2001 PRIUS CRUISE CONTROL

Yay the classic cruise control install! This has not come up in a while. I was motivated to perform this upgrade in Jan 2002, immediately after a 500-mile driving day. First, the parts. The mainstream way to do this is to purchase a new steering wheel (with CC switch installed) and a new brake light switch. Those parts are sold bundled by Metro Toyota for $151:

http://www.metrotpn.com/ProductDetails.asp...=73&SortIndex=1

And you might use that info to get your local parts store to match price. Always a good thing to support metro, though.

Now the instructions: Some come with the parts. Pay particular attention to disconnecting the 12-volt battery, removing the service plug from the HV battery, and waiting at least 5 minutes for capacitors to discharge. You want all the electricity zeroed before handling the air bag! This web site provides some additional useful info:

http://www.ozonehouse.com/prius/

Even though it also describes some steps you won't be doing. One tricky part is to break loose a welded nut that holds the brake light switch in place. I nicked the welds with a cutting wheel and a Dremel Mototool ™, and then could wrench it off easily. Expect to see some sparks fly here, and protect thine eyes.

When installing the new brake light switch, it is very important to set its "depth" so that brake lights come on (and cruise is cancelled) at the slightest press on the brake pedal. You might have to play with the adjustment a bit.

Michelle Vandeboncoeur (the Prius human database) also has some useful photos of the process:

http://www.kluge.net/~felicity/pics/index.php?group=2

This is not a difficult DIY. The cruise is a great addition. Moving the lever changes speed in very uniform 1 mph steps. Plus, in the classic Prius, you get to use cruise while in "B mode". New Prius have lost that feature. It is spooky effective at holding speed on steep downhills. You will end up with a spare steering wheel, which is a pretty nice toy. Or you could try to sell it on ebay. Everybody else does!

 

I just performed this upgrade to my 2001. I bought the wheel kit from Metro Toyota online for $151.00. I took all of two hours. The brake light switch was not as hard to remove as the Ozonehouse instructions claim. There is a bracket that can be removed with two screws that give open access to the switch. You do have to remove the lower dash panel under the steering wheel. It is really easy and the instructions that come with the wheel are pretty easy to read even though a broken Japanese translation.

The only glitch I had was when I hooked the battery back up and tuened on the car, as soon as I hit the cruise control switch the Check engine light came on and my display lit up like a Christmas tree. After sitting for a couple minutes this went away. I am not sure if it was the cruise control coming on for the first time or if it was because my battery had been disconnected for two hours. It seems to be fine now.

I hope to have much more driving pleasure with this feature.

Brian.....

 

Brian, if the cruise control works, you have installed it correctly. Just make sure that the brake lights light with the slightest pressure on the brake pedal. That confirms that you have set the new brake pedal switch at the correct depth. After a few months you might also crawl back down there to confirm that the nuts holding that switch in the correct location are still firmly tight. If they are, I suppose it wouldn't need checking again.

 

I just learned about this mod over the weekend! Being super psyched about cruise, I ordered the package form Metro Toyota post-haste.

 

hello guys,

my prius 2001 right-hand without cruise light (indicator) at all.
cruise switch is installed, stop switch was't need to be replaced (thewe was already brake switch with two set of wires). cruise block didn't respond while connecting hand-test scanner, so it dosn't work.

is anybody could point me what to check ?
is it possible to enable cruise with out light (lamp) on the panel ?

 

Hi Shubin,

Mine is also RHD without cruise light. Although there are 2 set of wires, one of them was not connected since the Non-cruise ver. uses a different brake light switch; it has only single switch instead of double switch. The additional switch is used to cancel CC when the brake pedal is depressed. This pair of wires must be shorted to enable CC and opened to cancel CC.

Since you didn't replace the brake light switch, I think that could be your problem. I suggest you use a multimeter to measure the 2 pair of wires. 1 pair (Red and Green?) should have one that is always hot (Red?) and the other (Green?) only has 12V when the brake pedal is depressed. The other pair (Black and Black?) should be shorted normally and opened when the brake pedal is depressed.

I also did not replace my brake light switch. Instead, I used a Normally Closed Relay to connect the pair (Black and Black?) and it should be activated by the (Green?) wire to cause it to open when the brake pedal is depressed.

Your colour of wires may vary.

 

Hey guy I'm new to the forum and I just installed the CC mod on my 01 Prius. I used btburner425's method to remove the brake switch. The only difference is I removed two brackets which gave me plenty of room. I used a regular 14mm open end wrench. It took about 2 minutes to get the switch off.

 

I recently added cruise control to a Gen1 Prius (2002). After reading the notes various people had prepared I opted for sacrificing a harbor freight 14mm wrench to remove the brake switch nut...with a short wrench and a vice grip it took 20 seconds to loosen the nut enough to get the switch out....and no need to dremel under the dash.

The Gen1 with Cruise brake switch is the same as Gen2 with cruise, since more than 90% of Gen2's had cruise I got a used switch from Adopt-a-part in Denver rather than $40+ for a new one at the dealer.



You can remove one of the springs to give you more access. The nut to loosen is on the other side of the bracket with welded nut. Use a vice grip on your wrench for more leverage.


Non Cruise switch on left


Cruise switch right has extra contacts (4 total). Gen1 wiring harness is already wired for 4 contacts.

 

How hard is it to retrofit a 2001 prius with parts from a 20 done car?

 

Dang auto correct, "2003 doner car"

 

Hello All!!! Time to BUMP this thread into the new decade!!

I just got my G1 Prius up and running and now I WISH for cruise control. The old links don't seem to work any longer and I'm wondering if anyone has newer or updated experience with this kind of upgrade. I'm willing to tackle anything DIY once!!

Anyone tried a ROSTRA aftermarket CC?

Anyone got current info on the Toyota parts CC version?

Any and all help is appreciated!!

 

Metro Toyota is still around, they just use metrotoyota᠎.᠎com instead of the old metrotpn᠎.᠎com.

They used to sell a nice accessory kit that included the steering wheel with the right size cutout for the cruise switch, and the cruise switch, and the brake switch you need, all in one box for around $150.

It might have been
0850147801 - Cruise Control - Genuine Toyota Accessory
. Found under accessories, not parts, price seems about right after discounts, I think it's that whole kit. If you wanted to be sure maybe you could contact Metro, or another dealer, and ask.