tdkibbee Posted March 18, 2012 Report Posted March 18, 2012 Thanks in advance for any help. I have a 1952 Dodge B3B, yesterday it was running fine. Today, below is the scenario that I am experiencing. 1) Turn on the key and get nothing, no starter, no lights, fuel gauge doesn't show any power 2) attach the battery charger and i get lights, fuel gauge, but no starter 3) take off the charger, turn on the key and the fuel gauge will jump, but immediately drops to no power, and no lights, no starter. Battery charger shows the battery at 75%, so it should be turning over. Quote
B1B Keven Posted March 18, 2012 Report Posted March 18, 2012 Yep. Sounds like a bad ground or dirty connection at the battery. Welcome to the forum! Quote
tdkibbee Posted March 18, 2012 Author Report Posted March 18, 2012 Thank You Moose!! As i suspected, easy question. I crawled underneath and the ground was loose. Check your grounds. Quote
TheMoose Posted March 18, 2012 Report Posted March 18, 2012 Thank You Moose!! As i suspected, easy question. I crawled underneath and the ground was loose. Quote
1952B3b23 Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Those grounds will get you every time. My horn didnt work so i took it off the truck inspected it and it looked fine. I mounted it back up and tightened the bolts up well. Now it honks with the best of them, it was just a bad ground. I hope its the same case as to why my headlights dont work. Quote
Jim Shepard Posted March 29, 2012 Report Posted March 29, 2012 Those grounds will get you every time. My horn didnt work so i took it off the truck inspected it and it looked fine. I mounted it back up and tightened the bolts up well. Now it honks with the best of them, it was just a bad ground. I hope its the same case as to why my headlights dont work. What is the ground for the horn? Normally (I think...) the mounting plate in front of the firewall is painted... Quote
Dave72dt Posted March 30, 2012 Report Posted March 30, 2012 A lot of grounds are through the mounting bolts, lock washers and threaded holes. Quote
1952B3b23 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 What is the ground for the horn? Normally (I think...) the mounting plate in front of the firewall is painted... That mounting plate is the ground for the horn. You'll have to make sure that its bare metal where the bolts are so it will ground properly. -Chris Quote
JBNeal Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 I figgered grounding the horn button was what actuated the horn vibrator. The horn button doesn't work too well with corrosion at the brass plate, mounting collar, steering box, etc. The horn in my '48 is about as loud as a squeak toy, but when I test it on the bench, it rattles my fillings, so it's an issue to wade through at some point. Quote
1952B3b23 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 I figgered grounding the horn button was what actuated the horn vibrator. The horn button doesn't work too well with corrosion at the brass plate, mounting collar, steering box, etc. The horn in my '48 is about as loud as a squeak toy, but when I test it on the bench, it rattles my fillings, so it's an issue to wade through at some point. I believe that is what grounds the horn and makes it honk. The actual body of the horn needs to be grounded also which is where the mounting bolts for the horn come into play. -Chris Quote
ggdad1951 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 I believe that is what grounds the horn and makes it honk. The actual body of the horn needs to be grounded also which is where the mounting bolts for the horn come into play.-Chris I wonder about the underlined, when I tested my horn I just hooked up wires to the screw terminals and touched the wires to a battery and it honked. There are two terminals on the horn, I don't know if the ground goes thru the body or through the terminals. Quote
TodFitch Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 I wonder about the underlined, when I tested my horn I just hooked up wires to the screw terminals and touched the wires to a battery and it honked. There are two terminals on the horn, I don't know if the ground goes thru the body or through the terminals. At least on the horn on my '33, the electrical is all through the two screw terminals. The horn housing does not need to be grounded at all. It does take a lot of current which means that my usual #20 gauge test leads wouldn't work. Need something like a #12 or maybe #10 gauge test leads and a good high current source of power to test the thing. Quote
Young Ed Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 I believe my p15 is the opposite. Each horn only has 1 wire so the housing must be grounded. I wouldn't think you can have the body of the horn be the ground and have the horn button complete the ground. Quote
ggdad1951 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 if you look at the wiring diagram the termianls on the horn need to be hooked up as it seems the ground goes thru the horn ring (this lends credence that the horn body doesn't get grounded). The ground then gos thru the steering column to the steering box to the frame. Quote
desoto1939 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 The horn relay is very important. Also the horn relay should have a fuse. Somethins the fuse looks good but they can also short out. The relay if i remember correctly is part of the grounding for the horns. rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com Quote
MBF Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 I don't know if it's still the case, but I'm pretty sure the horn on my 78 Dodge pickup is isolated from the ground through its mounting. There is a constant supply of 12V positive whenever the key is in the on position. The ground is made trough the horn button-not through the chassis. I'm thinking that may be the case with the PH too. Aren't there phenolic washers in the mounting brackets? If there are, that would mean the horn setup on the PH are the same as the later Dodges. Mike Quote
ggdad1951 Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 (edited) I don't know if it's still the case, but I'm pretty sure the horn on my 78 Dodge pickup is isolated from the ground through its mounting. There is a constant supply of 12V positive whenever the key is in the on position. The ground is made trough the horn button-not through the chassis. I'm thinking that may be the case with the PH too. Aren't there phenolic washers in the mounting brackets? If there are, that would mean the horn setup on the PH are the same as the later Dodges. Mike No phenolic as far as I know on my horn, I *think* the ground from the horn ring goes the connections to the frame thru the column. The horn relay is very important. Also the horn relay should have a fuse. Somethins the fuse looks good but they can also short out.The relay if i remember correctly is part of the grounding for the horns. rich HArtung desoto1939@aol.com horn relay? there was no horn relay on my 6V system, nor is one shown in the wiring diagrams. Edited April 2, 2012 by ggdad1951 Quote
Merle Coggins Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 Yup... use the two terminals. One is power, from the "B" terminal of the voltage regulator, the other gets grounded through the horn button/steering column. You won't have a relay unless you have dual horns. Merle Quote
Young Ed Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 So do the dual horns only have 1 terminal each and the horn button isn't ground but tied to the relay? I believe thats how my coupe is. I know I had a bad ground at the horns once and lost 1/2 the sound. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted April 2, 2012 Report Posted April 2, 2012 You're right Ed. I had to look at some pictures, but the dual horns that I have only have one terminal each. The relay get's power from the B terminal of the regulator and is grounded via the horn button/steering column, like with a single horn. When the relay gets a ground it connects the power through to the two horns which appear to only be grounded through their mounts. Either way, if they had two terminals, one on each could just be grounded at the mount for the same effect. Merle Quote
1952B3b23 Posted April 3, 2012 Report Posted April 3, 2012 Ahh i was under the impression the horn body needed to be grounded too, i guess my thoughts on how the horn works are wrong. Now that i think of it more it makes sense that it honks when you complete the circuit by connecting ground to the steering column/horn button. So now im confused as to why my horn started working when i simply removed it then put it back on, i had just assumed it was a grounding issue. -Chris Quote
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