Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 11:19:01 -0700
Reply-To: Eric Brown <ebrown_subs@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Eric Brown <ebrown_subs@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: HOWTO: Audiovox cruise control install experience
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Here it goes... this is the story of how I installed an Audiovox CCS-100
cruise control unit in my '87 Vanagon. I bought the unit from Kragen for
$95. This unit has a vacuum servo unit and a little square control unit.
I would speculate from the archives that this is possibly the same unit as
the Zemco and Equus.
Mounting the servo:
I mounted the servo in the little empty area behind the left tail light. I
angled it so that I could get to the dip switches etc. by just taking off
the rear tail light assembly. I left enough room back there to install a
vacuum canister if I determine I need one later.
The cable and throttle:
I put a rubber grommet in a pre-existing hole in the metal near the back of
the engine compartment just under the left hinge for the engine door. I ran
the cable through that and back around toward
the throttle. I drilled another hole in the piece of metal that the gas
pedal cable (throttle cable) is secured to and used the hole to secure the
cruise cable. It was the easiest thing for me to do though I'm a little
disappointed in this as it doesn't give the cruise any mechanical advantage.
Anyway, I attached the cable to the throttle via a chain. (The chain looks
like one of those chains on a nail clipper.)
Vacuum - first attempt
I made a big mistake here on my first attempt. I saw a T in a line that
looked like a vacuum line mounted to the top of the engine. So I took the
screw out of the T so that the T was open and proceeded to start the engine
so I could feel the vacuum and make sure it really existed. Of course, this
was not a vacuum line, but a fuel line and I ended up with gasoline all over
the engine! Lucky the van wouldn't turn over.
Vacuum - second attempt
Having almost blown up my Van by a bad guess, I decided to spend more time
with the Van manuals trying to figure out how to identify the vacuum system.
(I'm not really a mechanic.) This was frustrating, but eventually, I was
able to find a picture of what must certainly be the vacuum lines. There are
two of them coming out of the thing which is to the left of the throttle
(which I now realize must be the manifold! I am learning!). The two vacuum
hoses are the smallest of all the other big hoses which come out of the
manifold (6 in total I think). One of the vacuum hoses runs directly to the
front of the car. (I think the vacuum canister is actually up there near the
brakes which is what that vacuum system is for?) Anyway, the other hose, the
interesting one, makes a very short journey to a little inch and a half
diameter canister (near the distributor) with three other hoses (fuel hoses)
communing out of it. This canister is right on top and you can't miss it. I
think this canister has something to do with regulating fuel mixture.
Anyway, disconnect the vacuum hose from the canister and put a T in it.
Start the van and be sure you feel suction on the open end of the T. Then,
run more vacuum hose from the T to the cruise servo.
So far, after a few test drives, it doesn't appear that any additional
vacuum canister will be necessary. I guess my 2.1L engine has pretty good
vacuum on its own. Perhaps if the cruise doesn't operate smoothly, I will
experiment.
Magnets:
The cruise control uses magnets to sense how fast you are going. These
magnets have to be mounted somewhere on the rear axle. Responses I got from
the group indicated that the best place to mount the magnets is on the CV
joint right next to the differential. I think they are correct as you don't
have to worry about the axle moving due to suspension, etc. And, I called
Audiovox who said that mounting the magnets on the CV was fine except to use
two magnets instead of just the one. (I actually think it would be best to
use four if you are on the CV, but the kit only supplies two.)
However, I found it easier to mount the supplied bracket and pickup about 11
inches out from the differential on a part of the Van body that is easy to
mount to. (There is even one hole already drilled.) Also, mounting one
magnet on the axle is much easier than mounting two on the much larger
diameter CV joint. And this is what I did.
Wiring - Magnet wiring:
Magnet wiring is real easy. Just run the gray and black wires (already in a
protective sleeve) through the same hole that the cable runs through (just
under the left hinge for the engine door). It then drops almost directly to
the sensor.
Wiring - Ignition wiring:
One goes to the negative side of the ignition coil. The ignition coil is
cylindrical and mounted to the left side of the engine compartment
immediately under a (relay) box. On my van, the negative and positive sides
of the coil were labeled on the coil and the negative side happened to be
the top side. The coil is used to measure tach or RPM so that the Audiovox
unit can detect engine rev when you press in the clutch and disengage the
cruise. As this feedback is AC, noise can be an issue and Audiovox supplies
a cable that is supposed to clip directly onto the coil. Unfortunately,
there
is no extra clip on my Van's coil so I had to splice my way into one of the
other cables that comes off of it. This is probably a bad thing in terms of
noise, but is also the easiest solution.
Wiring - Brake wiring:
Ideally, Audiovox wants you to run one wire to either side of the brake
switch which is located at the front of the Van. These two wires detect
continuity when the brake is depressed and disengage the cruise unit for
you. Who wants to run more wires to the front of the van than they have to
and who wants to find this brake switch? So, I took a short cut.
The server is mounted just behind the brake light! So, there's one of your
wires right under your nose. The other wire I taped into is one of the red
wires that comes out of the relay box just ontop of the coil. This wire is
connected to the battery as is the other side of the brake switch. (Note, I
originally tried to hook into the positive side of the coil, but ones the
engine is running, the positive side of the coil is connected to the
alternator and thus does not offer continuity to the brake light. That is
the purpose of the relay box that is over the coil - to switch between
battery and alternator when the engine is running.)
Wiring - Control:
There are three wires that you have to run up front. These obviously have to
be spliced with additional wire as Audiovox did not anticipate the distance
of the engine from the drivers seat. Anyway, I ran these through the same
hole the cable went through and then under the car, over the gas tank and up
behind the left headlight. It took me 16 feet of additional cable and 12
feet of additional cable protective wrap. I had to use a close hanger three
times to get the wires over the gas tank, to the headlight and up behind the
dash gauges. In my van, there was actually and extra grometted hole between
the headlight and the dash.
Wiring - Control Power & Ground:
I really wanted to tap into ignition power directly, but I ended up taking
the easy way out and wiring into the radio power. First, I removed the cover
to the gauges. This also allowed me to snake up the aforementioned control
wiring into the dash area where I could grab it. Then I removed the ash tray
to get to the radio wiring. I had already modified the radio wiring before
to alternately run to my aux battery or my engine battery by the flick of a
switch, so I was quite familiar with what was available here. I connected
the +12V control wire with inline fuse to the radio power. Then I connected
the control ground to a screw that is normally covered by the gauge cover
but that registered ground by my tests. Audiovox also supplies a wire to
supply some night time illumination, but I didn't care about that.
Control Mounting:
The right of the speedometer, there is space for three switches. My van
only has two spaces used, so I opted to squeeze the cruise control in the
vacant space. This saved me from doing any drilling too. There are probably
better and easier to reach places to mount it, but this was easy and I was
tired.
Test Drives:
I did my initial test drives before I ran the control wires forward and
instead just taped the control to the back of the rear seat and ran +12V to
the positive side of the coil and ground to a convent screw that registered
ground. This way, I could debug the system and be sure it would ever work
before I went through the hassle of running the control wires forward. I
also did my initial test drives with the engine cover off so that one of us
could watch the servo engage the throttle. (Man, is it loud without the
engine cover!)
Test Drive #1:
Complete failure. The servo never engaged once.
Troubleshooting:
1. I moved the magnet a little closer to the axle.
2. Then I measured continuity on all my lines and noticed that the tach line
(to the negative side of the coil) lacked continuity. Well, this line has a
sticker on it warning you not to remove the sticker as the sticker contains
noise filtering circuitry. (Pretty damn small circuitry too if you ask me.)
The manual indicates that this is to prevent the unit from accidentally
disengaging due to a false RPM race reading. I've seen stickers like this on
computer monitor cables before, but they never eliminate continuity. They
are usually magnets I believe. It is possible that this sticker hid an
inline inductor behind it or something, but I suspected otherwise. So, I
decided to splice this sticker out of the circuitry and guarantee continuity
between the unit and the coil.
3. I reread the manual. I noticed that I had forgotten to remove a jumper to
indicate manual transmission. And, the manual also contradicted itself about
the DIP switch settings in one place indicating that the magnet kit should
have a setting of 2000 PPM and in another indicating 4000 PPM. I moved my
settings from 2000 PPM to 4000 PPM. I also set its logic to see the van as
'normal' instead of 'heavy car, weak engine'.
Test Drive #2:
It works! Horay! I'm not sure if the problem was solved by troubleshooting
issue #1 or #2.
Test Drive #3:
Later, after everything was back together and I was driving around normally,
I noticed the unit disengaged once after I went down a hill. I haven't
figured this out yet.
I'd like to thank Cathy for her support and help test driving the Van. My
father for an hour or two on the phone helping me think things through and
list members Joel Walker and Joel Shortlidge for answering some of my rather
detailed questions about their installations.
Eric Brown
'87 Westy
Santa Cruz, CA
