I have a 95 SE that I just purchased. Low miles one owner. This is my first pathy and Nissan. I have already done timing belt/water pump, plugs etc to get started with it. It was not particularly well cared for mechanically but is clean. I am very frustrated by the electrical gremlins I have discovered. First the cruise and horn did not work. I suspected electricals behind the steering wheel since both were affected. I discovered bad horn ring contacts on the unit behind the steering wheel. I replaced this and it had no impact. I noted that there is no cruise fuse but there is a horn fuse. It looked good. Seperately I replaced one fog lamp and noted that I have no juice getting to the fog lamps. Both the cruise switch on the dash and fog lamp switch light up like they should be on, but juice is not getting to them. I have no cruise light come on in the instrument cluster when I attempt to turn on the cruise. I discovered several connectors dangling in the driver footwell. One of them was for the driver footwell light. I plugged this back in and discovered there is also a door short somewhere telling the car a door is ajar when it is not. I have played with all door sensors and there was no change. While riding as a passenger in the car I fiddled with the sunroof while driving and it turned out opening the sun roof resulted in the car no longer thinking a door was ajar I don't even know how this is possible given the simplistic nature of this sunroof. Being new to this forum I apologize if I am posting in the wrong place. I am simply new to pathfinders and wondering if others have experienced any of these symptoms as well and can offer advice. I am pretty good with mechanical stuff, but not as good with electrical. . . thanks in advance if anyone can help. My primary concern is the cruise and perhaps the horn. I suspect the short in the door ajar system will be difficult to trace. Fog lights would be my lowest priority. I know these may be 4 separate issues but I can't help thinking at least the cruise and horn could be related since they both have wiring through the wheel. Please let me know if you have had similar problems!
Thanks,
Matt
Multiple electrical gremlins please help!
Moderator: volvite
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My fog lights and mysterious door ajar light have been accounted for, but still no suggestions for the cruise horn as I have already replaced the clock spring assembly behind the wheel and cleaned up the contacts on the wheel itself... any tests I can do to determine if the wheel is definitely the problem?
Your best bet would be to get a wiring diagram of the horn circuit and do the pinpoint checks for power and ground. There is a downloadable service manual here on the forums. Most horn systems work pretty similar. The horn switch typically grounds the "solenoid" side of the horn relay whereas the "switch" side of the horn relay completes the flow of power to the horn itself, which grounds to the chassis. If you can determine which terminals of the horn relay are for the "switch" side, you should be able to jump them and get the horn to sound. If it doesn't, check for power at the horn and at the relay terminal. If the horn sounds, you know that circuit is not the issue and can concentrate on the "solenoid" side of the horn relay, making sure there is power to it, first.
Thanks.
Thanks for the reply. All gremlin's have been solved with the help of some folks. Door ajar was the common tailgate switch. Horn and cruise were the clock spring. I installed the new part incorrectly all the way back on the column resulting in contacts not touching the wheel. Had to loosen it and pull it forward and then retighten the retaining clamp. fog lights were the fuse at the battery
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