How To: Fit Cruise Control to a 1.4TDi

[jon_273]

Special credit for this must go to MrBiscuit, Gazza and Cardaft for help figuring this out!

The 1.4TDI engine is capable of supporting of cruise control, even though it was never on the options list. In order to retro fit cruise, a custom made wiring loom and activation with VAG-COM is required. For that OEM finish, a T4 Transporter cruise control stalk is a perfect match.

Fitting the loom

Since there is no wiring loom in place already, a custom one has to be made. The wiring loom connects the switches for the cruise control functions to the ECU. This involves dismantling the ECU connections and a bit of soldering; only attempt if it you feel confident. Make sure to disconnect the battery before taking anything apart.

I made up a test loom using two push-to-make switches I had lying around, as I wanted to confirm the cruise worked before I ordered the stalk. The loom needs four wires:

 

I chose to feed the loom through a hole in the bulkhead, above the clutch pedal. On the engine-bay side there is a large hole with a blank grommet, to the right of the master cylinder. Here it is with the grommet removed:

 

There is actually another smaller hole to the left of this big hole, there was no blanking plug in it which I thought was odd, so I decided to feed the wire through there instead of cutting up the larger grommet.

(I have since fitted it with a rubber grommet)

 

I chose to feed the wire through the rubber plug into the plenum chamber under the scuttle panel. I removed some of the black tape to pierce the hole. I'll replace the tape to make it look neater after I've finished.

 

Next I threaded the new loom through the existing plastic trunking for that factory finish look (it took a while!). Another member (Gazza) used a separate piece trunking that matches the original, as can be seen here:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/troolad/02072008034.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/troolad/02072008037.jpg

Now remove the left hand ECU plug by sliding out the slider behind where the wires enter the plug (hard to explain but you'll know after you've done it once). Snip the black cable tie, then prise off the cover from the end where the wires enter. It should now look like this:

 

Flip the plug over and remove the purple t-piece using a screwdriver, like in these pics:

 

Pull this out taking care not to snap it:

 

Gently pull on the top layer or wires to remove the plug. Insert a jewellers screwdriver as shown to straighten the retaining lug:

 

Slide out the connector:

 

Solder connections onto loom and insert them into the plug as follows:

MrBiscuit said:

1. (white) ECU 46 cruise on/off

2. (Blue) ECU 45 Resume

3. (red) ECU 44 Set

4. (Black) ECU 14 Enable cruise (& connect to ignition 12V for stalk)

The colours of course are arbitrary, 1 to 4 is the connection to the proper stalk control if required.

If you are using different colours like I did, make a note of which colour goes to which number:

The soldering isn't as bad as it looks, honestly!

 

Now it should look something like this:

 

Refit the cover on the plug and put everything back together. Make sure none of the wiring is anywhere near any hot or moving parts. Inside the car, I cable tied the loom to the wire that goes to the clutch pedal switch, to keep it away from the pedal mechanisms. The wire can be seen in the top left of this pic:

 

Switches in temporary position in the dashboard:

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by jon_273

[jon_273]

Fitting the stalk

The stalk that fits is from a VW Transporter T4 (part number: 7D0 998 527, retains at £65 inc. VAT)

The stalk is almost a straight swap, however I found that after fitting mine it fouled the cowelling slightly. When pulling the stalk to flash someone it wasn't returning to its original position, and the headlights were staying on. The bit that catches can be seen here:

 

You can see the slight difference between the CC stalk and the original stalk here:

 

I used a modelling file to re-shape the cowelling and stalk so it doesn't touch any more:

Remove the airbag and steering wheel and fit the stalk:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/troolad/30062008022.jpg

Connect up the loom that came with the stalk and run it under the steering column. There is space under the steering column to mount the connector:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/troolad/30062008023.jpg

(note how the wire colours change across the connector)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/troolad/30062008024.jpg

The stalk in place:

 

Connecting the stalk to the custom loom

A +12v feed is required for the cruise control to work, ideally this should be ignition switched. I chose to use the ignition switched 12v to the headunit since I have an aftermarket headunit and it was easy to get to. Alternatively, the heated rear screen button could be used. It may be a good idea to add an inline fuse as an extra precaution too.

Now you have four wires from the stalk, four wires from the ECU and one 12v feed. The four wires from the stalk correspond with the four wires from the ECU (whatever colours you chose):

White --> ECU 46 (for cruise on/off switch)

Blue --> ECU 45 (for resume)

Red --> ECU 44 (for Set)

The +12v feed must be spliced into the fourth connection:

Black --> ECU 14 (the +12v feed 'enables' cruise in the ECU and gives 12v to the stalk)

Activating with VAG-COM

Instructions for this can be found on the VAG-COM website. Also, the stalk comes with a booklet giving the activation code. The trial version of VAG-COM can be used to activate cruise.

Basically:

MrBiscuit said:

From Ross tech Enable cruise

Activating Cruise Control on a new ECU (DBW):

Factory fresh ECU's often come with cruise control de-activated. If this is the case, there will not be a letter "G" in the Component field of VAG-COM when connected to the Engine.

[select]

[01 - Engine]

[Login - 11]

Enter 11463 to activate cruise control

[Do It!]

After doing this procedure, there should be a letter "G" in the Component field.

Phil

You can use VAG-COM to check the operation of the stalk be reading some measuring blocks.

Reading measuring block 022 in the engine controller (ECU) whilst operating the stalk functions:

00000X Enable cruise

0000X0 Cruise on/off

000X00 Set

00X000 Resume

Measuring block 006 in the engine controller will show 1.0 when the switch is moved to 'ON', indicating cruise is active.

If VAG-COM shows correct operation of the stalk then thats it - installation is complete!

Enjoy

 

Edited April 2 by jon_273

[jon_273]

Photos re-hosted