calling all wiring guru's, not a "A" body but still a Mopar, help!

[mopar56]

So I am attempting to wire up the signals, flasher, and horn in my 56 Dodge truck project, I am using a donor steering column that came from what I suspect to be a mid seventies to eighties Chrysler, it is unique in that it has tilt AND telescopic steering, ( Chrysler borrowed this design from GM ), the pigtails were cut off prior to me getting it but I have listed the colors below, I have looked over many of the wiring diagrams in the "mymopar" site but the colors still don't seem to match up so I thought if I am thinking this correctly there should be a power source into the steering column/actuating plate and depending on which way you switch the lever for the signals power should then feed out another different color wire, at this time as I am still wiring this up I do not have any power supply hooked up or even a place to put one, ( no battery, tray, starter relay, wires etc. ) so I thought I should be able to do this with an ohm meter right?, so unless any of the wires in the harness are ground then they should not have continuity between each other until you move the signal lever, but this is not the case in fact almost all wires I checked HAVE continuity between each other with the signal lever in the neutral position, this makes no sense? the switch seems fine, I have no reason to suspect it defective in fact I have the steering wheel off so I can see its operation and condition, if my theory of one of these wire being a feed wire is correct and I knew which color it was this would be helpful as moving between each wire and trying to figure this out is a little like trying to figure out a correct lotto number. The harness that I suspect that I should be tracing has green, purple, blue, brown, four blacks, one with a white tracer and one with a blue tracer, there is also a separate yellow wire beside it, maybe it was peeled away from the the main harness up in the column and just seems separate?, lastly there is a small four wire harness which has been cut off close to the column shroud, I am pretty sure this is for the cruise control it has smaller gauge wires and moves with the cruise control/signal lever, the colors are blue,black, white, and yellow, I do not plan on using these as I am not using cruise control. Inside the top of the column ( steering wheel off ) I can see a grey wire and possibly grey with black tracer and a pink wire, I think these are part of the actuating plate that connect to this harness and why they don't make them match the others I have no idea? I am pretty sure the pink wire is for the four way flasher but don't know which color in the harness it should connect to, So any one here have any ideas?, unfortunately this little speed bump is holding up progress on the entire build as I cant get my head around this, sorry for the long post but thought I should put as much info as possible here, thanks in advance.

 

[jbc426]

You will be doing yourself a huge favor if you download and print the wiring diagrams for both the truck and the column and then take the time to trace all the circuits you need. The downloadable diagrams are available online and are not that difficult to follow.

If you are unable to follow the circuits and then visualize them in your mind, simply print a dozen or so enlarged copies of the diagrams and use a small highlighter to trace the wires involved in a given circuit. You will likely end up with mismatched colors on some and similar colors on other circuits. If you get stuck, take a snap shot of the diagrams and post them here. A lot of guys are very astute at wiring diagram reading etc.

 

[TrailBeast]

Also keep in mind that brake lights go through the column and signal contacts, and that you can get continuity through bulbs.

 

[mopar56]

Thanks for the tips but at this time as mentioned I have been unable to find a manual for the column as for the truck there is no factory wiring left I am starting from scratch I was hoping someone might have known the colors for the column I have just aquired a factory dodge truck manual with tilt column info and hoping there is something there as the column is similar

 

[Killer6]

Also keep in mind that brake lights go through the column and signal contacts, and that you can get continuity through bulbs.

True, IF the column is from a Dodge tk, if it is from an auto, it could have separate stop & turn bulbs, and would not share any circuitry. Are there any part numbers on the
harness wrap?

 

[mopar56]

Thanks again, the column is definitely not from a truck, I believe it is from a Imperial or New Yorker and it was a auto, unfortunately there are no tags on the harness I do know this is the same column used by GM in there Corvettes of mid seventies vintage but I am sure the colors will be different.

 

[Killer6]

Also, when the T/S sw. is in the "off" position, the right&left/front&rear wires are closed to facilitate the hazard switch operation. There's just no power to them until You
activate the hazard sw. When You flip the signal lever, one side's contact opens, and the other side is powered.................

 

[mopar56]

OK thanks kilker6 that is the kind of info I am looking for so can I assume then that I should have continuity between just two wires turning left and two different wires turning right? If so why do I have continuity between all with it in the neutral position? I have a power prove meter maybe I should apply 12v two one wire and turn it one direction then check all others for voltage and hopefully find only one that's 12v by a process of elimination?