I had a similar issue and took it to my dealer. They re flashed and the problem has not come back since....

 

I was wondeirng the same thing. I know on my wifes, you can't put it in gear with the brake.

I know on mine I am holding the brake and clutch, I'm not sure if you have to hold the brake or not with the standard, but I prefer to not roll....

 

WRT the question, "How do you shift in to gear without pressing the brake?" The car is a 5 speed. Perhaps that was being asked of another poster.

Since my cruise control behaves consistently I'm not convinced there is anything wrong with it. It seems to me to be designed to work that way. With this post I was hoping that someone else with similar a car would see if their cars exhibited similar behavior. Someone with a 2008 5 speed SS please see if you can engage the CC without first tapping the brake pedal. Leaving the CC powered up all the time has no effect on this behavior. When I start out with it switched off, and then turn it on, it still won't engage until I tap the brake pedal.

If it was a problem with a switch it would be very unlikely to behave so consistently. Once the CC is engaged the clutch and brake switches work perfectly. If I stop and shut the car off. After I start it up again, if I don't step on the brake the CC will not engage.

 

My Car is an automatic so when the cruise control issue occurs on the highway, I slip in into neutral while gliding down hill, turn the ignition off to kill the motor for about 2 seconds, then while gliding start the car normally. No need to have your foot on the break to start it in this situation. Pulling over and coming to a complete stop on the side of the road and turning the car off would do the same thing. I call it a reboot.

Going to the dealer tuesday and have them check what the onboard computer says. (I have the big red button installed to capture detailed info)

 

No, it's not normal. You should be able to hit the set button once the main switch is on once you are up to speed. I have an '09 5sp and had the same problem this past weekend on a trip. I just had the same problem this past weekend on a short trip (500 miles), a month after taking an extended trip (3000 miles) with no problems.

It worked fine after I shut it down to get gas so something's not right with your ride. Mine is going to go to the dealer to have it checked out and would suggest you do it too. It could be a switch sticking or a glitch in the programming as others have mentioned.

Rob

 

Why I love this website!
I had the "problem" of my cruise not engaging after a brief stop and engine shutdown/restart. The dealer re-flashed and I didn't have the problem any more, or so I thought. The other day, I stopped at a vegetable stand to get some tomatoes, restarted and hit the road. Tried to engage the cruise, and nothing.... So, I tried tapping the brakes, and sure enough the cruise came on after that.
Had I not read this thread, I would have been back to my dealer trying to get a problem fixed that probably really isn't a problem. It's probably just a fluke in the GM algorithms. Since I have a manual, no brakes are required to start and put into gear... Automatic drivers probably never have this issue as the brakes must be depressed to put into gear.

 

see after i saw this thread the first time i tried it. I have an auto, pushed brake, put in gear, pulled out of my car port, tried to engage cruise, nothing. stopped at the corner, sped up, engaged cruise just fine. Plus i never have a problem with my cruise either. So at least to me it seems like the first brake push doesn't count to put it in gear, just you need to brake sometime after that? I don't know, might try it again. Very rarely would i be engaging cruise without hitting the brakes first, so i am fine...

 

Mostly to satisfy my curiosity I discussed this issue with the service department at the dealer last week. Until I demonstrated what I was talking about they probably thought I was nuts. Now they're all scratching their heads. It is interesting to hear that someone else has experienced the same cruise control behavior.

 

You might want to read the last post in this thread...

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/problems-service-repairs-42/cruise-control-not-working-20991/

 

Has anyone noticed that if you go over 90 then slow back down and try to put it on cruise it wont work? is there something that would disable it so you cant set cruise at 90?