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| Cruise Control Installation - By Liten Verden |
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| Honda's sporty Spocket pickup concept. |
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| I've decided to add cruise control to my Insight. The feature is not
available from Honda. I'll only do this if it can be accomplished without
drilling holes or cutting wires. The car has to remain unmodified. With
one tiny, tiny exception, this seems to be possible. PLEASE
understand that this record is just that, a record of MY project. If it
can help you, I'm really pleased, but I make no pretense of
expertise. I'm learning as I go, and I might do things very
differently than you might. Heck, this thing might not even work when I
get to the end (it did)! If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears. |
| Anyway, here I go. The Service Manual (SM) indicates that the throttle
is controlled by a simple cable connected to the accelerator pedal. That's
good, because an electronic throttle positioner (fly by wire) would have
killed the project. A vehicle speed signal (VSS) is available from the
transmission mounted generator (this appears to be a Honda parts bin
item). I've ordered a wiring harness (07LAJ-PT3020A) designed to permit
testing the VSS function. The harness provides a way to connect the VSS to
a cruise control system without cutting into wires (rule 2). |
| When I get the VSS test harness, I need to measure the VSS pulse rate
in pulses per mile. The cruise control system selected for use will have
to be designed to operate at about this rate. I have determined that the
Accord and Civic both have a 4000 pulse per mile VSS. I have also
determined that the VSS signal wire color on these cars is even the same
as the Insight (blue/white). The Civic actuator is vacuum powered. Perhaps
a cruise control system from an Accord or Civic will work. However, there
is also another choice that may be technically superior and probably less
expensive. |
| Unless theVSS pulse rate is strange, Dakota Digital's CRS-3 system (http://www.dakotadigital.com/products/cruise.htm)
seems to be a really good alternative. It can operate at 2000, 4000, or
8000 pulses per mile. Importantly, the CRS-3 needs no vacuum source and no
vacuum store tank, being designed for supercharged (pressurized) hot rods
(cool twist, huh?). The electrical actuator can be mounted under the dash
and be connected to the existing throttle cable mechanism (appropriately).
This is also good because it simplifies wiring and keeps the electronics
in a happier environment. |
| Dakota provides several control switch options, including one (HND-2)
that could easily be adapted to the larger blank plug above the driver's
storage bin. That's the one I'll use, if this all works out. I don't mind
installing Dakota's switches in it because the part can be replaced easily
and cheaply (the tiny, tiny exception). I'll order one and put it in my
rear storage bin along with the extra wheel skirt Dzus fasteners and quart
of 0W-20 oil. |
| I received the test harness today (5/23). It appears to be well made
and suited for the intended purpose. |
| Tonight (5/24) I installed the test harness with a voltmeter on the
VSS output leads per the SM. The car started, ran fine, and the speedo
worked normally. I wonder what I looked like with a voltmeter taped to the
windshield? I then taped the left front tire so I could see exactly when
the wheel completed a turn and pushed the car for one revolution with the
ignition on but not started (did this twice to be sure). The VSS put out 5
pulses per revolution as close as I could tell. I removed the harness
(watch out, the catalytic converter is HOT), reconnected the VSS connector
and tested operation. Everything was fine. |
| Now the math. As nearly as I could measure, the tire has a diameter of
22 and an eighth inches. Circumference is pi * D, so the tire is 5.8 feet
around. Then there must be 912 revolutions per mile. That means we get
about 4560 pulses per mile. I could be off by about a half a pulse per
revolution. If this is so, we're right on 4000 pulses per mile. Looks like
a standard Honda design. |
| Today (5/25) a technician at Dakota Digital confirmed that the 4000
pulse per mile specification is a window with some latitude. The CRS-3
unit should work just fine with the Insight. I ordered the cruise control
kit with the HND-2 control switches. The project is about to get
interesting! That's all for now, I've got to go sit on the front porch and
watch for the UPS truck. |
| Boy, I'm glad to get off the porch. The week has been hot, cold,
rainy, and windy. The CRS-3 box arrived today (5/31). The system is
actually manufactured by Rostra (http://www.rostra.com/cruise-control.htm).
Everything is nicely packaged and quality looks good. I can see that there
are some steel mounting brackets that will have to be replaced with
aluminum (aluminium). Other than that, great. Rostra does not recommend
putting the servo in the cabin (too much noise as opposed to Dakota's
"quiet enough" claim). I only intend to do this once, so I'll take the
maker's advice. I looked to see where things might go. On a left hand
drive car the actuator will go on the left side behind the engine as
viewed from the front with the hood (bonnet) up. This is far enough from
the exhaust system to keep heat on the electronics down. There are plenty
of existing bolts under which the yet to be designed aluminum actuator
bracket can be mounted. The actuator cable will have a gentle enough curve
to the throttle crank. |
| Today (6/3), I built the actuator bracket and mounted it with the
actuator in the car. No holes drilled so far. All the bracket parts are
assembled with stainless steel 10-32 screws and elastic stop nuts to
control electrolysis. I ordered a genuine Honda coated 6mm screw for one
of the two points at which the bracket attaches to the car. One point is
used to hold a wiring harness clamp and the other was unused. At the
wiring harness clamp point, I was able to re-use the existing screw. I
have installed the VSS test harness permanently and used a new black
plastic flex conduit to contain the underhood wiring from the VSS and
ground wire (on a new lug under the screw fixing the 12 volt battery
ground to the firewall) to the actuator. It is really hard to tell what is
Honda and what is not. Exactly the effect I want to achieve. When I
installed the actuator ground lug, I bypassed the battery ground wire with
a temporary clip lead. This avoided any problems that might have resulted
from disconnecting the 12 volt battery. |
| It is 6/8, and I began figuring out how to connect the actuator
throttle cable. Honda has engineered the throttle crank so that the
accelerator cable is absolutely the only thing that will fit in at the
attachment point. I can't use any of the neat little pieces of hardware
that Rostra designed to allow the actuator to share the cable attachment
point. I think I'm going to need a very small "U" clamp (probably two) to
put on the existing cable about an inch from where it makes contact with
the crank. I'll just clamp the actuator cable on there. Since the cable
only moves about an inch and about 6 inches is exposed, the clamps will
not hit the jacket at full throttle movement (and, no holes!). John
Johnson reports that someone has told him that they have installed an
aftermarket cruise control. I can't wait for the details. Off to a model
shop. |
| Today (6/9), I finished everything under the hood. I had to shorten
the actuator cable and fabricate a splice fitting to tie into the
accelerator cable (more on that later). I used two stainless steel trim
washers, two stainless steel flat washers, a 8-32 by 1/2 stainless steel
screw (or bolt) and elastic stop nut, and a Rostra bead chain connector.
It worked just fine. I made a bracket that fits under the accelerator
cable end flange to tie down the actuator cable. I'll post pictures when
I'm done, but it's more complicated than the pictures will show. Still no
holes and nothing modified. I drove the car with all this hardware in
place and hooked up. Everything works normally. |
| It's 6/10, Replacement of the Honda heater valve control cable
firewall grommet with a generic grommet provided the firewall pass-through
I needed (sealed with silicone caulk). In fact, I left the original
grommet on the heater valve cable. If I remove the cruise control, the
grommet will slide right back where it came from, restoring the original
configuration. Super. This was the last barrier to a no modification
installation. I've run all the wires and mounted the controls in the
center snap-out blank above the driver's storage bin, as planned. It looks
fine (in fact, it is gray, so it looks like it belongs there). I set the
actuator's programming switches for the Insight's personality and cleaned
up all the under hood components. The VSS wire is now connected to the
actuator. I'm complete up front and the car still runs fine. I've
researched all the remaining connections in the cabin with the Electrical
Troubleshooting Manual and prepared a connection checklist. |
| I finished all the wiring today (6/11) except for a ground wire on the
control buttons. The drawing does not say what the 12 volts and ground are
for on the buttons, but I suspect to drive the LED "on" indicator. Things
don't work without it and I need a ground lug that I don't have, so I'll
pick one up tomorrow. I had to pull the blue "tach" wire out of the cabin
and hook it to a tach signal under the hood. That means three wires stay
up front (main ground, VSS, and tach). All the rest go inside. I got the
12 volt feed from the back of the accessory receptacle. That required
removing the glove box, console, and lower center dash. Sounds harder than
it was. Don't try this without a SM. You might be able to sneak power from
the fuse block, as well. Rostra provides an adaptor. With everything wired
in, the car is still running just fine. |
| Below are three bracket pictures. I scanned these in off snapshots.
Yuk. The shiny 1/4 inch stock aluminum angle bracket (2 images) holds the
actuator to the aluminum beam that runs across the firewall. Note the rear
holes are staggered and large enough (1/2 inch) to slip over the bosses on
the beam. This lets the bracket rest flat against the beam. Stainless
steel screws hold it together. The black painted steel bracket slides
under the accelerator cable flange and secures the actuator cable near the
throttle crank. I found connecting the actuator cable to the throttle
securely, safely, and neatly to be the most tedious and creative part of
the installation. Be careful - you don't want the throttle to stick at an
uncomfortable speed. I'll try to add some pictures of the throttle cable
connection shortly. |
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| Next, images of the actuator bracket installed at existing threaded
bosses taken with a digital camera. Note that I've rounded off the left
corner by this time. I did this to prevent stabbing myself. The black
plastic conduit running along the aluminum beam to the right carries all
the cruise control wires. You can see the ground wire running up to the
main ground lug. I've fixed the routing of that ground wire so that it now
goes under the black conduit. Looks better that way. The conduit then
turns down to the VSS and the grommeted hole in the firewall. The "tach"
wire leaves this conduit through a quot;T" connector right after it turns
down and runs behind the battery box in another conduit to the test tach
connector. You can also see the black throttle cable curving off to the
right. |
| I cut the throttle cable to fit, by the way (not absolutely
necessary). This required removing the cable sheath from the actuator (two
screws), cutting the factory compression fitting off the center cable,
pulling the cable back beyond the sheath cut point, and cutting the sheath
to the desired length. I put everything back together and cut the center
cable to permit enough movement and reach my attachment point. I needed a
special tool to install a new compression fitting (below). Don't attempt
this without the proper tools and measure twice (or three times), cut
once. Plan very carefully and read on for more on the throttle cable
attachment. |
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| Then we have the cruise control buttons mounted to the center blank
above the driver's storage bin. The gray does not quite match, but it's
OK. I see I have some dirt on my storage bin door. I'll have to clean
that. Neat camera (Canon ELPH S100). I squeezed these last two down so you
would not be up all night downloading them. You should see the detail at
full size. |
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| Finally, here is the steel actuator cable bracket installed, and the
tie-in to the existing throttle cable. The black bracket is hard to see,
but it is at the upper right. The slot slips under the shiny accelerator
cable fitting just behind it. The actuator cable comes in front of the
accelerator cable and is clamped to the bracket using a Rostra clamp and
stainless a steel bolt and elastic stop nut (I bought those). The
shortened actuator cable is swadged (special tool) to a short Rostra
adapter cable having a swadged bead designed for a bead chain fitting.
Then, a five bead chain goes in front of the accelerator cable to another
Rostra bead chain adapter that is bolted to my stainless steel washer
connector solution. I've included a simple drawing below. The solution is
a sandwich of four stainless steel washers. The outside of the sandwich is
two flat washers. The center is two nested stainless concave trim washers.
The top washer is notched at 180 degrees, forming entrance and exit routes
for the accelerator cable. The cable must follow a curved path between the
trim washers. When snugged together with the bolt, the bottom trim washer
holds the accelerator cable in the groove and nothing can slip. The flat
washers just provide a flat pressure surface for the bolt head and elastic
stop nut. |
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| In the table below is some wiring information as things are today
(6/24). I'd recommend that others not use the test harness, by the way
($). I did it because I had to figure things out and I did not want to
damage stuff in the process. |
