Speed Limiter On Mondeo Mk4 Dropping Out

[matts88]

Hi all,

I have a 2011 Titanium X Mondeo which I have just purchased. However, an annoying fault has just surfaced with regards to the Speed Limiter and Cruise Control functions. Last Saturday, the Speed Limiter function stopped working all of a sudden. I had been in my car for about 2-3 minutes, set it to 30mph, and was approaching some lights when it disengaged automatically. I pressed the button on the wheel to switch it back on but nothing happened. I tried long press, short press, hard press etc, but nothing. The cruise control button also did not respond I noticed. It stayed like this for well over an hour, and I only realised it had come back to life when I tried it later on in the journey. I mentioned this on Wednesday to my local Ford garage but was told that it was very hard to diagnose if they can’t see the fault. As I drove off, I set the limiter and the fault just happen to appear again and the same thing happened… I approached some lights after about 2-3 minutes and it dropped out and would not come back to life. I turned round and went straight back to the garage while the fault was still present. One of technicians ran some diagnostics on the car and found (I think he said) a communication fault to do with the instrument control panel, but he wasn’t able to identify if it was software related or even just a loose connection. I believe he then cleared the fault on his computer so that it showed clear on his laptop and all working, but the actual fault of the Speed Limiter and Cruise Control buttons not working, was still present. I have attached a screenshot of what his computer said. The actual fault remained present until I got home. So maybe what his computer showed was not the Speed Limiter fault maybe?

Half an hour after I got home, I had to go out again and low and behold, everything was working ok again. The buttons weren’t working when I parked up, but had come back to life once I had got back in the car. So there is a definite intermittent fault somewhere, but from what I understand, it will quite difficult to diagnose and was certainly not a fault the local garage had seen before.

Has anyone heard of this before? It has happened a third time now. The only common thing I can link all three times with is that I turned the speed limiter function on within about 2-4 minutes of starting the engine. Do Mondeos need a few minutes to warm up and boot up maybe!?!? I also have the PowerShift gearbox. I have used the function plenty of times in a journey, but on those occasions, I have turned into on later in the journey. It could be purely coincidental, but that is the only common thing I can think of.

If anyone knows the answer, then it would be great to hear from you, as my Ford garage are scratching their heads.

Thanks,

Matt

[Stoney871]

I'd say a wiring fault or loose connection somewhere.

[jeebowhite]

I would spray the cruise and speed buttons with contact cleaner. Intermittent function had been seen a few times on the Mondeo

[iantt]

thats a serious amount of dtcs showing on that image!! they all need clearing and running again now your still having the fault appear on you, but normally its the switches on steering wheel or theres a module behind the steering wheel that intermitantly plays up also. not easy to diagnose unfortunatly.

even if the dtc indicates a right or left steering wheel control module malfunction , it can still be the other module behind steering wheel,

bcmii dtcs are the ones to look for primarily.

[matts88]

Thanks for the advice guys. I agree that dirty contacts would be a good answer, but I find it very odd that on the three times it has occurred, the only only common thing between all occasions is that I activated it within the first 2 or 3 minutes of starting the engine. I have used the Speed Limiter at least a hundred times in the past month (I live where there are lots of police piggy banks round me so it is a very useful feature!), and when I turn it on well into the journey, it's fine. Of course, this could be pure coincidence and it could happen when I turn it on into a journey

iantt - The image I posted doesn't really mean anything to me lol. What exactly are the faults showing on it? Are they to do with the speed limiter and cruise control or the controls on the steering wheel in general? and clumped together? Or does it suggest something more sinister? The chap at Ford didn't seem too concerned and cleared the faults on his laptop, and the laptop then showed them clear (but in grey to show they were present recently, sure that is what he told me anyway). But the actual fault was still present when I left and only cleared once I had got home, parked and then gone out 30 mins later.

Shame computers and software aren't mechanical so you can see the fault... I've never needed a laptop to plug into my 22 year Rover (just a welding torch to weld up the sills!!!) ;)

[jeebowhite]

The joys of can bus lol. I have a windows tablet which runs forscan and the cable. They are a handy combination to just leave under a seat in case of breakdown or problem.