I recently worked with ekopel on cruise control on our Gen4s. He has a 97 LE V6 auto, and i have a 98 CE V6 5spd. His car had cruise, and mine did not. We swapped cruise and non-cruise parts, and now he does not have cruise, and I do... and unless you look up the build sheet from the distributor, you wouldn't know it - it looks totally stock on both our cars. The best part is that there's absolutely no hacking of the wiring involved - your car is prewired for cruise, and all the attachment points are all already there - it's 100% true plug n play!
**note** - both our cars have the v6, but the process (and most if not all of the parts) should be the same for the 4cyl. To eliminate any possibility of part conflicts, it would be best to source your parts from a car with the same engine as yours. Interior parts *should* be identical, regardless of engine. Our swap proved that it doesn't matter what transmission you have - it WILL work.
If your car does NOT have cruise, you will need the following parts to add it. You can find them in a junkyard (excuse me - salvage yard or auto recycler) or if you're lucky, you'll find someone like ekopel who wants to remove cruise, and you can trade parts. That way you don't have to try cleaning up parts that may have been out in the elements... or risk finding a cruise actuator that may have been damaged in a wreck, or throttle cables that were cut by lazy junkyard operators.
1. Cruise control actuator - located under the hood, between the battery and the engine. It attaches to the battery tray, so you will need to remove the battery to do this. Be sure to get the 3 bolts that hold it to the tray - your car won't have them.
2. Cruise throttle cables - One goes from the cruise actuator to the throttle body, and the second goes to the gas pedal. Leave all brackets & nuts attached to the cables, and don't forget the 2 bolts that hold the bracket near the gas pedal, even though your car already has some holding your existing cable.
3. Brake light switch - the non-cruise version is brown and has 2 pins; the cruise version is blue and has 4 pins. Don't confuse the color with the plug itself on the wiring harness - mine was blue even tho my car did not come with cruise.
4. Cruise ECU - this is attached to the brake pedal bracket, up under the dash. (don't forget the 2 nuts it attaches with)
5. Cruise Control "stick" on the side of the steering wheel (don't forget the 2 screws it attaches with) - this includes the wiring, and that wiring includes a single black wire which is permanently attached to...
6. the right side horn bracket which the above cruise stick attaches to. You can actually leave the cruise stick attached to this bracket when you remove it from your donor vehicle - just unbolt the 2 torx screws and unplug the white connector and take it out.
7. the plastic trim on the back of the steering wheel so you don't have to try cutting a hole in yours
8. (only for m/t cars) clutch pedal cruise switch - located on clutch pedal bracket. Your car has a simple bolt with a jam nut if it does not have cruise, and this is the stop adjustment of the pedal itself. This switch is needed for m/t cars to cancel cruise when you touch the clutch. It performs the same function as the automatic shifter - the auto shifter has switches inside to make cruise cancel if you pop it into neutral while you're moving.
The tools you'll need are pretty basic. You will need a small pick or flat screwdriver, a #2 phillips screwdriver, a T-30 torx socket (for airbag and horn bracket screws) with extension and ratchet, 17mm socket on extension w/ breaker bar, 10mm socket, two 12mm open-end wrenches (for throttle cables), and a 14mm open end wrench. That's about it. A torque wrench is recommended for that 17mm socket, so you don't over-tighten the steering wheel nut. Safety glasses are also recommended for when you're working under the dash, so that dust or small parts don't fall into your eyes.
You will be working with the airbag, so here are a few safety tips. CLAIMER: I am an ASE certified auto mechanic who spent about 6.5 years working for Toyota as a dealership mechanic. The airbag procedures I'm about to describe may not be exactly the same as you will find in the factory repair manual, but it's the way I have been doing it for years, and I've never had a problem. DISCLAIMER: The airbag IS an explosive device, and you can be injured or killed if it goes off while you're working on it. There is always a risk in working with the airbag. That said, the only time I've ever had one go off was when I deliberately sent power to it in a controlled manner. In short, pay attention and BE CAREFUL! Gibson99, Toyotanation, or anyone else in this discussion thread cannot be held responsible for anything that happens as a result of you working on your car. Take resposibility for your own actions, and again - BE CAREFUL!
First things first - because you will be removing the steering wheel, you should start the engine and center the steering wheel dead-ahead. This makes it easier to put it back on straight.
Since you have to get underneath the battery to attach the cruise actuator, your first step will be to disconnect and remove your battery from the car. Write down all your radio presets, and if your radio has a security code, make sure you know it before you disconnect the battery. The factory recommends you leave the battery disconnected for at least 5 minutes before you work with the airbags, so this works out well. Pick up the plastic battery tray to reveal the cruise mount plate. Disconnect your existing throttle cable, and leave it hanging for now. Go ahead and bolt the cruise actuator in, and connect its throttle cable to the throttle body. You should disconnect the other cable from the cruise motor at this time because it needs to be fed into the engine bay from inside. it is held on with one small phillips screw.
this pic shows the cruise actuator properly installed on the battery tray. Normally it's black plastic, but this one is painted red.
Now look at the wiring harness next to the battery tray. You will find a black connector with 4 wires plugged into it. This is actually its storage mode - unplug it and you'll see that its just a blank socket to hold the wire there and keep it clean. It needs to be plugged into the cruise actuator. There's even a little snap-tab already attached to the wire that you can snap into the cruise bracket to keep the wire where it's supposed to be.
here's the wire and empty plug/storage we're talking about, located directly behind the positive battery terminal.
While the battery is still out of the car, now is the safest time to work with the airbag. Find the small round holes on either side of the steering wheel and use the T30 to remove the airbag. It will move the whole airbag as you first break the screws loose - this is normal. Once these 2 bolts are loose, you can wiggle the airbag around to pull it out. I typically set the airbag up in the steering wheel itself so I don't have to hold it while trying to unlatch the double-lock airbag connector (see pic).
Once the yellow airbag plug is disconnected, you can set the airbag aside. ALWAYS be gentle with the airbag, and put it metal-side-down. NEVER place an airbag on its face, because if something (static electricity) causes it to deploy, it will go flying. We did that once in an empty parking lot - the airbag went over the roof of the warehouse!! I typically just put the airbag on the passenger floorboard - it's out of the way and safe from being stepped on.
With the airbag out, it will become obvious how to swap the right horn bracket, but you won't be able to put the cruise one in till you swap the plastic back of the wheel. To do this, the wheel itself has to come off. First, unplug the white connector with the single black wire going to the right bracket, and leave it hanging, then remove the center nut. Using a sharpie or some paint, mark the center shaft and the wheel itself where they meet (under where the nut was). This will help make sure you line up the wheel in exactly the same place when you put it back on. Don't worry - you don't have to be perfect - the teeth in there make it so that if you are off by one tooth, your marks will tell you that you're way off. Now put the nut back on just a couple of turns. Leave about 1/4" gap between the bottom of the nut and the steering wheel frame.
If your wheel doesn't just pull straight off, you can use your bare hands to hit the wheel from the backside in alternating blows, and it will come off fairly easily. Failing that, you can use a puller tool. Use the type that threads into the steering wheel frame - trying to use a 2 or 3-jaw puller here could damage your clockspring (the black and yellow bit behind the wheel, which carries the wires to the horn, airbag and cruise control stick). Clocksprings are expensive, so do it right! I have never had to use a puller to remove a factory-installed steering wheel before. Some wheels come off with the first hit, some take several hits, and one left a bruise on my hand, but every one of them came off with just my bare hands. Now you can see why you want the center nut partially installed. It prevents the wheel from flying off and hitting you in the face once it does pop loose!
With the wheel off, you can quickly swap the back plastics by removing the 4 phillips screws holding it to the frame. At this time you can go ahead and swap the right bracket and mount the cruise stick as a unit (as pictured below).
Pop the wheel back into the car (line up your marks!) and torque the center nut to 26 ft-lbs - spec is from Hayne's Repair Manual. Don't worry about turning the wheel while you torque the center nut. Once the splines (teeth) are engaged, turning the steering wheel will not make it off-center. In fact, most of the time when I'm tightening the center nut, I find myself moving the wheel more than I move the wrench to get it tight.
Here's a little trick to make putting the airbag screws back in easier. You will notice that the screws are held in with black plastic that has 3 tiny tabs on it, and that each screw has a groove around the edge. You can push the screw out so that the groove snaps into the 3 tabs. This will hold the screw out of the way for when you put the airbag back in, and will hold it at the right angle so it will shoot straight into the threads in the airbag without cross-threading.
Plug your new cruise control stick into the same place your old single-wire connector came out of. Carefully pick up the airbag and plug it in, being sure to snap the white safety clip over the yellow connector. Place the airbag back into the wheel and use your socket on an extension (NO ratchet yet) to pop the bolts out of the black plastic into the airbag and get them started by hand. You really don't want to cross-thread these 2 bolts! Torque spec is 63
in-lbs but I just turn it till i think it's tight, which is about the same as the oil drain plug. Don't over-tighten these - they're kinda important!
Now that the airbag is installed, you can go ahead and put your battery back in. Back inside, you will now get into the footwell and unbolt the throttle cable above the gas pedal. Since the other end of the cable is loose, it will be easier to disconnect the cable from the top of the pedal. There is a black plastic funnel looking piece that snaps into the top of the pedal arm. This has to come out before you can slide the cable through the slot. It's not easy to see it under the dash, so feel around for the 2 tabs you have to press to make it release.
Once you pull the old cable through, feed the new cruise one into the engine bay, bolt it to the firewall, and connect the cable to the pedal arm. Don't forget to snap the black plastic "funnel" into the pedal arm to ensure the cable stays attached. There is only one way the "funnel" will snap in, so pay attention to the little notch on it and line it up with the slot on the pedal arm before trying to force it in there. It's a tight fit!
While you're under there, swap out the brake pedal switch. After unplugging it, loosen the jam nut only enough to remove the switch. You will want to set your new cruise brake switch in the same place, at the same height, so set its jam nut the same number of threads up the shaft as the one you removed. That way you won't have to spend much, if any, time adjusting it. If you don't have it adjusted right, your brake lights can either be stuck on all the time, or won't come on till after you press the brakes much further than normal - they won't come on at all under light braking. This will also prevent cruise from working right.
If you have a manual, this is also the time to install the clutch switch. Do the same thing with the jam nut here, so you don't have to adjust the slack in your clutch pedal.
The cruise ecu bolts to the brake pedal bracket on the left side. The plug for the ECU and the clutch pedal switch are taped to the main harness just a few inches away - towards the back of the car. You don't have to take anything apart. You can just pull, and the tape will break - it's pre-cut. plug these in, and you're done under the dash.
back under the hood, connect the 2nd throttle cable to the cruise actuator. Reinstall your battery if you haven't already done so. Now it's time for a test drive! Going at least 25-30 mph, turn cruise on - you should see the green CRUISE light come on in the tachometer. yes, it's already there, you don't have to install it. press down on the cruise stick to set the speed, then let go of the gas. test the cancel functions - lightly tap the brakes and it should cancel. press the cruise stick up to resume. put in the clutch or move the shifter to N and it should again cancel. Resume again, then pull the stick towards you to cancel. If all tests pass, you're golden!
Now i mentioned that my car is stick and ekopel's car is an automatic. That means he didn't have the clutch switch to send to me. I wasn't able to find one in a junkyard (seems there were no m/t toyota/lexus there that had cruise) and I didn't feel like buying a new one, so I simply inserted a piece of wire into the 2-pin clutch switch connector and taped it up. This makes the cruise computer think that my foot is off the clutch, so it allows normal cruise operation. Catch is that if I do put in the clutch while cruise is engaged, it will start making engine revs slowly rise. This isn't a big deal for me because a) it's slow to raise the revs, b) i can easily tap the brake or pull back to cancel on the cruise control stick. 99.9% of the time, I expect to be using the brakes anyway when I have to cancel cruise, so i don't think it will be an issue. *note* - there IS a reason Toyota put the clutch pedal switch there. If you aren't paying attention, the cruise control can and will bring engine speed up to the rev limiter if you put in the clutch while cruise control is engaged. Left there long enough, bad things could happen to your engine. Pressing the brake, pressing cancel, or simply turning off cruise by pressing its power button on the end will immediately bring engine speed back down to idle (if your foot's off the gas). This could be a safety issue if someone else is driving your car and they don't know about it, so keep that in mind before you go "hotwiring" the clutch switch wiring.
That about covers installation of factory cruise... so now on to...
HOW TO COMPLETELY REMOVE CRUISE CONTROL
It's a good idea to at least skim the install instructions, as it will give you part locations, torque specs, and a good overview of the complete system so you know what you're working with.
Parts you need:
1. non-cruise throttle cable (pedal to throttle body)
2. non-cruise brake light switch (brown 2-pin - optional)
3. non-cruise steering wheel back plastic
4. non-cruise right side horn bracket (optional)
This is a little easier than adding cruise, because you're just removing stuff.
Again, disconnect the battery, so you can take off the airbag.
Remove cruise actuator and both throttle cables. Feed non-cruise throttle cable through firewall from inside the car, connect it to the pedal, then to the throttle body.
Replacement of the brake pedal switch is optional - a blue cruise-style brake switch doesn't care whether the cruise computer is installed or not - it will still operate your brake lights just fine. So unless you're swapping with someone like I did, you don't need to touch this part. Same w/ the clutch pedal switch if you have a manual.
You CAN remove the cruise computer to lighten your car all of a few ounces.
Just zip-tie or tape the plug for it under the dash somewhere so it's not hanging into your pedals.
I won't cover changing the back plastics on the wheel as it's identical to installation above. I will note however that you don't HAVE to change the right horn bracket. You can simply remove the cruise "stick" (2 phillips screws). Unfortunately to do it cleanly, you will need to open up the white connector and remove the 3 wires that go to the "stick". Sure, you could cut the wires, but then the "stick" would have no value as a used part - you wouldn't be able to sell it if you wanted to, because the potential buyer needs the pins that are still down inside the white connector. Therefore I recommend getting the non-cruise right horn bracket. It will already have the 1-wire connector attached, and will make your cruise-equipped bracket more valuable on the used parts marketplace.
That's pretty much it. Any questions, post up!
HOW TO: Install (or remove) factory cruise in GEN4
98 Camry CE v6 5s
97 MX-5
95 Camry SE v6 2dr SC (sold)
Linear Mode
