Pontiac Repair: cruise control 2002 Bonneville, cruise control module, pontiac bonneville

Question
2002 Pontiac Bonneville, 3.8 engine. 152,000 miles*
Cruise control disconnects/shuts off at various times while driving. I can feel a slight bump and then notice the speed of my vehicle begins to decrease, as if I had pressed the brake pedal. Sometimes I can re-engage cruise control by pressing the cruise buttons,(one slider type button turns on the cruise, and the other at the end of light/turnsignal stick engages cruise)  but most times I have to pull over and turn off the engine. Cruise will begin working again after restarting engine. It's as if the computer or module needs to be reinitialized. I dunno. Another website pointed to the instrument cluster, and yet another merely referred to the cruise control module. Nothing is said about cruise control in my repair manual.

*I bought the car used last year, and was told by the dealer that the engine has been replaced. Hence, I do not actually know the mileage. It runs fine, except for the cruise dropping out.

Answer
Hey Dwayne:

The Cruise is a pretty complex system on this car. there are a lot of pieces of the puzzle. the switches on the steering wheel, the brake switch the engine computer and the cruise module to name just a bit of the system. the problem can be with any of these. does it happen all the time? it's going to have to be driven with a scan tool on it and see if any of the switches cut out and that the engine computer is not cutting out the cruise permission. the engine control module gives the cruise module the permission to to work. you could have a base engine control issue and it affects the cruise operation. has any service engine soon lamp come on? I acn't give you an exact answer here and being that it'sintermittant makes it even harder. But the pieces I mentione one of them is the culprit. I would lean towards a brake switch or a cruise control module but any of the other things could be also.. Good luck :)