Where does steering column rod get ground from?
 

Hi,

I am having trouble with intermittent ground on the steering column rod. Since the horn relay circuit uses this ground I was wondering where the ground signal is coming from. The coupler between the rod and steering gerabox prevents it from getting ground from there. Can't find anything in the shop manual either.
Can anybody out there tell me?

Thanks!
TJ

Huh... so my hunch was right. Because that's what I already did - pulled a wire from one side to the other only to find out the whole shaft coming out of the steering gearbox does not have ground. The housing however does have a solid ground.

Any ideas why the shaft itself might not see ground? Tried all possible positions on the shaft.

Rag joint has a brass ground strap & later ones have them with a exposed steel bar ground strap , old ones with brass are generally missing . Buy a new one or look it up.

Did you file or sand the shaft to get good continuity? It may have a thick sealer. Sometimes the obvious is overlooked.

Here is what I did
 

I had a similar problem, my horn was barely working and than did not work at all. After some simple trouble shooting I determined that I was not seeing a good ground at the horn button contact. Hooked up a temporary ground jumper and both horns worked like a champ, this is what I fabricated/installed and problem solved.

Hey donziboy,

yup this setup looks pretty similar to mine. The horn contact is fine, just replaced the wheel with a Grant.
I checked again and can see intermittend continuity between the steering gearbox housing and its shaft, which I agree with Scarebird is very strange.
Depending on the steering angle or when I push the shaft I get continuity between those or not. I can only assume the bearings are so worn out they are not in constant contact with both...(?) still hard to believe given the construction of the gearbox but can't imagine anything else...

@GtoFM: Yep, definitely checked to have good contact. Even made a strap to shortcut the ragjoint. These bolts should have good continuity.

Good luck moving forward solving this issue

Chasing grounds is frustrating!!! Are you ckg continuity from shaft to chassis or shaft to battery NEG? Maybe the chassis is not grounded properly. Ck ALL ground cable and straps connections; battery NEG to engine, engine to firewall and body to frame (chassis).
Going back to original problem, is the horn relay intermittent or the horn?