Removing steering wheel cover

I'm trying to locate the horn wire that runs down the column to the horn relay. This wire is 'supposed' to be dark blue, only for some odd reason on my car it's not. There are four plugs running up to our steering wheel. Most of those are for things like cruise, wipers, turn signals, etc. I unplugged 3 of the 4 plugs, leaving only the yellow loomed plug going to the airbag alone. Guess what, the horn STILL worked :eek: There should be no reason why Forn ran a wire as common as the horn wire along with the airbag wires, so now I'm stumped. The only other way to confirm what the wire color code is - is to take the steering wheel cover off, but I'm worried about the airbag being connected somehow. Does anyone know how the front section of the steering wheel comes apart on a 02-05 Taurus? I tried to look it up in our service manual but I could not find it :( Ordinarily it's just 3 or 4 screws, but again, that was back in the day before airbags were added. So how should we remove the front cover of the steering wheel where you press for the horn?

The wiring diagram should list the connector number for the horn connector in the steering column. Look up the connector in the Connector faces/pinout section and see if the horn wire location matches.

Also, does your car have remote keyless entry? If so, the RAP module will have a horn activation wire as well. If you are just looking for a way to activate the horn for an alarm or remote start system, you may have an easier time locating the wire at the RAP module.

-Rod

The wiring diagram should list the connector number for the horn connector in the steering column.
I tried to look it up in our service manual but I could not find it. What section would it be under.

Also, does your car have remote keyless entry?
Yes.

the RAP module will have a horn activation wire as well.
That's a VERY good point :grinyes: The RAP module is located right above the brake pedal right? If so I will look at it tomorrow, or is that just for the keyless entry?

I was able to find the horn switch in a diagram. It's component 9F924. How do I use that number in the service manual to find out how to disassemble it (as if I was going to replace it). Is there a way to enter 9F924 somewhere in the service manual for these instructions?

Also according to the wiring diagram it does look like the horn wire is routed along with the airbag wires. Could you please verify this from the picture below. I just can't grasp the idea that Ford would run a wire as common as a horn wire through airbag yellow loom :frown:

http://www.angelars.com/pics/horn.jpg

It would appear that it may be routed with the airbag wiring. You should be able to pull up connector c218b or c270b to verify this.

As for how to remove the horn button, I cannot say for sure how it is in your manual, but typically you would go to the Workshop Manual section, select your vehicle year and model, select "Electrical," then "horn." From there you will probably have an option for "Horn" or "Switch." Select "Switch" and that should walk you through it.

-Rod

Yes, Ford does run the horn and cruise wiring through the air bag clockspring. They run some wierd things together.

There were only two blue wires in that yellow loom. One was a medium blue, but not really a dark blue, and the other was a dark blue/white strip. The dark blue/white wire rests at ground all the time, so that can't be the wire or the horn would be on all the time. I tested the medium blue wire but when I touch the horn it does NOT go to ground. Shouldn't the correct wire see ground when the horn sounds?

Also, I can't unplug the yellow loomed plug can I? It runs down the steering column to a plug, but if I unplug it (to test if it contains the correct wire) then the airbag might go off right?

Which connector are you referring to in your last post? According to the diagram, connector c218b should have at least 8 terminal locations. Since I don't have the 2004 service manual, I don't know how many locations should be in there, or how many are populated.

The service manual should have all sorts of warnings, disclaimers, and procedures regarding deactivating the airbag system.

-Rod

Which connector are you referring to in your last post? According to the diagram, connector c218b should have at least 8 terminal locations.
There is nothing written on the connector itself, so I'm only guessing that it's C218b. It's the first connector coming down the column and out of the yellow loom. The wires are divided into two groups. Some go to this connector (C218b?) and 4 or 5 others go to another. The wiring diagram above is from the service manual (except for the yellow box that I added to focus what area to look at) and as you can see surprisingly there are no warnings given. I'm tempted to ground this medium blue wire and see if the horn blows, but the airbag could go instead. It's just so frustrating to locate this wire that "should' be very easy to find. If I disconnect the battery and take the steering wheel bolts apart, that should be safe for the airbag right?

There is a section in the service manual that has the connector faces and pinouts. The drawings of the connector faces should help you determine if the connector you are looking at is c218b.

Also, the warnings about deactivating the airbag system will be in the workshop manual section, not the wiring diagram section. If you go into the steps for removing the horn switch, you should see all the warnings in the write-up. I think it basically says to disconnect the battery and wait 2 minutes for the airbag system to discharge. Don't take my word for it though, look in the service manual and follow the steps.

-Rod

There is a section in the service manual that has the connector faces and pinouts.
I looked for this a few days ago but couldn't find it. If it's in the service manual it certainly is hiding :(

If you go into the steps for removing the horn switch, you should see all the warnings in the write-up.
We looked for this also. There is a section that shows how to remove the horn and the speed control switch, but NOT the horn switch. There isn't even a listing for horn switch. The only thing that I could think of was maybe they made it part of the airbag itself and it comes out when you remove the airbag, but even then you'd think they would reference it somehow. This wire also goes to the CJB but there is no section telling what plug is what in the CJB. It talks about section 13-8 but it wasn't in there, and 14A068 could not be found anywhere in the manual either. The only option left is to ground the medium blue wire and then one of three things will happen, the airbag will go off, nothing at all will happen or the horn will blow ending this saga. I've never been so frustrated hunting down a simple wire as this one :( There's always one thing off that makes it seem like it's not the right wire.

On the wiring page, top right corner are some small icons. One is to show associated connectors. Just click on connector number you want and it shows where the connector id and a picture of it.

Did you give up on using the horn trigger at the RAP module? Maybe you're just too curious to give up on the steering column wire, which is understandable.

-Rod

Did you give up on using the horn trigger at the RAP module?
Yes, because I couldn't locate it in the car, or the service manual. They might call it something else. For example; I noticed that they call the Smart Junction Box (SMJ) the Central Junction Box (CMJ) and it wasn't under 'S' or 'C', instead it was only listed under 'J' with the word 'Junction' :frown:

On the wiring page, top right corner are some small icons.
Thank you, that did the trick :) It was a (medium) blue wire, not a dark blue as marked. Connector layout made all the difference in the world :)