All;
I have a 1993 F350 7.3L Diesel with a steering wheel problem. I had problems with the wheel binding sometimes when I tried to turn, I also lost the use of my horn. I pulled the steering wheel and found the horn wire cut and a plastic ring with 3 copper inner circles cracked and broken up. I also saw a broken off wire termination post I think. I removed all of these broken parts since they were just sitting there and put the wheel back on. I am able to turn the wheel without any problems but I need to replace the parts. Does anybody have a diagram or experience with replacing parts in the steering column. I don't know what parts I need to replace nor the correct way that they were originally installed. Please help.

 

that would be what many refer to as the "clock spring". It is the part that maintains contact with the horn button, and cruise if you have it. Also, it bumps the turn signal switch to cancel after turning. You can get by without replacing it, but you have to manually cancel the turn signals, and no horn, unless you were to wire up a push button somewhere. I don't know as I have a diagram, just have done them enough to be able to do it, but explaining is another story...

 

Hey Ross, Your best option is to go to a dealer seeing as they are dealer parts only
as far as I know. They may be good enough to let you see a picture or even print one out for you. That's what I do when I need parts that repaair books don't show. Good Luck.

 

If your truck is a 4x4, the steering binding could be bad front u-joints. I had the same problem and when the bad u-joint got into the "right" position it was almost impossible to turn the wheel.

 

i have the same prob in the steering wheel. but my truck does not bind when turning

please explain abit how to pull the steering wheel. as i need to fix my horn in order to get it to pass nh state inspection. i am thinking of rigging a temp horn switch but i would like to have crusie control agian and it to cancel when turning left. it cancels when turning right tho

 

look on the back side of the steering wheel, there should be at least 2 screws to dismount the steering wheel cover, remove that and disconnect the wire to the clock spring. Then the clip on the end of the seering sector will need removed, then the retaining nut. Sometimes you can just pull and rock the pressure on the steering wheel to pull it off, but most times you will need a puller, a harmonic balancer pulley will work for this. Then you have the steering wheel off, but you need to get the lock plate off to get at the clock spring, and that requires a lock plate depressor. Once you have that, and the lock plate is pushed down far enough, there is a small snap ring to remove, then release the lock plate and you now have access to the clock spring.

 

same problem.need help identify replacement part.

no horn,no cruise.
power in distribution box.fuse if good.
so pulled the front wheel cover to expose the copper bar that holds the switches.
to test the horn i found power,so i ran a jumper wire from ground to this bar and pressed the horn button.=works.
so i drilled a little pilot hole in there followed by a self tapper and ran a jumper to this bar to provide it with ground and having a working horn again today.
she wont pass Maine state inspection without a horn.so that's good.
but id like to actually resolve the issue.tried out the cruise at 45-50 and still no love,so the power side of those must be bad.
so through a little searching i have discovered that trucks without air bags do NOT use a "clockspring" dangit.
i see the 3 pins in behind there,that would require renting a wheel puller to get to,but of course i'll need the replacement part(s) first.
any one know what it/they are called? it appears to be some rings on the wheel side,but a removable 3 prong switch held in via a couple torx screws on the column side.who knows which is bad though.
i don't even use cruise.it's kinda like replacing my rear fuel tank.didn't need that either lol.just another restore thing i guess.some times is kinda cool to use cruise out on the flatter roads with 55mph speed limits,so would be kinda nice to have the choice i guess.

whatever these parts are,are the parts the broke and jammed up Ross-F350's wheel back in '05.
basically its just a way to get power/ground contacts without wires that would brake of course.seems basic,but searching sure leads to more questions than answers lol.

side note,
my god doesn't this truck scoot without that stake body lol.man,i tell ya she won't roll smoke,but she sure squeals the duals and plants ya right back in the seat with a little oil on take off.even OD feels pretty nutsy,but once she kicks down to 3rd hang on,cus shes nailing 60-65 before ya know it. just had to share my idi tuning skills i wasn't fully aware of until now. powerful old gal.

 

Did you take any pics of them? If they are the parts I think they are, I may have an extra set amongst my parts. Wish I could remember, someone was into steering column stuff a while back, and there were some good pics and parts diagrams in the thread.

 

Found the diagrams I was thinking of. The one for tilt is here, and non-tilt is here.

 

i don't know why i didn't.i didn't really know what i was working on.i just followed my nose to figure out where my basic trouble was.i thought it would be here at the switch so i did grab this.but after searching im finding the common culprit is the contact/rings.i had a feeling,but decided to search some before renting a wheel puller,cus i thought i could just pop on,find the part name/numbers and either buy at ford (if need be,and if not discontinued) or at least find part numbers to order online if possible.but no go.
i should just make sure,that i have power for cruise,like i did the horn first though i guess haha.that would let me know if the contact/ring setup is ok or not.i didn't really get into it much yet.figured id research it first and save time.i guess i should start by testing for power at the on/off button to narrow things down.

well no wait,i know it must be that ring setup cus i had to run a devoted ground to get the horn to work.so the grounds broken in that anyway.i can remove the lower plastic on column and probably sneak a shot at the parts behind the wheel without pulling it though.

 

Ahh, so you're just working in the area of the horn button, you haven't taken the wheel off yet. If/when you do, if you don't have a puller, take the nut, loosen, but don't remove it, then give a good, sharp yank on the wheel, it 'might' pop loose. If not, a puller is the next option. (By leaving the nut on, it saves your nose if it does break loose! )

Beyond that, take your time, and pay attention to how things fit together etc, the links/diagrams I posted should help.

Is yours tilt or non-tilt?

If you're leery, let me know, maybe I can do a run through on a parts column here for you and do some pics/how-to's for ya.

 

it all looks pretty simple.im not too scared to rip into 'er.
sorry for the delay.i had it all back together and had to grab the drop light lol.

here we go.here's my simple jumper to get my beeper back for now.
and here's what i thought was good pic of the part in question.but i guess its a bit blurry.not too bad though.clearly identifies what would be my guess went bad.
if that's not a "clocksping" like many claim since it doesn't have an air bag,then i guess its a whatchamacallit lol.

its got a tilt wheel.another useless thing i never use.

hmm.perhaps all i need to do is tap my new ground jumper into the ground for the cruise line,whichever color it is and she'll work too.
not sure why they didn't just ground it like i have it instead.i guess they figured if a couple pins riding on a plate would do the trick for power,why not ground there too.i'll have to see if iv got power for cruise tomorrow i guess and start tracing it out if i don't.cus that whatchamacallit lmao,looks ok.

hmmm.i think while im in here,i'll combat the fairly rare OD light wire shorting issue by sliding some wire loom on it.

 

hey check this out.he has the whatchamacallit right out in the open real good..........ummm i could have worded that differently lol.
Midnight Mods: Steering Wheel Swap/Mod

 

hmmm.so iv got power to the yellow wire which i guess is for the horn.
iv got power on the blue wire too which i guess is for cruise.
what i don't have is ground which i guess is the black wires.
both black wires hook together in the clip.so my jumper should have everything grounded.yet still no cruise.
i tested on both sides of the whatchamacallit with same results.so that appears to be fine.
the problem must be prior to the column.whatever is bad further up the line has apparently broken ground too.
i have no clue what im doing really,never working on cc before.
where might i find the switch that tells the truck im going 35mph or so,so that cruise will come on.seems like that should be my next testing point? and does anyone know that when that goes bad,that it brakes ground too? am i thinking it though correctly or way off the beaten path?

either way,looks like i dug up the wrong thread,as this clock spring or whatchamacallit doesn't seem to be the issue,and i wont be needing that.