battery dying
 

I've got a draw on my battery and it's coming from the horn switch. When I took my steering wheel off the last time I somehow lost the part that insulates the switch so it doesn't have constant contact. Is there a fuse on the panel that operates "just" the horn? My fuse panel has overspray on it and I can't read the labels. I've got to order a new horn switch setup from LMC so I have a permanent fix, but wanted something temporary to get me by without draining the batt. I've unplugged the horn but it still draws current.

Re: battery dying
 

Pull the horn relay plug, it`s mounted close to the fuse box.
Later Willis

Re: battery dying
 

Can you define where "close to the fuse box" is? Left, right, above, below?

Re: battery dying
 

Yep, unplug the horn relay...and look elsewhere for the horn parts, LMC will charge you too much then sent the wrong part...and act all offended when you call and complain.

Re: battery dying
 

i also have a drain some where, how did ya find out is was the horn?...how did u get that indepth??

Re: battery dying
 

here it is under the dash of a '70. it'll probably be real hot being yours is on 24/7. There should be a 3 wire harness..a red, a dreen...and a black one if memry serves.

Re: battery dying
 

:haha:

Re: battery dying
 

haywagon...can you say I'm wrong?
I don't think they ever got an order right for me...EVER. Granted, I've only ordered from there 8 or 9 times...but every single order was all screwed up.

Re: battery dying
 

I must be stupid.I thought you wanted to know about changing the color of your battery with dye.

Re: battery dying
 

Isnt the horn button the ground side of the circuit? Most circuits I have seen are that way,,,,Just a thought

Smitty

Re: battery dying
 

yes, the horn button is the ground.

Re: battery dying
 

67 Fleet I remember when you posted this a while back and you said you had a drain and you said you remembered you had put on a different steering wheel and the horn was grounded. You also said you bet we couldn't have diagnosed that. I almost replied that your horn relay was energized and causing the draw on the battery. I thought you had the problem solved so I didn't post back. As you can see it didn't take long for the guys on here to figure it out.
Now your horn button wire is a ground wire and normally wouldn't draw any current but it is hooked to the horn relay and when it grounds it energizes the coil on the relay and causes a draw similar to an interior light, which will drain a battery in afew hours. You would notice it quick because the horn would blow unless you disconnected it but the relay is still energized and drawing juice. So disconnect the relay plug until you get the horn button fixed as the other guys advised.
Remember this post:

Re: Truck died

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Well, I isolated the problem. Pulled off the negative cable to battery & hooked up my test light lead to the (-) terminal. Put the test probe through a hole in the frame and it lit right up like a christmas tree. OK, so I've got a draw somewhere. First thing I checked luckily was the culprit. I remembered a few weeks ago that when I was working on my steering column that when I put the wheel back on the horn was blowing. I disconnected it at the horn cuz I wanted to get the truck on the road. Well, that was a big mistake. I have a Grant GT wheel and when I disassembled it I must have lost the o-ring that keeps the little spring from grounding out. Now I'm going to have to jury rig something to get that to work again. At least the problem is diagnosed, now I just have to fix it!! (see I bet you guys would have never guessed this one!!)
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Re: battery dying
 

Thanks for the help guys!! LonghornMan, thanks for the pic! And VetteVet, thanks for having such a good memory!!!! Yours is obviously better than mine. (too much fun back in college has taken its toll on my brain....cough cough). I'll double-check everything once I put it all back together. I took the alt out and had it tested and it tested good so that's one less thing I need to replace. These little frustrations that set me back are actually great learning experiences and thanks to all of you on this board I'm slowly getting a free lesson in auto restoration!