Smoke!!!

Torque Junkie · July 1, 2001

My interior light is not lighting up (and the bulb is in tact), and my horn doesn't work, so I was pulling fuses to try to find one or more possibly blown, and I found that the 20 amper labed "HORN/DR" was blown, so I replaced it. Now, the horn still doesn't work, and the interior light comes on, but electrical smelling smoke slowly fills the cab. And if I pull the fuse and let it air out, the smoke smell's gone until I replace the fuse. I think I traced the smell to somewhere under the steering column, in amongst all the wiring under the dash.

This can't be good... any ideas?

-Mike

(Edited by Torque Junkie at 3:58 am on July 1, 2001)

76BBSub · July 1, 2001

Sounds like something in the steering column wiring harness. There's a big plug near the base of the column, has about 12-16 pins. This connects your dash/chassis harness to the steering column electrical components, including the horn, turn signals, hazard lights, and ignition switch.

The best you can do is to grab a flashlight and start visually looking for wires that are disconnected, cut, or worn that could be contacting ground and shorting out. A wiring diagram would be really useful, too. Try unplugging the steering column harness and put the fuse back in to see if you can isolate it to inside the column, or elsewhere.

Wiring problems are never fun, good luck, and post back here with any questions or findings, we'll see if we can help.

Jeff

Torque Junkie · July 3, 2001

Cool... Thanks for the help. I probably wont' be able to do anything with it until I get back from Florida at the end of July, so I'll let you know then.

-Mike

Torque Junkie · August 5, 2001

OK, I put the fuse back in and now, the horn still doesn't work, the interior light comes on, but only when I turn the switch on (not when the doors are open) and now there's no smoke! I didn't change anything, either!

Is this strange or what?

76BBSub · August 6, 2001

yeah, that is weird....

I wonder if one of your door switches went bad, caused the original problem (somehow, although doubtful) and now is just not working. Have you tried opening the passenger door to see if the interior light works?

This is gonna be a tough one...

Do you have a wiring diagram of your truck? I am wondering if the horn is on the same circuit with your interior lights. They may not be....

Jeff

Torque Junkie · August 8, 2001

Ok.. i left it alone, plugged the fuse back in and now the light works w/ the door switches again, and there's no smoke that I can tell, but I still have no horn.

Another thing I wan't to point out is when I push the horn, I can hear something clicking from the fuse box area... it sounds like a self-resetting fuse or breaker.

I'm happy that the int. light works w/ no smoke though... but I'd still like a horn

EDIT - I do have a diagram of the interior lighting system, but that or none of the others show the horn in the circuit.

Edit again - Scratch that - I just went back out there and again the door switches don't activate the light. At least it works with the knob switch

(Edited by Torque Junkie at 6:59 pm on Aug. 8, 2001)

76BBSub · August 10, 2001

Sounds like one of two things...

Either the horn relay is messed up, that's the clicking thing under the dash...

Or the horn relay is fine and it's your horn or horn wiring harness itself...Try unplugging one of the horns and connecting a test light or gauge between the hot lead and ground (any metal on the body). Then push the horn button and see if it lights the test light. If the light lights up it's the horn itself, if not it's somewhere further upstream. You need to locate the horn relay, they're usually round and either plug into the fusebox, or somewhere nearby.

I'll check mine when I get back into town and see if I can find mine, they are probably in the same place.

Jeff

Torque Junkie · September 2, 2001

I think I got it figured out!! The interior light works fine now, and there's no smoke. I cleaned one doorjam switch and replaced the other (they were both corroded and dirty). Flawless.

Now for the horn - I believe thats due to the fact that there's no horn speaker under the hood!? I found the relay, and plugged my voltmeter into it and the relay seems to be working alright. Secondly, I had the horn switch in the steering wheel all apart and it too is functioning fine. My new question is, is where is the horn itself located at underhood? I have a feeling that if it's missing, a simple replacement and maybe some wiring and it'll be working fine again.

Thanks again!

-Mike

(Edited by Torque Junkie at 1:09 am on Sep. 2, 2001)

76BBSub · September 2, 2001

On my Suburban the horns are behind the grill mounted to the panel that supports the radiator and headlights. You may have to remove the grill to access them, but if I recall correctly they are mounted a little bit low, so you may be able to reach them from below.

One thing I learned with my Javelin, if the horn won't work but you are getting power to the lead, spray some WD-40 inside the horn and let it soak for awhile. Also, you can loosen and retighten (not too much though!) the adjustment screw to loosen up the diaphragm. You can also get replacements at the auto parts store, but I was a poor high school student at the time, and WD-40 is cheap.

Jeff