need horn for safety, please help

[flat-black-ford]

hey guys i have a 89 ford ranger and the horn won't work. i have tested the wire goin to the horn and i get 12 or more volts, but when i hook it back up to the horn i don't have any volts. Could this be the relay or something else?... Does anyone know where the relay for the horn is?

 

[MAKG]

You get 12V across the connector with the horn removed, but nothing with it connected? Your horn is shorted. Confirm with an ohmmeter, then replace it.

 

[flat-black-ford]

i don't have an ohmmeter but i have tried two horns... when i run a live wire form the battery directly to the horn they work. when i hook the wire back up to them nuthin. I get 12 volts fromt he wire itself but when it's hooked the the horn i have nuthing. do i have to have both horns for the cercuit to work because the turck don't have the driverside horn. looks like it's been missing for awhile and i can't get any volts from that wire.

 

[shizzy]

is the horn properly grounded to the truck?

 

[MAKG]

If you don't have cheap diagnostic equipment, or don't know how to use it, you're wasting your time. You need someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[shadetree]

Did you check the fuses? Which wire has voltage? The wire going to the horn button will have voltage, and when the button is pressed it grounds the wire closing the relay contacts. Another circuit from the relay then supplies voltage to honk the horn. I don't know where the relay is located, but it would help to find it.shady

 

[bottledgt]

who needs a horn...cant say ive ever used one or needed it

 

[flat-black-ford]

well i found out it more then my horn. i don't have a horn, hazard signals, brake lights or wipers. if i ground the wipers to the engine then they work. I think i have a short somewhere cause they all have power till i go to use them and then theres nothin. how do i find a short or can you buy just a wiring harness for the dash? please help i am gettin so fustrated.

 

[rngrdngr]

just use ur middle finger

 

[shadetree]

A screwed up multi-function switch(turn signal switch under the steering wheel) could cause all of the stated problems. Sounds like it is shot.shady

 

[RobbieD]

well i found out it more then my horn. i don't have a horn, hazard signals, brake lights or wipers. if i ground the wipers to the engine then they work. I think i have a short somewhere cause they all have power till i go to use them and then theres nothin. how do i find a short or can you buy just a wiring harness for the dash? please help i am gettin so fustrated.

Dude, the first thing I'd check is the main ground cable. Sounds like it's good from the battery to the engine block, but bad from the battery to the body. The original main ground cable on an '89 goes to five places from the battery- the main cable goes to the frame, then to the block; there's a pigtail to the radiator support, and two round plugs.

 

[flat-black-ford]

hey thankx for the help everyone but i got the ole'girl fixed up. turns out it was a corroded wire in the harness behind the rad. spliced a new piece in and it works good as new again.