okay.. so as some of you know.. my father passed away after he stripped down the car for the body/paint shop.. now i has hooking up all the wiring under the dash, and just got both head light relays hooked up an working.. but there is a third relay that was not connected to anything... but has ground, 3 connectors one splices into 2.. i know it hooks to the fuse block.. but what is its purpose....? im mainly asking tip, ideas, things people have done to their maverick.. like after having two relays for headlights what would you use another one for??...
which fuse is it connected to? i ran a third relay on my horn, very recommendable as it takes away the load from the horn contacts in the turn signal switch.
i have no clue... i just know one connects to the fuse block.and the other two connect someone else. the two that connects else where... one wire is about 7in in length the second is half that..
In addition to high and low beams, I added relays for horns and high and low speed electric radiator fan.
maybe you should compare your existing harness to this diagram first: http://www.maverickcomet.com/Wiring/MavWiring/1970/1970MavMain.pdf could help you identifying the parts you're not sure about. horn relay is pretty basic: cut the existing horn wire, put the relay in between. run two extra cables to the battery...
Don't think anyone has done an article on horn relay. Its pretty simple. I used a relay when I installed Explorer dual horns. I cut the horn wrie at the horn. Used it to power the primary circuit of the relay and grounded the other primary circuit terminal. Ran a fused (20 amp) 10 or 12 gauge wire from the battery to the input side of the secondary relay circuit and another 10 or 12 gauge wire from the output terminal for the secondary circuit to the horn(s).
I did the horn relay on mine way back after my cheap steering wheel went up in smoke. Luckily I was in the car and ripped the horn button off. You can use the existing wire up through the steering wheel to trigger the relay and a separate new fused feed to the relay load side and horn.
That works but you still have that 12v 40 year old wire in the column and horn circuit. You can REMOVE the 12v feed to the column and use the existing circuit to the horn contacts to ground the control side of the relay. Just have to run the relay ground control to the old horn feed, then the wire from the horn contacts to the horn goes to a ground. Your way works fine Jim and you reduced the load on the horn circuit but you can still have a nasty short issue between the relay and original horn feed you used. I like to keep as many load circuits out of the interior as possible.
Hey Darren, Yep, that's another way to skin the cat and its consistent with how I think most horns without relays are (or used to be) wired. That is, use the horn button to ground the circuit. Then if there's a short in the cabin the horn blows (seen it happen) but there's no short to ground. My wires are in pretty good shape. Not heavy enough to carry the current for the newer dual horns but ample for the small current in the relay primary circuit. BTW, I really like the Explorer horns. They even look like the original one.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. I get the method Jsarnold above described, but I'm not entirely sure I'm following darren's post. Fused wire from battery to relay, pins 30 & 86 ??? Wire from relay pin 87 to horn, then to ground. Wire from relay pin 85 to steering wheel horn button, and then to ground? On the wire to the horn button, are there two wires going up the column to the contacts? Do you tie in from the relay to one and ground the other? Or do you have to find a ground up top at the steering wheel? Sorry, I haven't dug in that deep yet so it might be more obvious when I have the wheel off. Thanks.
Are U trying to add a relay to horn/s? I am assuming this it the goal? If so, why not tap wire going to horn/s under the hood?
Yes, I'm trying to add a relay to the horn circuit. I am intending to install the relay near the horn, under the hood. Originally, I was thinking of something more like Jsarnold suggested, which I think is, cutting the wire to the horn so that: Supply to horn, from button goes to pin 86. Line to horn goes to relay pin 87. A new fused line from the battery goes to relay pin 30. And pin 85 goes to ground. But then I saw Darren's post above and was trying to figure it out, if it's the better method??? What method is best? Another reason for doing this is that I haven't quite got the new Grant Classic Nostalgia steering wheel installed correctly or something is going a bit off. Every time I turn to the right, the horn blows. So I thought I'd go ahead and install the relay since I have to go back in.
