Horn Wire And Steering Column Problems

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

so my horn doesnt work. i found that the wire coming out of the steering is broken. i started messing with it and pulled it a little and it was bare. i pulled it out about 6 inches and found it is bare the whole way. is this normal?? needless to say from me pulling on the wire now the button connection for the new style button is about 6 or 7 inches down the column . what am i looking at to fix this wire?? i was thinkin of removing the 4 bolt collar and trying to remove the column from the steering gear but i dont want to pull it apart and really screw myself over if it wont go back together. i tried getting somthing down the column to try and pull the wire back but it doesnt seen to be working.
if the wire isnt supposed to be bare then im not sure why it would have burnt since that wire is essentially a ground wire off the negative side of a solenoid. if i take the horn wire that comes from the horn to the gear box connection and ground it the horn works fine.

 

[m-35tom]

there should be a tapered rubber plug at the bottom of the box. take it out and remove the horn button, it is a straight shot through the steering shaft. do not take the 4 bolts out, it will not help as it has nothing to do with the horn wire.

 

[armytruck63]

Sometimes with horn and wire in the steering column problems, it is just better to bypass the whole mess and add one of those Pep Boys horn buttons to the steering column with hose clamps, and run a wire though the firewall. My dad and I did this on a WWII jeep years ago and it worked great.

 

[jollygreen]

take a piece of wire like tie wire and push it down the tube wrap the new wire around around the tie wire and pull it back up

 

[steelandcanvas]

take a piece of wire like tie wire and push it down the tube wrap the new wire around around the tie wire and pull it back up

I agree...that's the way I replaced my wire. I found that starting the stiff wire from the steering box and pushing it up toward the steering wheel worked for me. And no, the wire should not be bare.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

there should be a tapered rubber plug at the bottom of the box. take it out and remove the horn button, it is a straight shot through the steering shaft. do not take the 4 bolts out, it will not help as it has nothing to do with the horn wire.

so once this rubber plug is out your saying that there will be enough room for the electical connection up at the button to come out?? if so this wont be too had to fix for me

 

[Jake0147]

How big is the hole in the steering column? I don't know if this will get your horn wire retrieved or not, but when I 'loose" something that is in sight, yet out of reach, a handy tool is a piece of brake line, with a doubled up section of picture hanger wire stuffed through it. An electrical butt connector holds the loose ends together, and the other end can be bent and manipulated into a "lasso" that is appropriate to get around whatever you're retrieving. Pulling the two loose ends will tighten the "lasso" to pull out what you've lost. Just a thought, as I have not pulled out my horn button to see if it will fit.

 

[Lex_Ordo]

Buy a new wire lead from saturn surplus. And a new style horn button kit.

Then with some tape or a crimp connection, attach a safety wire to the old lead, pull it through the bottom of the steering box and replace the old lead with the new one and pull it back through. The bottom has a water proof connection to re-attach to the truck's wire harness, and you will have to attach a new connection to the top where the horn button will go.

Then you will crimp a new waterproof female connection on the end and connect it up to the new style horn button that you bought.


I did it on mine and it was as quick as 20 minutes.

Save the rubber plug that was on the old lead and used in the steering box.
Just clean it up and the slit that is cut into the side just slides back over the wire once you're done and plugs the hole in the box.

 

[littlebob]

take a piece of wire like tie wire and push it down the tube wrap the new wire around around the tie wire and pull it back up

Same thing I thought I posted! I must have been key board challenged at the time.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

thanks guys, i got it fixed!! i pulled out the rubber plug and pulled out the wire. the connector for the horn button broke free from the wire somewhere in the column makin it a little harder than i anticipated. i was thinkin about using air to blast it back up an out of the column but i was to lazy to move my truck into reach of the hose. i ended up using a few peices of brake tubing i had laying around the shop to push out the connector while also fishing my new wire up the column. i didnt have one peice of brake tube long enough to go all the way up and out of the column so i taped my wire to a 3 foot piece and started it up the column from the steering gear end. on a W/oW tuck this might be a bit hard, the winch on my truck gave me clearence to get the brake tubing into the hole at the end of the steering gear. once i couldnt push the tubing up anymore i got the other piece of brake tube and pushed the first section of tube with my new wire up untill i could grab it out of the steering wheel and pull it out. the brake tube being rigid but having flexability made this a bit easier. for anyone else with a similar problem as mine, this job looks to be hard when you think about doing it but even under the circumstances i had with replacing the wire and getting the connector out of the column it was pretty easy and only took me about 30 min and that was with wrestling with the 2 tubes jammin up in the column and the stubborn connector that broke off in there.

 

[BimmerPower]

Did you just pull the rubber button out? I can't seem to find this 'hole' you guys are talking about.

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

if you have the new style horn button there is a lock ring holding the button in to the steering wheel adapter. you pry it out with a flat screwdriver and the button assembly pops right out.