Grant steering wheel problem / blower motor problem.

ASSISTANCE Interior
1

Got two interior issues, so I figured I’d try to cover both in one thread.

The steering wheel problem - Bought a grant challenger plus the appropriate grant kit for my '91 DB1 today from autozone, had $20 on my rewards card and end up only spending $20-25 so I figured why not. I knew when I bought it that I would no longer be able to use cruise control unless I ran new wires to new switches somewhere else on the dash or something, which was fine considering my cruise control box is faulty anyways. The problem I’m having is with making the horn work, by default the grant wheel and kit combos will NOT let you use your own if you have cruise control from what I’ve gathered so far with my car. I’ve been following this teg tip for a fix…

http://g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151623

I just can’t seem to find a good sturdy strip of conductive metal to use. Anyone know of a particular item from a particular store like Radio Shack or Wal-Mart that I could buy for cheap that would have the type of metal strip I need to do this horn fix? Some guy in that thread mentioned a flash-light from radio shack, but I don’t want to buy every flash-light they have in order to find the one he was talking about. Some flash-lights have a 1/4" wide strip of metal from the tail-cap to the switch or bulb assembly, on the inside of the light’s body…something like that would work great but I’m not sure what lights have it.

The fan speed problem - My fan speed control does not work on setting 1 and 2, but works on 3 and 4. If the a/c button is clicked, the light turns blue and I can feel the compressor kick on when the fan speed is at 1 or 2 meaning the rest of the system acknowledges what speed it’s on, but the blower motor doesn’t. I think this happened after I pulled my blower motor a year ago to remove a blockage in the turbine.

What would cause it to not work on 1 and 2, but work fine on 3 and 4? Bad resistor on the blower motor? Bad connection at the blower motor? If this has happened before to others, what was a common fix that seemed to work?

EDIT: Searched again using different terms for the fan speed issue, turns out that it is most likely the resistor. Will get a new one ordered.

2

[QUOTE=DOHCIntegraLS;2037660]Got two interior issues, so I figured I’d try to cover both in one thread.

The steering wheel problem - Bought a grant challenger plus the appropriate grant kit for my '91 DB1 today from autozone, had $20 on my rewards card and end up only spending $20-25 so I figured why not. I knew when I bought it that I would no longer be able to use cruise control unless I ran new wires to new switches somewhere else on the dash or something, which was fine considering my cruise control box is faulty anyways. The problem I’m having is with making the horn work, by default the grant wheel and kit combos will NOT let you use your own if you have cruise control from what I’ve gathered so far with my car. I’ve been following this teg tip for a fix…

http://g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151623

I just can’t seem to find a good sturdy strip of conductive metal to use. Anyone know of a particular item from a particular store like Radio Shack or Wal-Mart that I could buy for cheap that would have the type of metal strip I need to do this horn fix? Some guy in that thread mentioned a flash-light from radio shack, but I don’t want to buy every flash-light they have in order to find the one he was talking about. Some flash-lights have a 1/4" wide strip of metal from the tail-cap to the switch or bulb assembly, on the inside of the light’s body…something like that would work great but I’m not sure what lights have it.

The fan speed problem - My fan speed control does not work on setting 1 and 2, but works on 3 and 4. If the a/c button is clicked, the light turns blue and I can feel the compressor kick on when the fan speed is at 1 or 2 meaning the rest of the system acknowledges what speed it’s on, but the blower motor doesn’t. I think this happened after I pulled my blower motor a year ago to remove a blockage in the turbine.

What would cause it to not work on 1 and 2, but work fine on 3 and 4? Bad resistor on the blower motor? Bad connection at the blower motor? If this has happened before to others, what was a common fix that seemed to work?

EDIT: Searched again using different terms for the fan speed issue, turns out that it is most likely the resistor. Will get a new one ordered.[/QUOTE]

regarding the fan. its most likely the blower motor resistor that is bad. search blower resistor. its located within the dash, behind the glove box near the blower. very easy to get to and replace.

regarding the horn. i’m assuming u need a metal thing to go thru the hub to touch the copper ring? if that is the case, the hub has to have a hole in it to where u can kinda see the copper ring if u look thru the hole. if u can… then get a metal pin or something… i used a roll pin (like the one that holds ur shift linkage in place). but it was smaller n stuff. fit the hole in the hub just right. from that… i hooked up a wire to it… i tried soldering it but got bulky with my poor soldering skills. hehe. that wire went thru the hub, and it connected to the horn button. that horn button had 2 male spade connectors on it. so i hooked it to one. then on the other connection, i got a wire to that too… and hooked it up to the hub to finish the ground. basically to make the horn work… the copper ring must connect to the hub to make the horn operate. you are just throwing in a connection and a switch within that connection. when the horn button isn’t pushed u put a break/open in that connection so the horn doesn’t honk. when u push it, the circuit is closed and has a path.

if u have any issues, post pics of what is troubling u.

3

The pictures in that teg tip thread I linked show what I have to do, with my specific choice of steering wheel. On the back of the hub, which is pretty much part of the grant steering wheel now that the 3 “shoulder bolts” are holding them together, has a copper ring on the back of it that faces my steering column. I need a tab of metal mounted to the column just like in those pics, that “rubs” the copper ring.

The wheel and everything else works, turn signal cancel works, etc. The wheel is further away from me than the oem wheel and the padding/cover feels weird, but I’m sure I’ll get used to that. Wish I had the cash for an NRG wheel and NRG hub/adapter, but this setup will do for now. :slight_smile:

4

[QUOTE=DOHCIntegraLS;2037774]The pictures in that teg tip thread I linked show what I have to do, with my specific choice of steering wheel. On the back of the hub, which is pretty much part of the grant steering wheel now that the 3 “shoulder bolts” are holding them together, has a copper ring on the back of it that faces my steering column. I need a tab of metal mounted to the column just like in those pics, that “rubs” the copper ring.

The wheel and everything else works, turn signal cancel works, etc. The wheel is further away from me than the oem wheel and the padding/cover feels weird, but I’m sure I’ll get used to that. Wish I had the cash for an NRG wheel and NRG hub/adapter, but this setup will do for now. :)[/QUOTE]

hmmm… so u just need like a springy metal piece then like some type of strip or something then. seems like a PITA. even on momo hubs nowadays tho… they don’t offer the copper ring connector piece that is suppose to contact it like they use to back then. i even tried momo direct and they stopped making it which was lame.

5

Here I come to save the Day!!! Mighty Mouse is on his way!!

OK; seriously, I wrote the thread “How to hook up horn on aftermarket steering wheel.” I used an old prong off an old lamp plug. Get one w/ the hole already in it if possible. The one I used was a long piece that was bent in half. Just make sure the metal strip touches the copper piece @ all times. Bend it so it will do so. Should solve the problem.

:getsome::manual:


Figure that out!

6

I modified a stock clock ring to work, its been a while but i believe my friend just broke the plastic connector and use the metal contacts to rub against the copper plate.

as for the blower speeds, i thought that the tell tale sign of the blower motor resistor problem is when you only have the blower working on the highest speed, again im not sure.

7

I’ve butchered 2 plugs so far, using the folded prongs. Basically what happens is I unfold them carefully and they snap in half because the middle point where they were originally folded was very weak and thin.

8

yea u need some spring metal material. maybe u have something old/broken around ur house that takes batteries. the spring type contacts (the flat ones) could do the trick.

9

I did this back in 2000 when i got the car so it’s been a while since i did this…but i purchased some brass feeler gauge…ground off the rivet that holds it all in place…took one of them and bent a slight curve in it…so you basically have a small flat area (rivet hole area where you will use to screw guage into place)…than a small curved area for contact to the wheel adapter. Test fit for proper contact. Adjust curved area if needed. I have since gone back to stock…no front window tint to hide steering wheel.

10

I bought a plastic flash-light from autozone for 4.99, they happened to have one opened behind the counter that they use so I was able to take it apart and make sure it had a long strip of metal, which it did.

Little more than I wanted to spend for just a piece of metal but it looks like it will work, and I can most likely replace the metal with a piece of single wire to get the flashlight working again instead of just the light in the trash.

I’ll report back later tonight once it’s not as hot outside and I can get this mod done.