Horn wire and ?...

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rollingpinz
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:52 pm
Location: Cerritos, CA

Horn wire and ?...

Post by rollingpinz »

Hello

About two weeks ago, I got in the pinz while it was raining. Everything seemed fine except I smelled that hot electrical smell. I looked around for that wisp of smoke, but saw nothing and everything was working fine. On top of that, the smell was getting fainter. So, I continued on driving, cautiously. Now, last Thursday, I noticed a very faint trail of oil running down the body, starting under the steering gear box. It was a very small amount. It looked like a snail-trail and there was no pool at the end. While wiping it up (to have a clean slate for locating source), I noticed a wire that runs up through the steering gear box. Is this the horn wire? Also, my investigation found the source of the electrical smell. One of the translucent connector-sheaths had melted enough to fall off. I can't see any missing under the dash, so I assume that this was from the horn wire under the steering gear box.
So, now, the questions are:
1. Is it, indeed, the horn wire coming up through the steering gear box?
2. Is there a connector under the steering gear box that used the
translucent connector-sheath?
3. Is there a common leak point for the steering gear box? (The oil is not
coming from the adjustment screw or filler holes.)
4. Is the oil conductive enough to create a short at the horn wire
connector such that the connector got hot?
Again, there are no other symptoms. What do you think?

Eric P.
How would an ice-age end without global warming?
Jim LaGuardia
United States of America
Posts: 1704
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:42 pm
Location: San Bernardino Ca
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Post by Jim LaGuardia »

The smell may have been the breaker getting hot. There are several clear connector shields, they slip with age/and or tampering causing the bare terminal to short to ground, melting the wire.
If the wire chaffed or was melted, then the wire guide tube may also have meled giving you the gearbox leak.
Cheers, Jim LaGuardia
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