Steering column "grounding"

1983idi

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I am working on getting the cruise control to work on my 84 f250.

I am currently going through the diagnostic part that has me measure resistance of the buttons. I am getting higher readings than called for by about 80-160 ohms. I believe I narrowed it down to the steering column grounding itself because if I measure the resistance from the steel part of the wheel to a ground point on the firewall or to the outside of the column lower down I am seeing about 80-160 ohms resistance.

So now I am trying to figure the ground path from the steel part of the wheel to the lower part of the column without tearing it apart. Or maybe this is normal and wont affect cruise operation and I have another issue?

Thanks guys!
 

Nero

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If it's similar to the bricknoses, it just uses a contactor from the steering wheel to the column, and chances are it's corroded pretty bad. Take off the steering wheel and see how it looks.
 

franklin2

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For the grounding, I have never seen it, but have been told there is a block down in the column somewhere that rubs the shaft and grounds it.

The upper column bearing is mounted in rubber, so there is no ground there for the shaft. The lower part of the shaft has the rag joint to couple it to the steering box, so there is no ground there either. What some guys have done is take a short wire and bolt it to the upper part of the rag joint, and then run it across the rag joint and bolt it to the lower part of the joint, to bridge the rag joint and let the shaft ground through the steering box. It seems to work ok.

You could take a jumper with alligator clips and jump the shaft to the steering box and see if your ohms reading dropped.
 

1983idi

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For the grounding, I have never seen it, but have been told there is a block down in the column somewhere that rubs the shaft and grounds it.

What some guys have done is take a short wire and bolt it to the upper part of the rag joint, and then run it across the rag joint and bolt it to the lower part of the joint, to bridge the rag joint and let the shaft ground through the steering box. It seems to work ok.

Thanks for the advice. I did as you suggested and I ran a wire from the upper rag bolts to the lower bolts and now all my readings are way better! Had to remove the steering shaft to do so but at least I didn't have to pull the column and try tearing it apart. Having a replacement rag joint made the job easier too since it was already bolted and not riveted like OEM.

THANKS AGAIN!
 
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