Hazard light wiring, need some help

[dsraven]

thanks, didn't mean to hi jack your thread. couldda sent a pm I guess.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by dsraven

thanks, didn't mean to hi jack your thread. couldda sent a pm I guess.

Don't sweat it. Thread was done. I fixed my problem, now lets fix yours

[gigamanx]

Looks like I spoke too soon and the electrical gremlins have moved. So the new wiring harness went into the column, everything seems perfect and I don't find any shorts. Well, the battery keeps going flat. Takes maybe 3-4 hours and its too dead to start the truck. I narrowed it down to the steering column because if I disconnect the GM harness the battery doesn't discharge. I was able to start it up days later.

The only "hot" wire is the hazard light wire. Everything seems to work fine as in there are no turn signals or hazard lights on during normal operation.

Any suggestions that don't include me tearing this thing apart again? I'm tempted to put a relay between the hazard wire and the ignition key so it turns off current to that wire when the ignition is off.

In good news, I took my first long drive in the truck and it ran flawlessly. 10 mile drive, lots of smiles and thumbs ups from other drivers

[dsraven]

here is a simple check.
take the hot wire for the hazards, disconnect it and install a test light to it so the power has to go through the test light to get to the hazard switch, like in series. if the test light bulb lights up then there is a load being used in that circuit after the test light. if not then there is probably something else powered on the same circuit as the hazards and it is stealing power. do you have a stereo, remote start or alarm system, clock, anything that normally stays on with the key off? if you pull the fuse for the hazards what else doesn't work? (that will be what is also on the same circuit as the hazards). you can sorta pare down the list by unplugging the signal switch and using the test light as a jumper wire to go from the "truck side" connector to the "column side" connector. if the bulb in the test light illuminates then you have a problem in the switch or the wiring up the column. (this test eliminates everything but the stuff in the column because the connectors are unplugged and the power is jumped, through the test light, to only the hazard wire)
another way to see what circuit is using power (or where the parasitic leak is coming from) would be to disconnect the battery pos terminal and put a volt guage in series there. any power use will make the volt guage move and should say battery voltage. pull fuses one at a time till you find the fuse/circuit that makes the volt guage read zero. that will be the circuit with the draw. I would also check for a bad interior light switch or door switch, that is a common one. also a cig lighter is a common problem. stereos with memory or clock is another.
if it is draining the battery in 3-4 hrs then that is a pretty good load. I would think something somewhere is getting hot. when you say you unplugged the gm connector and all seemed fine after, did it spark at all when unplugged? it must have a good load on that circuit so I would almost expect to see a spark when unplugging, try it in the dark and see.
what are you running for ign switch, is it also in that GM plug? could the switch possibly be faulty and it's powering up the accy circuit? is anything operational with the key "off" that shouldn't be?
do you have a horn hooked up and does it work? possibly no horn on the truck yet but it is wired for one or there is a horn wired in but no horn operation when the horn button is pushed? after the steering wheel was off could the horn contact be jammed in the "horn on" position or maybe that goofy little horn contact wire came apart and is acting like the horn is being pushed? the horn relay or the actual horn may be faulty so no horn operation even though the horn contact is shorting. that would mean you are powering the horn relay and/or a faulty horn and they would draw some power. if you found the horn relay it may be hot and drawing power or the horn itself could be toast so you don't hear the horn even though it is being powered. you could simply push the horn button and see if it works. if not, dig deeper.

[gigamanx]

Thanks for all the details. I'll report back when I get a chance. Chasing teens, sports, and concerts at the moment so the free time bucket is on "E."

Horn is hooked up to an external button and works. The only things in the steering column at the moment are the turn signals and hazard switch.