Horn Problem

[rn240sx]

A while ago the horn came on by itself in the middle of the night which i didnt notice till the next morning. The only way i fixed it was to pull the relay cause i didnt have time to mess with it. At the same time of pulling the relay, i noticed that my cruise control stopped working.

I pulled the FSM out and looked at the diagram and saw how it was layed out.

A: From the horn it goes on one wire to one side of the contact on the relay

B: From the other contact side of the relay it goes to the 12V side of the coil internally

C: From the 12v side of the coil it goes to a fuse and then to 12V

D: From the negative side of the coil it goes to a "Spiral Cable" and then to a ASCD (im assuming is cruise control), then to the horn switch itself.

I have checked A, B and C and all checked out good. So my trouble is in D cause the negative side of the coil has a ground on it which explains why the relay is tripped. Ive traced the wire from the relay back to under the tire fender and up thru the firewall and i cant see where it goes from there. I wana just pull the steering wheel off, but im worried about the air bag going off cause i have never pulled a steering wheel that had an air bag. My previous 240's didnt have air bags....

Where is this spiral cable and is the steering wheel easy to come off even with the air bags..??

ThanksRobert

[s13sr20chris]

good guess that the problem is behind steering wheel. i believe the airbag should have a bolt on either side of it behind the steering wheel. make sure batt is disconnected.

steering wheel is just one big nut behind the airbag. leave it on a few threads then yank the wheel off.

spiral cable is behind steering wheel.

[rn240sx]

good guess that the problem is behind steering wheel. i believe the airbag should have a bolt on either side of it behind the steering wheel. make sure batt is disconnected.

steering wheel is just one big nut behind the airbag. leave it on a few threads then yank the wheel off.

spiral cable is behind steering wheel.

Nope, its not the horn itself. I pulled all that apart and pulled the horn switch out of the circuit and that wire remains to have that ground. So it has to be the wire itself or somewhere in the cruise control system..

Ive traced that wire from the relay and it goes under the wheel well, then to a Block called a SMJ (super multi junction). I unplugged that SMJ and the ground dis-appeared at the relay. I tried to trace that harness to where it goes next but thats a lost hope. I do know that it goes from that SMJ, to the spiral cable, then to the ASCD, then to the horn. The problem b4 the horn and after that SMJ....

[NISTECH]

Try this. recoonect everything except your relay obviously and moniter your short. leave your battery disconnected since your monitering ground you dont need power. Disconnect the connector under your steering wheel going to the spiral cable and see if your short goes away. If it does its your spiral cable thats shorted. This is assuming your have already removed your airbag and disconnected the horn wire inside there.

[rn240sx]

I went under the steering wheel and found a 6 pin harness that i thought was the harness that feeds the horn and whatever the other 5 wires are for... who knows. All i know is that i went onto pin 2 (comming from the horn), pressed it and i got a ground which means the horn is ok...

The female end of that 6 pin harness goes toward the spiral cable and ascd.... Which i have yet to find anywhere.

Bottom line is, the wire from the relay to the smj block is good. And the horn switch is good.

So i need to find the spiral cable harness and ascd harness and troubleshoot from there.. I was under the assumption that both those 2 were attached to the steering wheel....????

[NISTECH]

Here is a picture of your airbag set up and the spiral cable. It is a black round case mounted to your steering coloum behind the steering wheel. With out removing the steering wheel you can remove the coloum covers and see all the components behind the wheel. find the device that looks like this picture and then locate the connecotr on it. If you are looking at the factory service manual for the wiring and your on the "z3 and z5" harness connectors those are under the harbag harness layout section of the service manual at the end of the electrical section. You will be disconnecting z3 a the spiral cable. Both the connections you are reffering to are on either side of the spiral cable. one is accessed by removing the air bag from the steering wheel. the other is accessed by removing the coloum covers. This is the one your after. once you get there unplug it and check to see if the short is still there. If not you probably have a bad spiral cable. It could also be on the horn button side of the wheel. but you say you already removed the airbag and unplugged the connector on the wheel side of the spiral cable right?

[rn240sx]

but you say you already removed the airbag and unplugged the connector on the wheel side of the spiral cable right?

I never physically removed the air bag.... I found that 6 pin harness UNDER the air bag when i pulled the lower cover off the steering column.. That i assumed was the harness / connector that fed the horn. But i think im on the wrong harness cause i see how the spiral cable is attached to the column.. I thought it was a separate piece NOT attached anywhere near the steering column... When i get home, i will start again..

[NISTECH]

no it sounds like you found it. some of the nissans dont have that access door under the bottom,actually most dont. I didnt think yours had that access door. If you found a connector in there with more then 2 wires that is the one you disconnect. That will remove everything in the wheel from the circuit. If you still have your short at that point you then need to unplug the connector on the otherside of the spiral cable [in the coloum covers] if it goes away then you have nailed your short to the spiral cable itself.

[rn240sx]

Well, i guess i was on the right harness, cause that plugs right into that round black thingy on the steering column b4 the steering wheel that looks like the spiral cable on the picture u showed. So im assuming that 6 pin harness goes to the spiral cable and then to the horn..I un plugged that harness and i still have a ground at the relay. So somewhere between the SMJ block and the harness that feeds the Spiral cable / horn the wire is touching ground. I tried to trace that harness back and it seems to be going toward the radio area and then down toward the shifter / E-brake area.... Dont know why, but it does...

[NISTECH]

lets get something clear here on which connector you are talking about. are you reffering the the one on the coloum side of the steering wheel or the one on the airbag side of the steering wheel in the little cover?

[rn240sx]

lets get something clear here on which connector you are talking about. are you reffering the the one on the coloum side of the steering wheel or the one on the airbag side of the steering wheel in the little cover?

The one behind that little access door to the left side of the steering wheel is the air bag harness... that i know

The one i was talking about is the one at the bottom of the steering column that hooks into the black piece which looks like the spiral cable according to the fsm.. That one is a 6 pin harness and thats the ONLY harness that hooks there into the steering wheel...

All the others are ignition related.. SO i know i have the right harness

[NISTECH]

there are 2 connectors plugged into the spiral cable. one on the inside of the steering wheel under the airbag. it feeds alll the switches on the steering wheel. then there is one on the other side of the spiral cable on the steering colum. It sounds as if you are saying you disconnected the second one and still have your short to ground so yes your short is between the colum and the SMJ. there is another connector to the passenger side of your radio that this horn wire goes through. I would check there for moisture or corrosion for the short.