I know this tread is for heavy duty trucks but my 2002 f-150 is doing the same thing. I was in bed last night and the horn just went off. Had to pull the relay to get it to stop. Now cruise does not work. Is the clock spring the same in the F-150's?

 

Same way to replace same thing essentially. I replaced my clock spring and this did not remedy my issue at all. I think I have a rusted connection that has grounded out somewhere.

 

Thanks BigRy. I guess I will just have to put it in the shop to see what the problem is. I don't want to do alot of guess work and money and not find the problem.

 

I'm having an issue with my horn as well. 2001 F350 7.3. A couple of weeks ago, the horn started blowing about midnight. Scared the bejeebers outta me. Disconnected the battery and read about possible causes online, figured I'd deal with it later.

A few days later, with battery still disconnected, I dismounted the airbag and disconnected the horn from it's electrical connection thinking that the horn pad was bad. Left everything else intact.

Fast forward to today. Was out running some errands in another vehicle and I got a call on the phone that my truck horn was going sounding continuously. It was parked at my dad's house and wasn't locked. He seemed to have some success getting it to shut up by opening the front drivers side door but it would start sounding again shortly after. I disconnected the battery again.

One thing I did note this time, though, was that it rained yesterday, about 2", and it's interesting that today is the first day it's done that. It's been dry here for the previous several weeks other than the occasional shower that didn't amount to much. Yesterday, it pretty much rained all day long. Hmmm.

I'm thinking I'm gonna have to go looking around in the area of the fuse panel but don't know for sure just yet. I've heard that there can be leaks that can get in and do some damage to that area that can cause this issue. I have wondered, also, if I can get the thing to behave again, whether I can put some plastic in a strategic manner so that if such leaks occur again, that they won't be able to get to said fuse panel location. (??)

It's an old truck with almost 350k miles on it so it's not gonna get a nice cushy trip to the dealer for a makeover. It's sole purpose is to haul my rv and that's about all it gets used for. I do need it for a little while longer, though, and it sure would be nice to have a horn.

Figured I'd chime in since I'm obviously not the only one.

I did have the windshield replace a couple of years ago but I'm not sure that's where it's leaking in. (?) I saw the guy schmutzin' up that new windshield and he certainly did use enough schmutz.

Anyway, I'll let you all know what I find. Might be that drying out that fuse panel might be the ticket, like someone said before, but we'll see.

 

Ok, guys, figured I'd update at least this far...

Pulled out the fuse box and GEM today. The GEM appeared to be quite clean and not really any evidence of water. But the main connectors (2 big blocks on the lower rear) appeared to have had some water in them and the lower connectors are showing some corrosion. They're not all that bad but I would like to clean them up before putting it all back together again.

My big question is: Should I put some dielectric grease in on the connections before reinstalling the fuse box / GEM? I read mixed reviews about using it. Some swear by it in a good way, some swear at it in a bad way.

I didn't find any actual wetness inside of the cab, though, which is probably a good thing. I didn't find any wetness inside of the connectors either but I see what looks like significant moisture and dirt was in there. I did have the windshield replaced not all that long ago so this could be residue from water that was prevalent a good while back. After a rain, the gremlins do seem to show up, not sure if that could be just due to all of the humidity or whether there really is more moisture getting in. I didn't find it, though.

If you have an opinion of the dielectric grease, though, please let me know. I'm interested.

Thanks!

 

I had a truck that did this and it was water doing it. First it was the radio would stay on then the dome lights and lastly the horn. I never found where the water was coming in from but the only time it ever did it was when it would rain.

 

My last truck (2000 7.3) horn went off during a rain storm. Went to pull the fuse and found it all wet under the dash. Traced the leak to my clearance lights. Headliner funneled it into the a-pillar which dumped it into the fuse/relay box. A windshield leak I could see causing a similar problem as well.
I've found CLR cleaner works well to clean corroded connectors. (Just don't be surprised if their ain't much left of the pins though-it's always worse than it looks). Dielectric grease won't hurt anything either.

 

Expecting some rain today, so maybe (???) I'll get to see whether I can find some water coming in, and if I'm lucky, figure out where from. Fingers crossed.

Luckily, this truck is not a daily driver so it's no big deal to have things apart for a few days.

Thanks!

 

I'd just use a hose, much greater quantity and more focused.

 

Update:

Cleaned all of the connectors / connections really well, put on a little dielectric grease (not gobs of it, just a little) and reassembled. And it's a real bugger getting that thing in and out of there.

All seems to be functioning normally again, including the horn.

With all of the testing going on, I did test the batteries. One tested good and is doing most of the work despite being 5 years old. The other appears to have a good voltage but when load testing drops to like 5 volts. It's bad. Anyway, I have a new set on the way that I hope will last me a good while. I wasn't sure if a bad battery might be able to do some weird things in the electrical system as well. (?)

So that's it for now. Guess we'll see how long the gremlins stay away.

Thanks for the thoughts!

 

Replaced both batteries last evening and all seems to be well. Started better than it has in a long time. All things electrical are functioning normally, including the horn. Time will tell...

 

Well now I have this problem.
2006 F350
I just had replaced the clock spring back this last summer with a real
Motorcraft unit. I have not had any windshield work done and it seems to not
be leaking at all. This started at about 11:00 PM the panic button on my remote
did noting and even the entry one would not even unlock the door. I had to use
the key to open the door. The one thing that stopped it was pressing the horn.

Some of the local circumstances are. The truck sat all day and most of yesterday
and was cold out and it was cold tonight. Cold being 30ºF so not really cold.

Like I said the remote did noting not even unlock the door or flash the lights
when I hit the lock button just to see if it would do anything.

In the daylight I will do some investigating.





Merry Christmas


Sean


6.0L Tech Folder

 

I have the same problem with my 06 XLT. The horn didn't work when I bought the truck. Fuse was burnt - replaced the horn fuse - the horn started blowing continuously. Tapping around on the horn button I was able to get the horn to stop blowing. Tapping the horn button again the horn continuously honked. I pulled the fuse and that's where I'm at now. I'm guessing a new (used?) horn pad/air bag. I wouldn't think it would be the clock spring, if bad it should trip the Air Bag light. So for now and the last 6 months I've just ignored the horn and use FINGER!

 

The airbag circuit is on 2 wires all by it's self.
Most times when a clock spring fails it fails as
an OPEN circuit. The sad thing is to replace the horn
button you also have to do the airbag at about $500.
Right now I am happy I don't have the train horns I want to have.
I think that night wake the dead and I would become
part of the very newly dead.





Merry Christmas


Sean


6.0L Tech Folder

P.S. Guess I should change that to HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 Where it is all go???

 

Sean, thanks for clearing things up for me. I ASSumed that the clock spring was for the air bag since I didn't see them show up until after air bags came along. And you know what they say when you assume something.
I know what you mean about having an air horn - I too have been looking at them lately. I already have a (used) 2 gallon tank and a Viair 330C compressor mounted on my truck for my rear air bags and figure why not for air horns too. Yes I'm sure I'll get in trouble with air horns but I also have a Federal 300PA siren on my Hearse I've been known to use quite frequently. Great for clearing slow traffic poking along in front of me though I do tend to get the one finger salute when I use it. Just cause I'm 62 doesn't mean I have to grow up.