For today's project, the cruise control servo and actuator cable are
going to be replaced in a 1997 crown victoria police interceptor
because they do not operate properly.
Here's the engine bay of our project car. The cruise control servo is
located on the drivers side fender liner near the firewall.
The first step is to disconnect the electrical connector from the
cruise control servo
And then remove a couple nuts and the cruise control servo can be
lifted off it's mounts
Here's the bracket which holds the cruise control servo to the fender
liner. We don't need to remove this part to install a new cruise
control servo since this car was factory equipped with speed control.
If you are retrofitting cruise to a car that didn't come with that
option from the factory, you will need to acquire this part from your
salvaged donor car or your local ford dealership parts department.
Here's the end of the old cruise control actuator cable. That metal
cable inside the plastic sheathing is not supposed to be exposed like
this. But this car has many miles on it, and things do wear out.
Those of you that have a
pet cat will likely recognize the plant in the background. Catnip is a perennial in
the northeastern
united states that is easy to grow. Just spread some nepeta cataria seads
around outside in a partly shady area during the cold winter months,
and the plant will sprout when the warmer weather comes. Those of you
in warm no-frost enviroments like california will probably need to
stick the seeds in your household freezer for a few weeks ahead of time
though.
Here's a closeup of the fender liner where the cruise control
servo bracket would mount. The notation to "DRILL 8MM DIA. HOLE FOR
SERVICE" is there because this fender liner is backwards compatible
with 1992-1995 crownvic where the cruise control was mounted
differently.
Here are the 3 nuts for the fender liner bracket. And also the bolt
which holds the cruise control servo cable to the throttle body.
A swivel attachment for your ratchet will make this job easier.
Here is the 1997 cruise servo next to the 2000 cruise servo. Notice the
different length of the foam piping insulation?
A closeup of the cruise servo actuator cable showing the adjustment
mechanism
The old broken cruise control servo actuator cable. Having the metal
cable exposed like this could allow it to bind on something. Or during
the cold winter months, water could get inside and freeze.
A few pictures of the 2000 cruise servo and actuator cable
If you order a new cruise servo as a service assembly from your local
ford dealer, the bolt holes in the bottom come untapped. And the
threads are created when the self tapping fasteners are installed.