2004 Ram 1500 2wd plain jane with A/C.No electric locks or windows. Great Truck.

Horn started blowing last week with key off and doors locked.I pulled the fuse to the hornand drove 150 miles Friday and Saturday. Truck sat with key off and doors locked from Saturday evening until Wednesday morning when it would not start. I discovered the battery was totally drained. There was buzzing noise coming frominside far left side of dash. Batter charger showed battery hadfive percent charge.

After battery was fully charged and cable hooked back up, there wasnobuzzing noise from the dash. Truck starts normally. Horn honks normally but turn the key off and after a short while horn startsblaring again until I pull the fuse.

I put a clamp on the metal base of an1156 bulb and hooked theother end to the negative cable. I press the contact of the bulb to the negative post and the bulb filament glowsbut pulses. Dims and brightens. Off and on.

I pulled all the small fuses but no effect on the pulsing. I have not pulled the relays yet. I have not figured how to get them out yet without breaking them.

So what do you think is causing the drain on my battery? Or the horn to blow?

 

I have seen the drivers air bag cover be defective several times and cause this. The horn switch is in this cover.

 

"in the cover"
Does the whole airbag have to be replaced?
I still dont have a repair book.
Thanks

 

Fuses 51 (airbag), 52 (airbag), 52 (cluster, radio, underhood light) have "ears", looks like holders, which I was afraid of breaking. Finally I just yanked and they came up. Guess which fuse stopped the drain. Yep. The very last one. Number 52.

Now my question is how do I get these fuses back down into the slots without breaking the ears? Squeezing the ears doesnt seem to help. It takes a lot of pressure to force them back in. I am afraid they might break. All the fuses were hard to get out. Must be the first time they have been taken out.

This is the first Dodge I have owned. The Chilton's manualfrom Ebaywill be here next week.

 

I got the airbag off and the horn switch out. Local Dodge dealer will not sell just the horn switch.

Then I noticed with the Airbag and horn switch out of the truck, the battery drain is still present. The 12 volt bulb still pulses dim and bright when hooked between the negative cable and the negative battery post.

Is there a horn relay under the dash?
Chilton's manual not here yet.

I got the fuses wrong above.
51 = cluster, radio, underhood light.
52 & 53 are airbag fuses.

 

I just noticed the 12 volt 1157 bulbbetween the negative cable end and the negative battery post blinks a lot brighter with the airbag and horn switch out of the vehicle. Also the door ajar light on the instrument panel now blinks and makes a ponking sound in time with the blinking of the 1157 bulb. Idont thinkthe door ajar light ever blinked before and it definitely did not make this ponking sound.

I am thinking the short is stronger and more concentrated now that it does not have to go through the horn.

When I close the driver door the ponking sound turns into a clicking sound. What could cause this?

Could the hot wire to the horn be crossed with a turn or hazard light wire?

Still waiting on the Chilton's manual.

 

Sorry, but I'll bet that Chilton's manual will do you no good whatsoever. My experience is they're either dead wrong or don't even provide any info at all. Hayne's is just as bad. Go online and find a real Dodge shop manual. They're totally worth the money. There is always battery drain computer, clock, etc. Pull the "PCM" fuse and see if the drain stops.

 

The fuse with the ears (51) is the IOD (ignition off draw) fuse. This controls anything that has power to it when the switch is off. IE. door locks, clock, interior light, These can be hard to get back in if you pulled them all the way out of the fuse block..If you look close, the holder(ears) have a door on the back that opens for replacement.

 

I did not pull the ear fuses all the way out. They were stiff probably from not being pulled since 1/04. Thanks for the info.

Got the Chilton's manual. Nothing whatsoever about the horn relay. No wiring diagram either. What a joke.

And Dodge wants to charge four hundred dollars for a horn switch. Well this includes a totally unnecessary airbag.

Does anybody have a blowed up airbag for an 04 Ram 2wd regular cab?

 

Looks like 2004 to 2007 models of Ram, Dakota, and Durango will interchange