Painting the M1009, with electrical Problem!

[ragedracer]

First, the problem. Electrical gremlin. I pulled out the cluster since there were a bunch of dead bulbs, couldn't see crap at night. I cleaned all the dust out, polished the lense, new bulbs, etc. Now, here's the problem. I put the cluster back in to test everything. When I turn the blackout switch to service lights, the horn comes on and won't stop! I took apart the horn assembly, everything seems ok, but the horn still won't stop. I tried looking for a short to ground (I think this is how the horn functions) but couldn't find one. I know I must have done something when I took the cluster our, because I did not have this issue before. I finally ended up pulling the horn fuse for the time being. Do any of you guys have any idea where I should be looking? Do you know what color the horn wire is? I want to track this down now, because I have the entire dash stripped out.

Because - I ordered up a bunch of rattle cans of Gillespie 686 tan (carc sub) from Rapco. My 1009 is old dog poop brown exterior with green interior. Very chalky, and I want to go with the Desert Storm colors. I decided to strip out the interior and paint it first. So far I have it painted from the seats forward. Doors, jambs, dash, etc.

Does anyone have any idea where I can find pics of an M1009 with Desert Storm markings? Or even HMMMV's?

Here's the obligatory pics! (that I have at the moment. I've gotten much farther at this point.)

 

[Crash_AF]

You can find the wiring diagrams in the -20 TM which can be downloaded from the Resources section of this website.

That said, the wire is black as it runs down the column and then goes into the plug under the column.
It is black when it comes out of the column plug and runs to the horn relay under the dash.
The power feed to the relay is orange from the fuse box
The wire going out to the horn is dark green from the relay through the firewall gang plug and then to the horn itself.

 

[Ruppster]

The August 2003 issue of Military Vehicles Magazine has a picture of a Desert Storm Air Force M1009 on the cover. I plan on doing my M1009 the same way. Nothing like having a desert camo vehicle in Alaska.

Ruppster
1962 Dodge C700
1970 Dodge CT800
1985 M1009 Blazer
www.dodge-semis.com

 

[Recovry4x4]

Nothing like having a desert camo vehicle in Alaska.

Like having winter camo in FL. LOL

 

[hndrsonj]

Heck yea Kenny, paint the M59A2 white! I can see it now.

 

[ragedracer]

You can find the wiring diagrams in the -20 TM which can be downloaded from the Resources section of this website.

That said, the wire is black as it runs down the column and then goes into the plug under the column.
It is black when it comes out of the column plug and runs to the horn relay under the dash.
The power feed to the relay is orange from the fuse box
The wire going out to the horn is dark green from the relay through the firewall gang plug and then to the horn itself.

Thanks! Very detailed diagrams. I crawled under the dash and looked for any shorts. I couldn't see any visible ones, but I did find something interesting. On the orange wire from the fuse panel, some soldier stripped a little jacket off the wire and had twisted another wire (rigged splice) into it. The new wire has since been cut and didn't go anywhere (see photos). I cleaned that up, but am still having the problem. I removed the relay, and the horn still keeps sounding.

I'm wondering if maybe the short is inside the relay receptacle itself. This, for another reason. In the photos below you can see a small black diode (Zener Diode according to the wiring diagram). While messing around under there, I noticed this diode became extremely hot. Hot enough to blister my finger when I grabbed it.

So, where do I go from here? There is something wrong, but I am not much of an electrical expert. I don't know how to test to figure out what is wrong. The hot diode tells me there is some short somewhere, but where?!!?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[Crash_AF]

I'm going to guess that the diode is blown and therefore shorted to itself, causing the horn to sound since the diode is the only path around the relay. Pull the diode out of the circuit to verify.

Who knows what the splice was for... LOL I'd clean it up or make it a 12V power tap for something you want to power.

Later,
Joe

 

[ragedracer]

Gonna try that right now. I'll let you know what happens...

Is the diode important? If so, any idea where to get a replacement? In reading about that particular type of diode (Zener) it seems they are all specifically "tuned" to each application.

Here goes nothing..

rr

 

[ragedracer]

Well... The horn doesn't sound anymore, unless I push the button. But I now have another issue! The fusible link blew that supplies 12v. I replaced it with a 30a inline fuse, cause I couldn't find any fusible links around here. Blew that too. Its odd. I put the new fuse in, everything was seeming hunky dory, Then I started the truck, let it run for a bit, and when I turned it off, the fuse blew again. This all seems to have something to do with the horn though. I pulled the horn fuse, and the problem goes away with the popping "fusible link".

I'm at a loss. I've traced all the wires I can find, and cant find anything. Could there be a short inside one of the looms? If so, where do I even start? I'm pretty confident that the problem is in the 12v side of things, though, considering where the link is burning.

Anybody have any ideas?

rr

 

[corelokt]

Sure, run the horn off of a spring loaded, momentary, return to center, type toggle switch. I went this route just now myself. No power from the horn switched wire, and my horn was bad. New horn, new relay, new switch. Total outlay, about $25.00 if you have wire, terminals and a crimper / stripper tool.

 

[ragedracer]

Sure, run the horn off of a spring loaded, momentary, return to center, type toggle switch. I went this route just now myself. No power from the horn switched wire, and my horn was bad. New horn, new relay, new switch. Total outlay, about $25.00 if you have wire, terminals and a crimper / stripper tool.

So, what you're saying is to bypass all of the horn wiring all together? I understand that that could work, but I'm kinda worried about that short. I know something is going on, but I can't imagine what, or how I caused it.

rr

 

[corelokt]

It's what I would do. If the short concerns you, pull the horn fuse.

 

[MTN UAV]

Generator light

I just purchased a 1986 M1009 with only 37k on it. Are the Generator lights always on while the batteries are charging? It seems that that the GEN2 light is on the most...it will go off for awhile then back on it comes. HELP?


MTN UAV

 

[nap159]

I found in the old chevys truck you do not have to pull the cluster out to replace the bulbs. If you have small hands you can reach up behind the dash and rotate the sockets 90 degrees and they will come out with the bulb. Just put a new 194 bulb in the socket and turn 90 degrees again. It takes some fumbling around but it can be done a lot easier than pulling out the bezels and gauges.