Today I went down to the auto parts store and purchased the new horn for my 97 Ranger the OEM horn worked but frankly it was so weak I was ashamed to blow it.
I was able to mount the new horn right where the old one came off. I purchased a beep beep Road Runner horn.
Only one small problem maybe some of you can help me with it when I pull the wires off at the old horn I determined it gets grounded through the mounting stud but it has two wires hooked to the positive terminal. One is about a number 18 in the other about a #22. With a test light I determined that the larger wire furnishes 12 V to the horn when the button was pushed inside.
I plugged the number 18 up to the new horn and grounded the other to the mounting bolt.
The smaller wire is black and it seems to run back under the battery and go somewhere that you can’t see. I have no idea where it goes or what it is for and I am hoping that someone could tell me what that wire goes to so I wont have to tear half the front of my truck apart to find out.
I tried every accessory that I could. Everything still works all the gauges and everything. So at this point I’m just at a loss for what this little wire is for.
Any help here will be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Larry(Harmony162)

 

Maybe it was an added wire for keyless entry(beep/lock, beep/unlock) or for an alarm(beep, beep, beep), it doesn't read like a factory wire

I wouldn't ground it, just leave it unhooked and tied out of the way

 

It’s a factory one for sure I will get a picture of the old IAC. iit has an additional spade soldered in the rivet at the factory for this wire. Also the plug protector on the end of the wire is just like the other one and it’s those kind of plastic protectors that you can’t even buy at the store.
Larry

 

here’s a picture of that horn I was telling you about that has an extra terminal or in wire.
larry

 

1997 used a Horn Relay in the engine fuse box, so no real reason for a second 12v wire to the horn itself, the keyless entry and factory alarm both used the relay to activate horn

I do show just 1 dark blue wire from relay to the horn and then a dark blue jumper wire to that second terminal, which is missing the spade connector

Its a dual horn, low pitch terminal and separate high pitch terminal, that's what the two stud terminals are for, so both wires would be 12v when relay is activated

Diagram here for 1999 Ranger: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...99fordhorn.jpg

 

I got the wiring diagram I suspect it has had two horns and someone took one off either that or it just came with one horn and was wired for two but where did that other one go? they may be another horn somewhere. Do you have any idea where the second horn would be if it has one?

Larry

 

The horn in your picture is TWO horns, a low and high pitch, that's why it has 2 terminals/studs
Previous owner may have removed the wire and tab on the open terminal and put it with the other one, not sure why, to change the pitch???

Or maybe the open terminal is shorten inside so was causing the fuse to blow when horn was used?

 

Probably because that little horn was so sick.
I bought one at Advance and put it on. It is a beep beep road runner horn. I mounted them both behind the battery on a flexible piece of bar. fed them off of the one large wire seem to work fine.

wait a minute it just dawned on me what you are saying there are two horns in one so if I plug the other terminal up it may blow low and high is that right?

 

Yes, the factory unit had TWO separate horns inside it
A low pitch horn and high pitch horn

No, on the wiring, both wires have 12volts so not "pitch related" just on/off, the internal design of the horn itself sets the "pitch"

 

So if I put 12 volts on the second terminal of the factory horn and the horn is good I am going have one Hell of a *****???

 

I would put an OHM Meter on it first, to see if its shorted to ground, it was unplugged for a reason

But yes you can test each terminal(if not shorted) to see what "note" each produces

 

I checked the horn and the other terminal is shorted to ground and the mystery wire does have 12 bolts when horn is activated. I wonder if I connected the mystery wire to the working terminal would it make the horn any louder? I doubt it would. Thinking about buying a new OEM Horn and hooking it up correctly. Do you suppose I would need to add a relay for that road runner horn i bought or will the factory relay and 20 amp maxi fuse handle all three horns?

by the way I’ve already written this up in another post but FYI my surging idle returned after going through two aftermarket IAC’s I purchased a Hitachi and I’m steady at 900 RPM. And if I have a vacuum leak me and a can of starting fluid can’t find it.

Larry

 

No, it wouldn't be any louder, 12volts is 12volts on e1 or 2 wires

The problem is you had 1/2 a horn, so 1/2 as loud

What 3 horns?

Yes, the fuse and relay can handle it, if you blow a 20 amp fuse there is something WRONG with the horn(s) or wiring

After engine is warmed up unplug the IAC Valve and RPMs should drop to 500 or so, engine may even stall, either is GOOD it means no vacuum leaks
If RPMs do not drop then there is a leak
Unhook 1 vacuum line at a time and plug its port, repeat until RPMs drop

 

This one is for RonD.
a friend bought a new set of Tiger Paws from eBay then took out a telephone pole trying to miss a deer before he could get them installed. He was looking at a large shipping bill + a 20% restocking fee to return them. I got the tires for $100 and had them mounted. They are 225/60R15. The truck had 225/75R15. My speedo was a couple mph slow with the 75’s now it’s about 3 mph fast.
Unfortunatly I had no way to tell my computer I changed to a smaller diameter. Now my speedo is fast.
Is there any way to fix this?
On the topic of the ECT sensor. I had my son feather of the Accelerator while I was looking at the voltage on my ECT. when he would move the RPM up a couple hundred RPM the voltage did not change but every 30 seconds or so without him touching The accelerator it will surge up a couple hundred RPM Unrelated to compressor cycling and the voltage on the ECT also goes up 2-4/10 v. By the way the voltage moves first. You said in an earlier post that if the ECT voltage was wondering that would cause the RPM to fluctuate. But then you said in a later post that you didn’t think my ECT was the problem even though it was fluctuating. I am a little confused here, what say you???

 

In a 1997 Ranger you will have a gear driven speed sensor on the transmission, last year Rangers had this

So you can change the gear to change the ratio at speedometer, although 3mph isn't much, I think most Fords were +/- 5%, so if its off 3mph at 30mph that 10% , but if its off 3mph at 60mph that only 5%


If engine is warmed up, and ECT is at or under 1volts then slight voltage change in ECT wouldn't/shouldn't matter
Its when the engine is at or under 140degF, 1.35volts and up, it can effect idle RPMs
ECTs, and most sensors, also have a +/- 15% deviation that's allowed

 

Oh I see you forgot to mention that part I’m glad to hear I got to gear I’ll get all that tomorrow what do you think 1or2 teeth?
Larry


PS:
I found those speedo gears on eBay they are cheap three for five dollars each I’ll just order the next two or three larger sizes since I need to you spin the driven gear a little slower I’ll do the ole trial and error thingy.

 

The old tires were 28.3" diameter, the new tires are 25.6" diameter

Rangers all have 7 tooth DRIVE gears on the shaft

Assuming most common rear axle ratio of 3.73

You would have a Tan color 19 tooth DRIVEN gear, with stock tire size of 27" diameter, so 28" made speedo slower, and 25" makes it faster
So a 20 tooth Orange color would be the choice

And yes, whatever you have now go UP 1 tooth count

 

I have a white gear. I suppose if it was real faded it could be tan. It is a very pale white now.
I may have discovered a vacuum leak. Usually when I get in to start the truck you have to press the brakes to put it in gear. Sometimes when I press the brake before I start the engine the pedal is hard as a rock and hardly moves. I noticed it did that this afternoon after sitting in the driveway for about six hours it doesn’t do it all the time just once in a while. Usually you get one good application of the brakes before you lose all your vacuum. Does that mean the diaphragm or some valve or something inside the power brake unit is leaking down.
Larry

 

Count the teeth, color is not always correct

With engine just shut off
You should have 2 full brake pedal presses with power assist(vacuum) and maybe a 3rd, before vacuum is used up, this is for emergency stopping if engine should stall, and its why the Booster is so large
Restart engine then shut it off, then wait a few hours and see if you get the same pedal presses with assist

You can pull off the boosters hose from engine end, and suck on it to see if booster holds vacuum, it should, indefinitely

 

If it had a leak it would not be intermittent would it???
Larry

 

Sure, why not?

Could be temp based, everything swells a little when heated up, then shrinks when cooled down

 

well this morning I pulled the hose off of my booster and sucked on it.
huge leak couldn’t pull any vacuum with my mouth at all I would say it’s time to replace that Puppy...
Larry

 

Bummer, but at least you found the problem

 

Did you unplug it from the booster and then suck, with other end attached to engine?

or

Unplug it from the engine and then suck, with other end attached to the booster?

 

Ron: looking to change the chunk in my truck to some taller gears what am I likely to find a chunk with 4.10 gears in that will work in my 97 7.5 rear at the JY?
Larry