Does anybody have an exploded diagram of how the factory horn bar is supposed to go into the steering wheel, specifically how it is attached and then how the horn is supposed to be wired? At some point along the life of my truck this has been disconnected and replaced with a very tacky looking horn button down on the column. if it's like everything else on my truck there is absolutely NO reason why this was done instead of fixing it correctly in the first place.

It's a '74 F-100 302 column shift 3-spd that has never even heard of cruise control. Thanks!

 

One wire clips to the back of the horn pad, the other is pushed into a hole on the steering wheel.

 

Yeah I figured it was something stupid simple. What holds the horn pad in place? Not trying to sound lazy, I just wanna know what I'm doing BEFORE I go digging around. Plus I'm waiting on somebody to come do an appraisal on my house so I don't wanna be arms deep in truck when he gets here.

 

Ok. I found that only 2 small screws hold the horn pad on. I also found that the horn pad mechanism is extremely simple and just had some corrosion on it. I disassembled it and used some contact cleaner to clean it all up and put it back together.

Now according to my multi-meter the horn pad / switch itself is actually working. Now I just need to figure out where to connect it! Here are some pictures maybe they will help.


This is what I had when I took it apart. One wire was connected inside the wheel. The female end of the spade terminal is connected to the horn pad and the male end is fixed in the wheel. Notice that the other wire though is not connected to anything.


Here it is with the wires removed. Notice there is only one place to connect a wire.


Here is a close up of the disconnected wire. Where is it supposed to go? I can put my meter across the two wires and have an open circuit until I press the pad, then it will ring across. So obviously both of these wires are involved in completing a circuit somehow. I am confused though where the second wire goes. I can use my meter inside the wheel and can ring from the male spade terminal over to the metal hub / nut assembly. Is this correct?

My horn had been disconnected under the dash and replaced with a regular switch. It is hot all the time and all the switch does is make it up to ground. I can see how the factory switch would do the same thing, but where in the world is it supposed to be getting it's hot all the time? I am open to the possibility that this wire / connection has simply been removed except that I don't see anywhere where that wire should have gone.

I figure I will find a wire under the dash that has been cut and will need to be spliced back, but I would like to get the upper end resolved first.

Ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

The one wire slips over the male spade terminal (3 O'clock position in the second picture) The "U" shaped terminal pushes into one of the two threaded holes in the steering wheel. This switch works by grounding the circuit.

 

From post #2

"the other is pushed into a hole on the steering wheel"

 

I read your post and I appreciate you are trying to help. However, you have not continued to read my next post and answer my question, specifically :

According to my meter, the spade terminal and the center shaft are electrically one and the same and are grounded. Connecting the horn pad in parallel will do nothing, and if I reconnect the wire that goes to the spade terminal under the dash and therfore apply the 12v from the horn relay to one of these I will build a nice little fire. Now since I'm pretty sure that Ford didn't intend for there to be fire under the dash, I felt it prudent to post and ask that question to make sure that what I was seeing was right and to verify exactly WHICH hole in the steering wheel you might be referring to.

You have been a great help to a lot of people on this forum, but your regurgitation of the exact same thing while blatantly ignoring what I asked is more than just a little bit rude.

This answer,
, although brief, actually answers what I am asking rather than assuming I didn't read and spewing back old information. Rather than just simply stating "a hole," he gives specifics, which tells me that what I am seeing with my meter cannot be right and I would be very well served to figure out how and why that spade terminal is grounded before I start blindly connecting things.

In the morning I'll look into it and I'm sure I will get it working from there. Mike, I appreciate your detailed response. Steponit, I appreciate the prompt response and the thought of trying to help, but we could all do without the attitude.

 

There was no attitude whatsoever

It is a simple procedure for those that know where things go.

How about I find you an illustration ?

 

If I knew where it went for sure I wouldn't have asked. And your kind offer, NOW, to find an illustration is a continuation of the attitude that you had before.

It's really easy to pick fights with people on the internet but it truly accomplishes nothing. Just relax and forget I even asked.

 

Sometimes there are things going on in the background after a quick short answer


Keep clicking the image until it is huge

 

The turn signal switch should have a small spring loaded brush that contacts a slip ring on the back side of the steering wheel, this ring is what the spade terminal is connected to.
I can't remember for sure but IIRC the brush should have a blue wire with a yellow trace. This wire goes to the horn relay. When you press the horn switch this wire grounds the circuit and triggers the horn relay.

 

This is from a newer truck but the principle is the same

Contact on back of sterring wheel rubs against those pins






THis one is from a 75 which is more like yours

 

Steponit, if you were truly working on digging up that information after the short answer, I owe you an apology.

Today I am gonna try to dig around under the dash and see if by chance the wire that was supposed to go up to my spade terminal just happens to be grounded under there. If it is I will disconnect it and then do some more probing with my meter. If it still rings over to the center I will dig a little deeper. A friend of mine has a steering wheel puller that I can borrow should I need it.

 

Ok, I have got the switch itself working and I have tracked down the wiring under the dash and fixed it. Now I have voltages where I should have voltages and nothing where I shouldn't. Only problem is that my horn still does not work.

Here is a picture of the inside of my column, excuse the 36 years of crud.


This looks very similar to the picture of the '75 and you will see there is ONE contact, which appears to be copper. I can use my meter and read 12v at this contact to a solid ground. Now the way this thing hooks up is as mentioned with a slip ring on the back of the wheel. I have cleaned both the pin and the slip ring with contact cleaner and 2000 grit sandpaper.

Now since there is only one pin this means that it has to make up to the steering shaft itself. I can place my meter from the pin to the center shaft and get somewhere around 10 volts. I can try to measure resistance from the center shaft over to a ground and it might as well be wide open, my meter doesn't have a high enough range to read it.

Likewise I can take a jumper from the pin to the center shaft and get nothing, but I can take the same jumper to a solid ground and the horn works. If then, it is supposed to ground to the center shaft, what is supposed to ground the shaft?

For what it's worth, the outside of the column seems to be very solidly grounded. Where the external horn switch was mounted, it just grounded right there. I can jumper from the copper pin to the outside of the column and it works.

 

Best I can tell this is supposed to ground across the rag joint between the column and the steering box. Can anybody confirm this?