will not cause damage?

Hah, it's more like the expertise of everyone else on the board who I've learned from. I knew very little about the BC/BF cars besides what I'd seen in mine and the 92 L AWD 5MT in the family before I joined this board.

I'm guessing the cruise control switch said "w/o turbo" because in all the other years for the BC/BF but 1990, there were turbo models offered. These switches are generally interchangable across model years -- so for example, the switches in my 1990 and in the 1992 in my family are probably the same part number.

BTW, another way to tell that your car is N/A (naturally aspirated) is that it's an LS -- the turbo models had specific trim levels (Sport Sedan for the sedan, Touring Wagon for the wagon, and a couple of other special editions in 1994 IIRC). The L, LS, and LSi models were always N/A -- including for the BD/BG Legacies (1995-1999) which didn't have turbo models at all.

ultrasonic · Post by **ultrasonic** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:02 am

baseline11 wrote:
Reply to Ultrasonic:
The problem you describe sounds like it would cause the cruise control to not deactivate where as I cannot get it to activate. With your problem did your set/resume lever not work? I will certainly take a look.

Nope... the safety switch must see the clutch pedal in the fully out position for cruise control to engage. If the pedal position changes then the cruise control brain will disengage. With that little plug missing it's just like the switch is telling the cruise control brain that the clutch pedal is being pushed. I have had it happen on my Impreza, on my friends Outback Sport, and I have seen many instances over on NASIOC of guys asking the exact same question, with the exact same symptoms. Chances are that you are facing the same problem. I could even supply you with the part number of the little plastic plug that fits an Impreza, but the rubber bumper on BC/BF is slightly different.

Of course, you may be facing a different problem that has the same symptoms.

Let us know what you find.

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 1:11 pm

Reply to TheFultonhow:
I checked everywhere and found no indication of turbo. Nice catch! I've been chasing my tail all this time. Now on to the real problem. Appreciate your input.

Reply to UltraSonic:
I'll check the switch and plug this afternoon. My car is about 60 miles away in a commuter lot while I 'enjoy' a Friday at work.

I hope to have a conclusion to this soon. I'll let you know. Thanks again to you guys.

Jeff ---

baseline11 · Post by **baseline11** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:51 am

Reply to UltraSonic: Eureka! That was it. The small plug is missing. I wonder why they engineered the pedal with a hole in it? If they'd made it solid there'd be no need for the plug. It probably has to do with wear and tear. Anyway, I'll get one from the bone yard tomorrow. I'm going to tape over the hole to give it a quick test but I'm fairly certain that's the issue.
Thanks for the discussion and assistance. I'll bet this car will go another 100k!
Thanks,
Jeff --

'90 Legacy Wagon LS - (248K on 1 clutch)

ultrasonic · Post by **ultrasonic** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:55 am

baseline11 wrote:Reply to UltraSonic: Eureka! That was it.

No problem... that's one of the great benefits of legacycentral, people have experience recognizing most of the common failure modes.

Have a good weekend.

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Cruise Control - Turbo vs non-Turbo

Cruise Control - Turbo vs non-Turbo