My horn is not working. The horn itself works as it "blew" or sounded when I ran a jumper from the battery to the horn. The PO installed a steering column from a 71 Ford truck so he could get power steering, so the problem could be there somewhere.
But my question today is could the horn relay be bad? And is the horn relay the little thing between the solenoid and the battery on a 1970 F350 shown here:
How would I test to see where the breakdown in the horn circuit is? I think it would be best to start with the easiest and go from there.
thanks, Abe
1970 F-350 flatbed dump, purchased 9/20/12 1954 F-100 bought from Grandpa in 1977 for $200
Abe: That small box is the horn relay. When I bought my truck the horn would not work. I noticed the steering wheel had a large gap between it & the collar below it. I loosened up the coluum and moved it up so I had 1/8" between the bottom of the steering wheel & the collar below it. The horn now works fine. May not be your problem, but it is easy to check.
Mine didn't work either, I replaced the brushes with new ones from LMC and problem solved! Easy to replace.
No I didn't. I put it off till later. More important things to work on like getting my brakelights fixed! And also the last couple of days I've been working on my '54 F-100, trying to get it running. I've decided to go with electronic ignition for that. Plus it has been cold here the last 2 weeks....
What I did find out is this: The horn works. It sounded when I put a lead to the batt. Using the continuity tester, I found I have a good connection from the relay to the horn. I did not get a good connection from the horn lead on the steering wheel to the relay..... I might just get a little after market horn button and strap it to the steering column... Unless someone here can tell me how to solve this so I can use the horn pad...
thanks, abe
1970 F-350 flatbed dump, purchased 9/20/12 1954 F-100 bought from Grandpa in 1977 for $200
Hmm, electrics are not my specialty, but when the guy replaced the steering column something went awry in the wiring harness would be my guess.
The brushes I replaced are the copper button looking things in the steering wheel. I also replaced my signal cam at the same time because my brake lights didnt work either. In my 69 there are 7 wires that come out of the wiring harness from the signal cam/steering wheel, 2 of them go to a 2 wire block, and 5 of the wires go to a different block. The 2 wires that are by themselves are the brake light wires. You might want to play around with those and see if you can get anything going. Maybe run a lead from the battery to the 2 seperate wires and see if the lights work.
Good luck.
rwilly wrote:Did you get it working?
Mine didn't work either, I replaced the brushes with new ones from LMC and problem solved! Easy to replace.
That sounds like an easy solution. I have little experience with this era truck. They are a lot different than my '54 F-100! Your suggestion makes sense. If I do not have a continuous circuit from the spade terminal to the relay this could be the problem. The truck had some rodent problems and the PO re-wired it, so I was thinking that might be a problem... or when the PO put the 1971 steering column in he didn't hook up the wires right....
It looks like I have to take off the wheel and have a look...
1970 F-350 flatbed dump, purchased 9/20/12 1954 F-100 bought from Grandpa in 1977 for $200
rwilly wrote:Hmm, electrics are not my specialty, but when the guy replaced the steering column something went awry in the wiring harness would be my guess.
The brushes I replaced are the copper button looking things in the steering wheel. I also replaced my signal cam at the same time because my brake lights didnt work either. In my 69 there are 7 wires that come out of the wiring harness from the signal cam/steering wheel, 2 of them go to a 2 wire block, and 5 of the wires go to a different block. The 2 wires that are by themselves are the brake light wires. You might want to play around with those and see if you can get anything going. Maybe run a lead from the battery to the 2 seperate wires and see if the lights work.
Good luck.
I got out my LMC catalog and I see the brushes, only $11.95. Speaking of the cam my right turn signal does not cancel after turn, the left does. I might as well fix this also...
I don't think the brake light problem is in the steering column (although it may be). The brake lights worked when I bought it. All lights worked when I bought it except the 4-ways. As the weeks wore on the lights started going goofy. I think the problem is in his lousy wiring job and moisture and grounding. My plan right now is to run a new separate wire for the brakes, splicing into the brake wire at the base of the column and run it to separate brake lights I got at a junk yard and cleaned up.
Thanks! Abe
1970 F-350 flatbed dump, purchased 9/20/12 1954 F-100 bought from Grandpa in 1977 for $200
