2003 Pontiac Vibe, Rostra Cruise Control

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Cruise Controls
Forum Discription: Cruise Control Settings, Tach Signal, VSS PPM(Vehicle Speed Signal Pulses Per Mile), Vacuum, Brake, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=43318
Printed Date: May 11, 2025 at 8:19 PM

Topic: 2003 Pontiac Vibe, Rostra Cruise Control

Posted By: greggagnon
Subject: 2003 Pontiac Vibe, Rostra Cruise Control
Date Posted: November 19, 2004 at 2:21 AM

I recently purchased and installed a Rostra cruise control from brandon dist. Got the cruise, switch and throttle adapter kit. I am having a problem with the unit engaging , letting go (slowing down), engaging (speeding back up), letting go, etc. I would call it surging. I called Rostra tech for help and he was not helpful.. Told me where to put my dip settings, that was all. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!!

Things I have done.

Tach signal wire is connected and verified working in diag mode
VSS signal wire is connected and verified working in daig mode.
1/8" slack in cruise cable (per Rostra tech)
Have changed all sensitivity setting dip switchs from Very low to High.

Replies:

Posted By: mo12v
Date Posted: November 19, 2004 at 9:17 AM

Make sure of your GROUND wire connection.
Be sure you have the right Switch settings.
Be sure you have the correct Handle Switch set ( Closed or Open )
Make sure you have LESS than 1/4 inch slack in your cable

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MO

Don't Learn from Others Mistakes
You Might Be the One That Knows.

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: November 19, 2004 at 10:04 AM

Thanks for the information. My ground is tied into the factory ground for the fuse box, the switch is open and is set correct. And I have 1/8" slack in the cable. Any other suggestions?

Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: November 20, 2004 at 2:57 PM

It's the settings in the unit that you need to change. I had the exact same issues on the exact same vehicle. <goes and looks for his notes> ........ did not mark them down. You can call B&B Electronics in Edmonton, Alberta and talk to one of the techs there (1-800-279-0636). They may have a copy of the notes as well. Try different settings on dip switch#'s 1-9. If you can't get it I'll call my customer and have him drop by and I'll copy down the switch settings.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

Posted By: sparkie
Date Posted: November 20, 2004 at 3:21 PM

Did you use the recomended throttle adaptor? If not you must install it. You didn't mention whether or not you are using an electric or vacuum cruise. The throttle cable shouldn't have any slack in it. It should be tight, but not tight enough to pull the throttle off the idle set screw. If you are using an electric cruise, use a low or extra low gain sensitivity setting. Use the setting for 4 cylinder low set-up timer. DO NOT use any other wire for ground. Install the cruise's ground loop into it's own clean and unpainted spot of the car's chassis with a silver screw for a good connection. Make sure that the VSS wire dip switch settting is set to square wave. If you are using a vacuum cruise, find a vacuum tee large enough and tap the brake vacuum booster line. Most imports can't produce enough engine vacuum for cruise controls except for here.

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sparky

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: November 20, 2004 at 6:44 PM

I would appreciate if you could get the settings. I have tried every possible combination on the switches. Let me tell everyone the settings again that I am running.

Rostra Electric (250-1223) Cruise Control w/ throttle adpater kit for Vibe GT (4cyl engine with 6-speed manual trans)

Extra Low Sensitivity (switch 1 and 2 off)
4000 PPM (switch 3 on, 4 off, 5 off, 6 off)
Engine Setup Timer - 4 Cylinder Low(switch 7 on, 8 off, 9 off)
Square Wave Input(switch 10 on)
Transmission is Manual (switch 11 off)
Open Circuit Switch (Part # 250-3742)(switch 12 off)

The cable is now tight with no slack and it seems to be worse then the before. Rostra tech support says that the cable should have 1/8" slack to operate properly. Ground wire is also on it own grounding point as of yesterday. I moved it before testing it today.

Thanks for all the help so far...:)

Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: November 20, 2004 at 8:02 PM

Here is the list of parts that I used on the same vehicle.

250-1316 Electric cruise

250-4361 Toyota Matrix adaptor

250-3421 Audiovox Control Switch

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

Posted By: sparkie
Date Posted: November 22, 2004 at 4:48 PM

You may want to switch the sensitivity to the low or medium setting. The other problem which I just realised I forgot to mention is to set the cruise for an automatic and disconect the tach wire. Try this as a test to see if it helps. Be careful though, the cruise won't disengage with the clutch depressed. If this fixes the problem then install a Rostra clutch switch (Part # 250-4206). This will disengage the cruise if you push the clutch pedal. Most Rostra cruise controls work better if they only have one source of input signal to check from. If you give them a tach and VSS setting they constantly adjust themselves to match both. The other problem is that some tach signals are erratic and cause the cruise to fluctuate. When the cruise is set to manual mode it checks the tach setting first and the VSS second. I only use the automatic setting and install a clutch switch. Never had a problem.

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sparky

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: November 22, 2004 at 8:34 PM

Great! I will try that tomorrow. Didn't I read somewhere in the manual that if you are you not using the tach wire that you are supposed to connect it to groud to help eliminate a "trashy' signal? Did you do that, or did you just not connect it?

Btw, I have tried all the sensitivity settings already along with all the engine/setup timer settings. Every combination. No difference.

Thanks again

Greg

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: November 23, 2004 at 7:34 PM

Try changing it to automatic and removing the tach lead. It made no difference.

Greg

Posted By: sparkie
Date Posted: November 24, 2004 at 7:31 PM

If you have tried all the settings and there is no change then there must be a problem with the way the throttle linkage is hooked up. You don't have to ground the tach wire in automatic setting on that cruise. If you have access to a digital camera, take a photo of the throttle linkage and post it. You can also try hooking up to a different ignition source. Hook up to the BLACK/ white or BLACK / YELLOW wire in the ignition switch harness. It is possible that the cruise unit or harness is at fault, but Rostra cruises are extremely reliable and rarely fail. When you changed any of the dip switches did you turn the ignition and cruise OFF? If you don't turn off both or unplug the unit, it WON'T take the dip switch change.

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sparky

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: December 01, 2004 at 11:17 AM

Here are some pictures of the linkage hookup. Thanks for the help!!

https://www.thecomputerhospital.com/vibe.htm

Posted By: sparkie
Date Posted: December 01, 2004 at 7:46 PM

From looking at the photos the problem seems to be with the linkage. Try the following hints. Secure the cruise throttle cable to the factory one a few inches back from the bracket which looks like a Z. Wrap the two together with electrical tape so that the cruise's throttle cable can't move when the cruise is working or is under a load. It also looks that the bracket on the throttle cam itself may be on wrong. The add on bracket has a rectangular hole in it that exactly matches the retangular bolt that holds the throttle cam onto the throttle body/engine. It's hard to see exactly fromt he angle in the photos, but the bracket may be rotated to far clockwise. It should be rotated back slightly closer to the other bracket. It appears that the cruise's throttle is trying to pull on the throttle directly through the center pivot point of the cam. This requires far too much leverage to due smoothly. Loosen the nut and try rotating the bracket down and to the right. You will have to readjust the cable for no slack. The photo also seems to indicate that the cruise cable is slightly arced between the bracket and the throttle. It must be perfectly straight. Readjust it and then tape the cables together as I described earlier.

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sparky

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: December 01, 2004 at 10:24 PM

The bracket dies have a keyed hole in it. There really is no adjustment with the bracket. It either goes on the way it is shown in my pictures or 180 around and pointing up, which would not work.

As far as on arc in the cable goes, I have tried it in dozens of positions coming off the Z bracket from Rostra. The position that it is in now was obtained by putting the car on my lift (I have a fully equipped garage) and running the car at 70 MPH (my average cruise speed). Unforunately, the cruise would not engaged on the lift because the back wheels were not turning with the front. (4-wheel VSS sensor). It would have been nice, as I could have seen what was going on with the cruise control.

That throttle point was used to obtain a completely straight pull on cable from the bracket, hence the slight arc on the cable in the rested position. If I make the cable straight from the rest position, then it will be arced when it is in the 70MPH postion.

I will try connecting it direct to the existing throttle cable using wire ties to hold it in place. I will try just about anything at this point.

Posted By: greggagnon
Date Posted: December 08, 2004 at 12:38 AM

I would like to thank everyone for their help on this project. I never was able to arrive at a solution to the problem. I believe that the unit is malfuctioning itself, but Rostra will not warranty it because I did not have it professionally installed, although I did buy it from a authorized distributor. So I have completely uninstalled this unit and thrown it in the trash can.

Thanks again.

Greg