Cruise Control, ABS Light, Climate Control wierd results
 

I have a 2004 Mountaineer. I am having what I am calling wierd electrical usage.

I startup up and take off, sometimes the cruise control works sometimes it doesnt. If it does, it works great till I hit the brake or turn it off. Then it wont turn on and sometimes the ABS light comes on. If I stop and shut the motor off, then startup again most of the time the cruise control works again, the ABS light is off, but the same behavior results when I hit the brake almost 80% of the time.

I have also noticed that sometimes the Climate Control doesnt rememeber the previous settings. For example, if I have the unit on with say 70 set on each side then shut car off, then turn the car back on the unit might stay off, or if it comes back on the setting is at 75.

Any Ideas?

weak battery, voltage regulator getting bad, alternator having trouble (probably all heat related issues). Any one of those could cause electrical weirdness. also, loose battery cables could also do that. loose ground wires as well (usually not the case, but I've had it happen to me before - it was very random).

I am having the EXACT same problems as you posted. Did you ever get this fixed? If so, what did you do?

ABS light comes and goes, cruise control rarely works, power windows randomly quit working, and heat/ac does not remember the settings.

Have the electrical system checked out. It sounds like you are experiencing a voltage drop. I would start with the battery, the most likely problem. The ABS system needs to be scanned it should be setting a code that can be retrived, most likely rear wheel sensor.

I finally gave up. After several years I traded it in on a F-150

good luck.

Battery or Alternator. I would put money on the diode bridge going bad. These new cars are very picky about voltage levels. I had a Ford Focus that was acting very strangely. The radio would fade in and out, interior lights would barely come on. It was a bad alternator.