Cruise control/horn probs

[Hubes]

ok last summer my horn got stuck on which killed my battery. althought it didn't always beep i could hear it clicking which killed my battery. anyways at that time i noticed my cruise went out at the same time. i hera it is some kidn fo relay that controls these that malfunctions or melts. what is this relay cost? what does it look like? also is it the same for all tauruses? will a gen 1 work in a gen 2? i am making a long drive and i need my horn and cruise to work. please help asap
thanks,
jay

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Hmmmm.... I'm thinking maybe a steering column wiring harness problem if both problems are related. You might want to check and make sure everything under there is connected proprerly, no obvious shorts or grounds, etc.

Looking at the wiring schematic, the horn and cruise connect right next to each other in the steering wheel and share a common ground wire, so the problem could be there too...

Can you still hear the relay click when you press the horn? Relays are pretty cheap. The horn relay is located with several others under the dash above and to the right of the gas pedal. If the relay did cook, you might also have a problem in one of the horns that caused it.

If you need a hand figuring this out, let me know.

 

[projectSHO89]

The horn and the cruise control share several wires that go through the slip rings on the steering column. On my 89, the horn switch was making frequent, unwanted contact causing the horn to go off until the horn itself finally died (unbeknownst to me at the time). While the horn switch was shorted, I would get intermittent clicking/buzzing from under the dash (20/20 hindsight says that was the horn relay) and the cruise was inoperative.

I replaced the horn pad from a junker. When I got it, I realized that the horn pad was a soft, pliable metal (for crash safety reasons) and had been pressed often enough that it was concave, deforming the insulating foam that separated the horn switch contacts from each other. As soon as I replaced the shorted horn switch, the cruise worked again. A new set of horns from U-Wrench-it for 5 bucks off a town car and the $200 SHO was back on the road with cruise and a horn.

If your car has an air bag, your setup will be different, however, remember that the horn and cruise share the slipring contacts.

Steve

 

[Hubes]

i had to actually disconnect the horn under the car. if you touch the wires together they actually spark and the horn resumes clicking. i have a new horn that needs to be put in. perhaps my old horn shorted out. i guess we will find out when i put the new one in. anyone with a gen have had sim probs?

 

[Hubes]

do you know what the relay looks like? i may just go buy one. part # at all? thanks for all your help guys

<small>[ June 01, 2002, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: Hubes ]</small>