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Horn wiring in steering column

dan1977p

dan1977p

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
I trailered the XJ on our cross country move and since I had the space, we threw a bunch of crap in the driver's seat. Things shifted a bit, I think and put some pressure on the turn signal arm and now my horn essentially doesn't work. If I shimmy the steering wheel up and down on the adjuster and get the signal arm just right, it will work but otherwise, it doesn't.

Am I going to need to tear the column apart to get to the wiring or is there anything else I can do before taking on this annoying job? If I do need to tear it apart, is there anything I can do to get my ignition switch to function like new while I'm there or do I need a new switch too. If I get a new switch, can I put the old tumbler in it to keep the same key?
 
you could take the tumbler out and swap them to keep the key.
also try popping the cap off and inspecting the horn bits. its just a springy piece of metal. its possible it shifted from weight on it. when you take the 3 screws out you will see a metal pin on a spring. make sure the tip is clean. if you ground the pin the horn should sound.
 
Mine has always been either a bad horn, a bad horn ground where it mounts to the body, or the metal contacts in the steering column just described here already that a piece of cake to service. But mine are 87-90 Renix XJs, with the stock GM columns used back then.
 
dan1977p said:
Great. I'll give that a test first 'cause I'd rather not have to pull that whole thing apart.
Click to expand...

Never had bad wiring in a Jeep XK column before. Just the external ignition switch and external wiring at the bottom of the column. And that was always the AC blower wire that got fried taking the switch with it.
 
Update, I haven't done anything with it but I did notice after it sat for a bit that I can push the top of the horn and it works but the bottom fails. So at least I know now that I don't need to pull the whole thing apart. Hopefully I can pull the horn button and just clean things up so it will pass inspection here.
 
sounds like its just at the horn switch. pull the center cap and clean it up. shouldn't take more than a Philips screwdriver.
 
I was fooled into thinking that many times, and finally had to clean the jeep-horn body mount ground on one and replace the horn on another jeep over the years. Now I know I can scare the drives trying to back into me on demand with a LOUD HONK LOL.

The horn is easy to reach, under the front bottom bumper area on mine (renix) and easy to clean the ground, one nut, and to clean one push on connector. They are exposed to the elements and corrode.
 
Ecomike said:
I was fooled into thinking that many times, and finally had to clean the jeep-horn body mount ground on one and replace the horn on another jeep over the years. Now I know I can scare the drives trying to back into me on demand with a LOUD HONK LOL.

The horn is easy to reach, under the front bottom bumper area on mine (renix) and easy to clean the ground, one nut, and to clean one push on connector. They are exposed to the elements and corrode.
Click to expand...

It's been replaced twice already due to snow/mud intrusion. Since there is no voltage to the relay unless I press the top of the horn button, I'm certain it's an issue before the relay.
 
dan1977p said:
It's been replaced twice already due to snow/mud intrusion. Since there is no voltage to the relay unless I press the top of the horn button, I'm certain it's an issue before the relay.
Click to expand...

Good point, but I am saying it may be both, or the top spot is just barely supplying enough voltage to overcome the poor ground. Mine did the same exact thing, and I cleaned it many times, but over time it got worse, and failed when I need the damn horn in a rush. It was finally fixed when I cleaned the ground on one horn and replaced the other dead horn.

I pulled the horns and sure enough one was dead, the other had a rusty bad physical ground to the body. Now I can wake up the neighbors LOL. :woohoo:No more searching for the sweet spot on the horn button and a quite dull horn, but a loud wake the neighbors horn :):cheers:
What year is yours? 91-? Not sure my Renix rigs have a horn relay. I forget.
 
Yeah, 91. I get 13.7V to both the horn and the headlights so as much as I want to redo the grounds, I'll wait till there is another problem or I pull the motor. I may move it if the horn switch cleaning doesn't work since I hate where it has now that I don't have a front bumper or fender wells to protect it. If I do that, I'll probably run wire directly from the relay and find a ground closer to the battery from wherever I move it.
 
There was a ton of condensation inside the jeep from it being unsealed and going four days cross country on a trailer through ice and rain storms. This was the result. I put it back together well enough for it to work, but I'll want to remove all the rust when I have access to my tools again. The underside on the spring ring had a spot of rust right where the contact pin touches and it just depended on how you touched the horn whether or not it would hit the rust or clean metal.

 
Been away for a while (too long really) so I'm playing catch-up.

Anyway this wasn't too long ago & is kind of relevant to a minor prob. I have with the XJ I treated myself to for Christmas (well, that's my excuse). Horn doesn't work when I press the pad in the center of the wheel. I checked one horn with a wire straight from the battery & it worked. So fuse? Who put the fuses there, where you can hardly see, much less reach them? & it's worse with RHD - because the pedals are where your head needs to be.
Next, relay - but how do you get to it, seems you have to remove the piece of trim round the fuse door, in which case might as well do that first (if I knew how) as it will make it easier to access the fuses.
Finally, the $64,000 question: how do you get that pad off (is it just a cover or the whole airbag?) as I suspect that's actually where the problem is. Really I'd like to get rid of it, as I've never found it gave enough control: it's a full blast or nothing! Is there a indicator/dip switch with a horn function that would swap in?
 
XJI6191 said:
Been away for a while (too long really) so I'm playing catch-up.

Anyway this wasn't too long ago & is kind of relevant to a minor prob. I have with the XJ I treated myself to for Christmas (well, that's my excuse). Horn doesn't work when I press the pad in the center of the wheel. I checked one horn with a wire straight from the battery & it worked. So fuse? Who put the fuses there, where you can hardly see, much less reach them? & it's worse with RHD - because the pedals are where your head needs to be.
Next, relay - but how do you get to it, seems you have to remove the piece of trim round the fuse door, in which case might as well do that first (if I knew how) as it will make it easier to access the fuses.
Finally, the $64,000 question: how do you get that pad off (is it just a cover or the whole airbag?) as I suspect that's actually where the problem is. Really I'd like to get rid of it, as I've never found it gave enough control: it's a full blast or nothing! Is there a indicator/dip switch with a horn function that would swap in?
Click to expand...

depends on the year but i was just reading in the 95 that there is a screw on the top of the wheel under a cover that needs to be fiddled with first to disable the airbag then it allows the bolts on the back to be removed so the airbag assembly comes out.
 
yes, I remember something about that for the early airbag models: reaching in thru the window (presumably in case the damn thing deployed while you were trying to de-activate it) & turning a screw! It seems that changed in/about '97, so you just have to wait 15 mins. after disconnecting the battery. BUT, still don't know how to get at the horn push: I'll look for some bolts/screws in the back of the wheel.
 
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