37 Tudor steering / headlight short

[ron37ford]

II have a 37 Tudor and when I turn the steering wheel the headlights go on and off and I have a short somewhere. Has anyone had this problem and how to take off the steering wheel column.
Thanks

[ford38v8]

Ron, your headlights are controlled by the rotation of the horn button connected to a hollow tube running down through the steering column to the switch under the steering box. The tube may be bent, causing it to drag on the column, turning on/off your headlights. This is not a short, just the mechanical operation of the switch itself, by the bent rod. If, upon closer inspection, my explanation sounds like it is in fact your problem, follow the procedure below to confirm and repair:

Disconnect the battery.
Remove wire bale from bottom of switch box, dropping off the cover.
Disconnect the single wire exiting the center horn wire tube and remove clip and spring.
Now, the tube should normally be free to move without drag. You should also be able to lift the horn button, exposing the tube, also without drag. Do not pull it out yet, as that would cause it to bend before completely free.

Remove floormat and driver side floorboard.
Loosen steering box from frame.
Remove steering column support from dashboard.
Angle the loose column toward the open driver door, pull out the horn button/rod.
Straighten the bent rod with a mallet on a flat surface.

Reverse the above procedure to reassemble.

[ron37ford]

Alan,
Thanks for the quick reply. I will check this out as soon as I can. Whenever I leave the car I have to disconnect the battery.
Ron

[JSeery]

I agree with Alan, a short would not normally turn the headlight on. Sounds more mechanical. However, the mechanical problem with the control rod would not run down the battery unless the lights were left on!

[ron37ford]

I learned that the hard way when the battery was dead. Most of the time the lights are on and I have to disconnect it

[JSeery]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by ron37ford

I learned that the hard way when the battery was dead. Most of the time the lights are on and I have to disconnect it

LOL, that will do it!

[40cpe]

Next time you stop the car after driving, make sure the light switch in the center of the steering wheel is in the "off" position, then check your lights to be off.

[GSCOV]

I had a similar problem with a 32 Ford, which is all the same stuff. It turned out that there was not enough clearance for the steering wheel center/shaft top to turn and it was binding on the steering wheel and lights were going on at every turn. Check that out also before re-assembling. As we know it is not a fun or fast job to do this operation and just want to do it once. The worst part for me is getting the clip back on. Much easier when my eyes were 40 years younger.

[ron37ford]

thanks for the great info. steering / lights fixed.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by ron37ford

thanks for the great info. steering / lights fixed.

Soooo.....ya gonna share with us what it took to fix it? DD

[TonyM]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Ron, your headlights are controlled by the rotation of the horn button connected to a hollow tube running down through the steering column to the switch under the steering box. The tube may be bent, causing it to drag on the column, turning on/off your headlights. This is not a short, just the mechanical operation of the switch itself, by the bent rod. If, upon closer inspection, my explanation sounds like it is in fact your problem, follow the procedure below to confirm and repair:

Disconnect the battery.
Remove wire bale from bottom of switch box, dropping off the cover.
Disconnect the single wire exiting the center horn wire tube and remove clip and spring.
Now, the tube should normally be free to move without drag. You should also be able to lift the horn button, exposing the tube, also without drag. Do not pull it out yet, as that would cause it to bend before completely free.

Remove floormat and driver side floorboard.
Loosen steering box from frame.
Remove steering column support from dashboard.
Angle the loose column toward the open driver door, pull out the horn button/rod.
Straighten the bent rod with a mallet on a flat surface.

Reverse the above procedure to reassemble.

I may need to remove my column; thanks for the info.