Avalon cruise control light blinks but cruise doesn't engage

2003 Avalon. I changed the battery about a year ago and the CC quit
working. Took it in to the dealer and it wasn't working on the way in.
Then the mechanic comes and says he doesn't see anything wrong. Sure
enough, it was working. Dunno what, if anything, they did. He said it
needed time for the computer to synch up or something. I have to admit
I was suspicious of the miraculous timing when it fixed itself. But
anyway, that's history.

I don't use cruise much because I take a different car on road trips.
When I recently did try it, the cruise control light comes on, but
when I try to set speed it doesn't take and the cruise control light
blinks. The car has about 40K miles on it, no accidents.

I guess what I want to know is what might cause that? I don't want to
go in to the dealer and get scammed for a few hundred bucks repair if
they just re-seat a plug or something. Any advice anyone?

--Lynn

"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
news:CI-dneIy3oQdlG7anZ2dnUVZ_jednZ2d@...
>
> "[Mr.] Lynn Kurtz" <kurtz@asu.edu.invalid> wrote in message
> news:asLyR6Tuxs4RM2K9eqOWHD7I8VzR@...
>> 2003 Avalon. I changed the battery about a year ago and the CC quit
>> working. Took it in to the dealer and it wasn't working on the way in.
>> Then the mechanic comes and says he doesn't see anything wrong. Sure
>> enough, it was working. Dunno what, if anything, they did. He said it
>> needed time for the computer to synch up or something. I have to admit
>> I was suspicious of the miraculous timing when it fixed itself. But
>> anyway, that's history.
>>
>> I don't use cruise much because I take a different car on road trips.
>> When I recently did try it, the cruise control light comes on, but
>> when I try to set speed it doesn't take and the cruise control light
>> blinks. The car has about 40K miles on it, no accidents.
>>
>> I guess what I want to know is what might cause that? I don't want to
>> go in to the dealer and get scammed for a few hundred bucks repair if
>> they just re-seat a plug or something. Any advice anyone?
>>
>> --Lynn
>
> The blinking cruise control light means that the CC computer has detected
> a problem. If the light is still blinking when you take it to the dealer,
> they can scan the computer memory for a fault code. Cruise control
> problems are not very common on Toyotas so unfortunately, there is no
> obvious place to look.
> --
>
> Ray O
>
That much I can vouch for....the CC light on the instrument panel of my 2003
Avalon goes on when I activate the CC, and Does Not blink.
And I'll agree with Ray that Toyotas seem to have very few problems with
their electronics. It was explained to me once that Toyota stays with
pretty much the same electronic set up year after year when they find
something that works well and is trouble free.
The Germans, on the other hand, seem to want everything that is NEW and THE
LATEST thing....and they wind up putting a lot of unproven electrical
crapola in their vehicles to their sorrow.

On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 22:48:10 -0700, "mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com>
wrote:

>
>"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
>news:CI-dneIy3oQdlG7anZ2dnUVZ_jednZ2d@...
>>
>> "[Mr.] Lynn Kurtz" <kurtz@asu.edu.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:asLyR6Tuxs4RM2K9eqOWHD7I8VzR@...

>>> ...I guess what I want to know is what might cause that? I don't want to
>>> go in to the dealer and get scammed for a few hundred bucks repair if
>>> they just re-seat a plug or something. Any advice anyone?
>>>
>>> --Lynn
>>
>> The blinking cruise control light means that the CC computer has detected
>> a problem. If the light is still blinking when you take it to the dealer,
>> they can scan the computer memory for a fault code. Cruise control
>> problems are not very common on Toyotas so unfortunately, there is no
>> obvious place to look.
>> --
>>
>> Ray O
>>
>That much I can vouch for....the CC light on the instrument panel of my 2003
>Avalon goes on when I activate the CC, and Does Not blink.
>And I'll agree with Ray that Toyotas seem to have very few problems with
>their electronics. It was explained to me once that Toyota stays with
>pretty much the same electronic set up year after year when they find
>something that works well and is trouble free.
>The Germans, on the other hand, seem to want everything that is NEW and THE
>LATEST thing....and they wind up putting a lot of unproven electrical
>crapola in their vehicles to their sorrow.
>

Yes, that's how it worked until it quit working. Thanks to both of
your for your replies.

--Lynn

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 23:30:21 -0500, "Ray O"
<rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:


>You're welcome! Please share what you or your repair facility finds.

OK, I will promise to do that. I'm a bit of a procrastinator and I am
a little under the weather right now, so it won't be immediately. But
in the near future...

--Lynn

On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 23:30:21 -0500, "Ray O"
<rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:

>>>> The blinking cruise control light means that the CC computer has
>>>> detected
>>>> a problem. If the light is still blinking when you take it to the
>>>> dealer,
>>>> they can scan the computer memory for a fault code. Cruise control
>>>> problems are not very common on Toyotas so unfortunately, there is no
>>>> obvious place to look.
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Ray O

>> Thanks...
>> --Lynn
>
>You're welcome! Please share what you or your repair facility finds.

OK, like I said it might be a while before I get around to taking my
2003 Avalon in, which I did today. Diagnosis is open circuit inside
cruise control activator. The cruise control activator part is quoted
at $1456.73 [gasp!]. I passed on the repair at this point. I don't
drive it on the road that much that it simply isn't worth it to me.
Someone suggested looking in a scrapyard for a salvage replacement. I
don't know anything about that part except that it apparently pulls
the throttle cable with a servo or something. It seems to me like an
open circuit ought to be something *repairable*, but what do I know?

Anyway, that's the current status.

--Lynn