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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Horn wiring issue

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Old Apr 20, 2023 | 08:35 PM
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Horn wiring issue

Trying to figure out what’s up with my horn. Just bought the truck and don’t know much about it, but someone required the horn for some reason and I tried messing with it. Looks like the yellow wire is suppose to go to the horns, but it’s constant 12v and that’s not right. Any thoughts?

 
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Old Apr 21, 2023 | 09:51 AM
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What year is your truck? Does it has Speed Control (buttons on the steering wheel)? Not sure what's going on, but wiring diagrams are here, page 108:

https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1986-evtm.html
 
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Old Apr 21, 2023 | 10:04 AM
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I have a 1986 with cruise on the steering wheel. I ran a wire from the yellow to the horn and it’s a constant on. Thinking maybe the horn relay is stuck or something? That’s why someone disconnected it and re wired it some weird way.
 
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Old Apr 21, 2023 | 02:53 PM
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Look closely at that yellow wire. If it has a lightgreen stripe on it, it does come from the horn relay.



 
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Old Apr 21, 2023 | 05:42 PM
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Here is a link with a picture of the horn relay
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17771445

Good info and photos of what to look for under steering wheel cruise pad.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-cruise-2.html

Good luck, Jim
 
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Old Apr 22, 2023 | 06:19 AM
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You guys think if the relay is bad it could be stuck closed causing that yellow wire to be constantly hot?
 
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Old Apr 22, 2023 | 06:45 AM
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That relay lives in a good environment under the dash. Could the wiring in the steering column be messed up activating the relay all the time? That would be more likely. But all this is just guessing. First thing I would do is find the relay and pull it. If the relay clicks when you pull it, and then the yellow/green goes dead, then the relay was being activated all the time. To go much further than that you are going to need a testlight or voltmeter.
 
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Old Apr 23, 2023 | 06:34 PM
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So unplugged the relay and the yellow wire is still hot, fuse is tested and is good. Ran hot straight to horns and they work also. But pressing the horn doesn’t even engage the relay. I’m confused
 
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Old Apr 23, 2023 | 07:52 PM
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That same yellow wire comes from the relay. See if it's hot at the relay plug when the relay is unplugged. It's going to be hard to tell, but a yellow/lightblue feeds the relay plug and should be hot at all times. The yellow/lightgreen leaves the relay to feed the horns. If both yellow wires show power with the relay unplugged, you have a wiring problem on that yellow/lightgreen wire.
 
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Old Apr 23, 2023 | 08:21 PM
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Yea the issue is the wire under the horn is solid yellow, no green or blue. I can’t see a yellow/green wire. But i looked at the relay and it seemed like 2 yellow/blue wires coming from the relay. But I’ll check again.
shouldn’t the relay click when u press the horn if power is getting sent to the relay?
 
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Old Apr 24, 2023 | 07:20 PM
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The relay will only click when the darkblue on the relay is grounded. The darkblue is grounded inside the steering wheel.

The darkgreen and the darkblue stripes are going to be hard to tell apart. It is looking like you are connecting the horns to the wrong wire, it should have a stripe.
 
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