electrical short in steering wheel

[69GT 0]

Recently when im driving, and I make a left turn it sounds like theres arcing or some sort of electrical noise comming for the steering wheel. When this happens my headlights die, instrument panel lights die, and stereo die. I pulled off the steering wheel and took a look at the assembly where all the wires hook up and none of the wires look bad. Had my auto teacher come over and take a look and he really had no idea. I put it all back together and its still doing it. Im certain its up there somewhere because when I unplug the connector that hooks up with all the wires comming from the steering wheel, the problem is gone. Does anyone have any idea what part could be causing this? It doesnt make any sence to me that something in the steering wheel itself could cause this. Does anyone have a wiring diagram I could look at?

 

P.S. Theres nothing in the engine compartment that could be getting wrapped up and shorting.

[Trinitys 134]

Here is the diagram, hope it helps. i think your problem could just be the switch needs replaced, but who knows. what steering wheel do you have? could be in the horn also....i had a similar problen with a grant steering wheel, it was shorting in the horn buttom. keep us posted. i'll look over the diagram more to see if i can figure it out. good luck.

 

http://www.trinitysmustangs.com/PDF%20Folder/69interio_%20dia.pdf

[69GT 0]

ya actually i do have a grant steering wheel. what did you do to fix the problem? and how did the horn cause it?

[Trinitys 134]

to be honest, i don't remember what i did, it was a long time ago. just pull it apart and ensure the contacts for the horn and all the wiring is in good condition. i wish i remembered what the cause and fix were, but it was 9-10 years ago.

 

most auto parts stores sell a horn buttom kit, if its bad, replace the whole set-up.

[Pakrat 1,043]

The original Grant Wheel has a set of small springs that acted as a spacer between the horn and the signal Cam. Over time these weak springs compress and can make partial contact casuing a short. This could very well be your problem. They now off some self adheisive memmory foam spacers to use in place of the springs, this could be your problem and solution. It could also be the signal cam itself causing the problem. They are made of weak plastic and are pretty fragile. If the cam is busted do not waste your money on the repair klit, it's crap. Spend the few bucks extra and buy a new cam.

[Trinitys 134]

you might find this helpful

 

http://www.fly-ford.com/MM0604-Install_a_Grant_Steering_Wheel.html

[69GT 0]

Well, I had some time today to try and fix it. Im pretty sure it is the horn as Trinity said. I took the wheel apart and took a look at the brass rings and connecting things that make contact with it and found a little strand of the copper making contact with the other ring shorting the two out. I took care of that and put some dielectric grease on the rings. Put it back together and I had the same problem so I took it apart again and used a volt meter on the rings. I put the two leads on the horn wires going to the button, switched the meter to ohms and found it had some resistance so I wiped some of the grease off and it read out of limits. Put everything back together, turned the wheel lock to lock and the problem was gone but as I was leaving school it started up again.... Im thinking I need to make sure that there is NO dielectric grease on there at all and it should work fine. Heres some pictures for future refrence if anyones interested.