Centech wiring harness install - 2 problems

[MidwestTexan]

I just finished up rewiring my Bronco... I think there was about 10lbs of copper wire just behind the dash... Looked like a rats nest!

The install went great and I'm super happy with their kit. I have never installed a wiring harness in my life and just know enough about electrical to get me in trouble. This went as smooth as I could have possibly imagined!

I do have two problems though that I don't believe are related to the harness.

1. When I tighten down my steering wheel, the horn goes off. If I tighten it down about half way, it wont honk but as soon as I push on the wheel and compress the spring, it goes off. Another thing that's strange is it's actually a siren. It's never worked until now... It looks pretty old and is made by Universal Security Instruments. Is that stock?

2. My front turn signals don't work when I have the lights on. If the lights are off, they work perfect. All four (front and rear) flash when I have the hazards on though... Even with the lights on.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MidwestTexan]

Any takers on question #1? haha

I've figured out #2, but still can't figure the steering wheel thing out. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

 

[DirtDonk]

So what was the answer to #2? Enquiring minds want to know!

For the first one, did it work before? Did you have the column apart for any other reasons? Perhaps a new turn signal switch?
What year is your Bronco?

Because the Centech harness allows you to connect your horn either way, it's very common for installers to use the wrong new wires for the harness. Since the new setup comes with a horn relay built-in, owners of '73 and older Broncos sometimes get a couple of wires crossed.
But the other issue is that from '66 until mid-'74, there were two horn contacts on the turn signal switch, and two matching copper traces on the back of the steering wheel. If a later wheel was put on to an earlier switch for instance, this could have weird effects.

Good luck!
Oh, and no, there were no sirens, alarms or anything like that as a factory option on Broncos. So whatever that is, is all aftermarket/PO installed.
Got pics of it? I'm wondering how it's still connected into the new harness. Maybe through the horn wiring somehow, but all that is new from Centech too.

Paul

 

[MidwestTexan]

I'm almost embarrassed to say.... I had the wires backwards! haha.... When the lights were on, the running lights were brighter than the turn signal, thus I couldn't see it blink.

As for the horn, I think I figured it out too... I have a 70' which seems to be a year that some had a different wiring configuration than other 70's. Kind of a transitional year it seems.

Anyway, I don't believe mine has a horn relay. When I read the instructions again, I found that the column wires needed to be wired differently which I've done. I ordered a cheap horn off amazon which should be in today. Here's a photo of the siren that was in mine.

 

[ransil]

I'm almost embarrassed to say.... I had the wires backwards! haha.... When the lights were on, the running lights were brighter than the turn signal, thus I couldn't see it blink.

As for the horn, I think I figured it out too... I have a 70' which seems to be a year that some had a different wiring configuration than other 70's. Kind of a transitional year it seems.

Anyway, I don't believe mine has a horn relay. When I read the instructions again, I found that the column wires needed to be wired differently which I've done. I ordered a cheap horn off amazon which should be in today. Here's a photo of the siren that was in mine.

centech has a horn relay built into the harness, but I think the wiring is wire to handle both old and newer ( relay) configurations.

after market steering wheel will change things a bit.

here is the way I would do it.

find the steering column wire to the centech relay, ground this wire will activate the relay and blow horn.

in your column you are either gonna have a horn wire that is grounded inside the column or 2 wires that go to the connector.

if one side is ground fid the other side and connect to the centech horn relay wire... should work.

if horn wire is not grounded find the in horn feed wire ( steering column connector side only) and ground it the other horn wire should go to the centech relay wire...you will need to remove the centech (harness side) feed wire and add a ground that pin.

 

[DirtDonk]

And unless they've changed something, I'm pretty sure they call it a "horn coil" or something like that. By "coil" they're referring to the inside part of the horn relay.
It's certainly not intuitive, as they say. But it is easy enough to finger out when you get right down to it.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, and it might not have been you that wired things backwards. If you're talking about the front turn signals, and if you recently installed brand new ones, very likely the new lamps were wired backwards.
Or you can at least blame it on the new imported parts!