Cruise Control Retro-fit
 

I've asked this question before, half-heartedly, but after a 2,500 mile trip without cruise control on my '01 Windstar, I think I'm going to ponder it again.

Has anyone ever looked into or actually accomplished retro-fitting their Windstar with cruise control? I have a former fleet vehicle that I've maintained very well and plan on keeping for a while yet, but we take long road trips with some regularity and cruise control would be great. I feel I can get the new and used parts with relative ease and that this shouldn't be as big an undertaking as it might seem on the surface.

I think I can figure out what's missing by referencing the FSM and factory wiring diagrams I have, but I'm unsure about gotchas and support for this feature in the car's computers.

I'd be interested to learn of anyone's attempts to do so, as well as random thoughts on the matter.

Thanks

Ford used to have all vehicles pre-wired for cruise and other options making things Plug-N-Play. You may find that your Windstar is like that and you only need to add a steering wheel that has cruise control functions in it and put it on your vehicle. Most likely will need to have the PCM re-flashed to let it know that it now has cruise capabilities.

I've noticed a number of unused wiring connectors here and there on the van, whoch makes me think this is doable.

Having the computers flashed makes sense. Have you ever heard how much that particular service costs?

Not sure. You can search the F-150 board here. I read a discussion quite a while ago about some of the F-150 folks having it done with some prices mentioned.

Aha!
 

Sorry I haven't updated this in a bit, but I've been researching this issue, with success I might add. It's not that difficult to retro fit this vehicle with factory cruise control.

After consulting the FSM, both mechanical and wiring manuals, it appears the only missing things were the speed control servo and the steering wheel with the cruise control buttons. Additionally I would have to have the computer flashed to turn on the cruise control feature.

I took my VIN to a Ford dealer and he gave me a nice, 5-page printout of what features were enabled/disabled on my van. Sure enough, cruise control was disabled and the dealer quoted me $54 to flash the computer and enable it.

I couldn't find a black steering wheel with cruise buttons to match the steering column covers, so a grey has had to suffice. I can always go to the junkyard and get matching covers, but it's not that important. I found a steering wheel with servicable airbag on eBay for $47, which is cheaper than the $60 I would have paid at my local you-pull-it junkyard. I gotta admit it was in very nice shape.

I took a chance on a junkyard speed control servo and cable for $19 and haven't been disappointed.

Those were the only two components I needed to add to the car: the steering wheel and servo. Both installed easily. The brackets for the servo and its cable were already in place, as was the electrical connector. The throttle linkage already had the connector for the servo cable on it. The steering wheel had the same connector and wire colors as the original wheel, which matched up perfectly with the wiring diagram.

I put both of them in and took it for a test drive before flashing the computer, just to make sure everything was working...particularly that the air bag wasn't going to go off unexpectedly. The FSM says to drive it 10 miles for the computers to relearn their routine, so I did.

Out of curiosity I hit the 'on' button and to my surprise the cruise feature kicked in! All the functions work: on, off, set, accelerate, coast, cancel...without having the computer flashed! (Saves me $54 for now). I don't know if that will continue to work, but I'm going with it until it doesn't.

All told, it was very easy to retrofit the cruise control, and cost me all of $66.

I wish I had done this before last month's 2,500 mile road trip to Yellowstone and back, but better late than never!

Glad you were able to get cruise, and to actually have it working "Out of the Box". Life is grand when everything plays nice...:)

I completed this retrofit last week.

In my case for a Cargo Windstar 1999, I also had to replace the clockspring under the steering wheel.

I took pictures and will add them to this post shortly. I realize this is an old post, but it shows up high in Google rankings, so I thought I can just update it. :)

"Wiseleo",

1st, welcome to the forum.
2nd, no post is too old if it's relevant.

A lot of times we get no response from folks as to whether their issue was resolved or what they found. All info is helpful.