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Strange electrical issues

Joined
August 31, 2014
Messages
13
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2
Year, Model & Trim Level
1995 Explorer
Ok I have read quite a bit and can't seem to find an answer. So, here is the issues.

First, my speedometer is off by 10 miles per hour. It reads high. So, if I'm doing 50 the speedo says I'm doing 60.

Second, Sometimes the horn works, sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, the cruise control also doesn't work and works when the horn works.

The cruise control buttons on the right side of the steering wheel does not light up when the lights are on and neither does the right side of the radio bezel where the rear wiper button is.

When I turn the ac controls, like from floor to defrost, it dims the light. The idle always surges after a few minutes of sitting, and when the blinker is on the volt gauge surges with the blink.

and lastly, my radio randomly pops and resets its self and I have to re program the stations.

All of this seems unrelated to one another and I'm thinking it's a lost cause and I may get rid of it if I can't trace this down.
 






Usually with those kind of problems I would suggest looking for a ground problem. Get some wiring diagrams and see what part of the wiring is common to all of the things that aren't working right. Did a previous owner do any electrical "modifications" previously?

The problems on the steering wheel could be from the same cause as the other electrical issues, but there also may be a connection issue in the column wiring or the clockspring.

I'm not convinced that the speedometer problem is related. I don't see how an electrical problem could get you off by 10MPH. Do you have the OEM size wheels/tires on it?
 






Usually with those kind of problems I would suggest looking for a ground problem. Get some wiring diagrams and see what part of the wiring is common to all of the things that aren't working right. Did a previous owner do any electrical "modifications" previously?

The problems on the steering wheel could be from the same cause as the other electrical issues, but there also may be a connection issue in the column wiring or the clockspring.

I'm not convinced that the speedometer problem is related. I don't see how an electrical problem could get you off by 10MPH. Do you have the OEM size wheels/tires on it?

Wheels and tires are OEM. There was one mod the previous owner did and I don't know why. But they cut some yellow wire behind the drivers side fuse panel and ran it to a switch. So if the switch was off the speedometer wouldn't work and the interior lights wouldn't come on when the door was opened. I don't know why. But I've fixed the problem and I can not find any other wiring mods or issues anywhere and I've been actually looking.

One thing I did forget to mention it that the abs light comes on sometimes and the abs system is working fine. Full fluid and everything. So is there any common places to lose ground in these cars. I have no clue where to even start looking
 






Cruise works now. Still no horn. I'm going to try and clean up the grounds for them this weekend. Still lost on the other issues though. The radio itself I think is bad because I can push the button all day and it will not turn off. I think instead of one big issue I have several small ones at once. My window issue was totally separate from this. And when I finally got them working I discovered that 3 out of 4 of them were off track.
 






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