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It grounds to the shaft. There is supposed to be a rubbing block down in the column somewhere that grounds the shaft, since the rag joint on the steering box insulates the shaft from ground. Some people's rubbing block goes bad/missing/whatever, and they have to take and bolt a small wire from one side of the rag joint to the other to it will ground through the steering box.
I guess you do know all this horn wiring runs through a brush and a ring up there so you can turn the wheel without the wiring getting twisted.
Steering columns are fun to work on.(not).
I found this from the forum reffering to what your talking about. I'm going to have to get a better understanding on this before I can even know if its the problem here or not.
I found this from the forum reffering to what your talking about. I'm going to have to get a better understanding on this before I can even know if its the problem here or not.
That certainly looks like it could be something known as a speed control amplifier... and the silver can could very well be the horn relay...
You already have Page 66 of the EVTM, here are the rest of the pages... compare the colors of the wires on that device under the column... look for a ~6-pin connector under the hood near the brake master cylinder with the same color wires the book says lead to the underhood servo (sounds like yours has been removed)....
Yep, I'm pretty sure that's the amplifier. You can see the two connectors are the right color and have the right number of wires. Plus, several of the wires are the right color.
OK, here's some helpful info on reading the EVTM...
I took a gander, it looks like your device has some of the same-colored wires being depicted in the EVTM's drawing:
LG/BK H = Light Green wire with a black hash
BK = Black
Y/RH = Yellow with red hash
P/LB H = Purple with light-blue hash
etc. etc. etc.
FYI:
P = purple
PK = pink
LG = light green
LB = light blue
O = orange
etc. etc. etc.
Some of the colors may not match up exactly to what the book says (which is for 1981) meaning you may see a solid stripe on your wire when the book calls for a hash or a dot or (vice versa). Things changed some over the years and the book is not always 100% correct but it should get you started.
But, in the end, it looks like you originally had speed control installed on that thing....
Make sure you have power, and ground the wire up in the column to a good ground somewhere on the truck(use a short piece of wire as a extension) and see if the relay clicks/horn blows. If it does, touch it to the steering shaft. If it doesn't on the shaft, then you have a grounding problem on the shaft.
Make sure you have power, and ground the wire up in the column to a good ground somewhere on the truck(use a short piece of wire as a extension) and see if the relay clicks/horn blows. If it does, touch it to the steering shaft. If it doesn't on the shaft, then you have a grounding problem on the shaft.
Since I'm not really good at all this can I ask you which wire I should try to give a good ground to?
And to clarify, I should (if necessary) splice this wire and ground it so that I would be "manually" closing the circuit?
If the circuit closes and the horn/relay make their sounds when I manually ground but DO NOT make sounds when I use shaft as a ground then I could assume its a grounding issue in the column? Correct?
So there IS a difference in the cruise control VS non cruise column.
My 84 has the cruise setup under the hood, but nothing on the steering wheel horn pad. I bought a pad with cruise buttons on it, but it didn't work, and then the horn would only work with the OFF/ON switch for the cruise. I also think someone switched the column many moons ago. I found a set of old dirty keys hidden by the trailer hitch, the door key worked, but not the ignition.
Since I'm not really good at all this can I ask you which wire I should try to give a good ground to?
And to clarify, I should (if necessary) splice this wire and ground it so that I would be "manually" closing the circuit?
If the circuit closes and the horn/relay make their sounds when I manually ground but DO NOT make sounds when I use shaft as a ground then I could assume its a grounding issue in the column? Correct?
You will be looking at the right side diagram now that you have a cruise equipped truck. In the diagram it says it's a darkblue wire. See where it says "voltage supply brush"?
You will be looking at the right side diagram now that you have a cruise equipped truck. In the diagram it says it's a darkblue wire. See where it says "voltage supply brush"?
Im having trouble visualizing where that is on the truck itself and what it looks like. I will try and trace it when I get home from work
01-28-2015, 12:36 PM
