97 F250 XLT No power to horn/Cruise Control Switch

2122 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by That Other Guy, Apr 28, 2018

bagman1995

Discussion Starter · Feb 7, 2018 (Edited)

Hello everyone I am new to the forums but have been taking a lot of advice from here and finally wanted to sign up.

I have just purchased my first ford Truck. It is a 1997 F250 XLT 7.3L and my horn and cruise do not work. I have read up as much as I could and still can't figure it out so here is goes..

First off I do NOT have airbags so the clockspring is not the issue. I have tested the #3 horn relay and it is working properly, I have visually inspected and tested the #3 30AMP fuse for the horn and it is fine as well, even switched it to another circut and it works fine. I got a reading of a little over 12V in the #85 socket in the fuse box for the relay so I am getting power to the relay. I then proceeded to pop off the steering wheel pad inside the truck and unplug the only wire harness in there. From left to right there are 3 wires a yellow one, blue one with white stripe, and then black one. I believe yellow=power to cruise/horn, blue w/wht stripe= cruise control signals, black is ground. I see that the horn is activated by ground but when I tested the left most pin in the wheel(the one for power) I got a reading of 0 volts when I think I should be getting 12V. So I think my issue lies somewhere in between the relay and the horn switch. I have not tested the actual horns as I didnt think it was needed yet(plus its cold as **** outside). If anyone can be of service this would make my day as I cannot pass inspection without it.

Best,

Zach

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That Other Guy

· #2 · Apr 28, 2018

Hey Zach, I had a similar issue with my truck. My truck was in a flood and submerged in water so I have gremlins everywhere I'm sorting out.

None the less my cruise wouldn't work at all.

I had the steering wheel off one day and noticed where the wheel and column meet there are 3 copper spring loaded pins and they ride in 3 grooves in a copper plate or ring on the back side of the wheel. That's where your power passes through from the column to the wheel controls.

I sprayed mine down with electric parts cleaner(pins and ring) and scrubbed them with a soft brass brush to clean them. After I finished my other fixes I put the wheel back on and bam I had cruise again.

Give that a try and see if it helps if they are corroded you wouldn't get any power transfer.

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