Horn doesn´t work!

[Florian]

Damn, I really don´t understand much of wiring...I´ll take some photos for you today.

[Florian]

Okay, so the horn itself works when hot wired straight from the battery.

There is no clicking at the horn relay when someones presses the horn button inside.

So I guess I´ll have to remove the steering wheel..how do you remove it? There are 2 screws, one on each bar of the steering wheel, these have to come off and then?

It´s a ´71 steering wheel:



The horn pad is off as you can see in the picture. It feels kinda odd pushing in the horn, you have to push hard so that it moves..does this indicate anything?

[ForingaMex]

Yes you have to remove the horn pad with the 2 screws from the back and to remove the steering wheel check this out http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/162.cfm From the picture it looks like you just pulled the rubber off. Its supposed to stay on the plastic part that is still on the wheel.
The horn works best if you press along the centre of the horn pad. I don't know if that is what you mean about being hard.

[fordman]

i dotn know if the relay is suppose to make a sound when the horn is working or not. the horn pad does come off of the inner horn button. the two copper wires in that button come together to complete the circut to ground. when you push the horn. if you just pull the horn button or the white thing off the steering wheel you can ground the tab on the steerign wheel to see if the horn button is bad or not. if it doesnt work then the problem is elsewhere other than the horn pad itself.

[Florian]

Okay I just removed the horn pad completely. Didn´t find a horn brush or anything, there were only two cables on the backside of the horn pad.

Here are some pictures:







The car had a Dukes of Hazzard horn that the vendor removed, so there has been some modifications on the horn system. Also the horn pad platic cover was held in place with two cable ties, so someone manipulated there also..

[fordman]

take a screwdriver and put it between the tab inside the hweel to the nut. and see if the horn works. i have never seen a bad horn relay. here is a horn circut. to see how the system works or how its hooked up. usually the horn brush under the steering wheel is bad. but it could be the plastic horn pad too. http://www.fordification.com/tech/wirin ... ircuit.jpg

[Florian]

I don´t understand how to do the test with the screwdriver I fumbled around there with a screwdriver but nothing happened, I don´t know if I did it the right way though..

The two cables on the underside of the horn pad did hang in there just loose, is that the problem? Where do they have to be connected to?

What about that copper connector cable can you see it if it is there? Or is it inside the steering column?

[fordman]

here is a picture of the rag joint ground strap . http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... 64&t=49864

inside of the steering wheel should be one or sometimes two prongs that thwe horn pad will plug into. depending on the year of the steering wheel. if you touch the center of the stterng shaft to the single prong that will complete the circut to ground and the horn should honk. if it has two prongs you will touch both prongs together . i said screwdriver because i have the older three spoke wheels on my trucks. but yo umay not be able to get a screwd river in there. but you can use a piece of wire to cross the prongs or the center shaft with the single prong. if you were abel to cross the prongs or the shaft and prong and nothing happened then the horn brush is the next part to look at and test. which means the steering wheel needs to come off to visually inspect if it is present or good.

[Florian]

Hey fordman!

My (1971 F100) steering wheel has even three contacts

In this picture you can see them pretty well, one on the left side and two on the right side:



I tried to connect two of them but the horn didn´t honk. Which contacts do have to be connected in my case?

[fordman]

that doesn't sound like a stock steerign wheel then. it may be off of a newer truck. you are goignt o have to pull the wheel to see what is going on with it.

[Florian]

But it´s the stock ´71-design steering wheel. You think someone modified it?

[Florian]

Okay update: a friend of mine helped me and measured everything. The two "contacts" are just mounting clips. It really seems to be the horn brush. With which models does that horn brush interchange with, is it the same brush as in the Mustangs?

[Florian]

Another thought: I need to replace the steering rag joint on my truck also. When the old rag joint is out and the new one is not in yet, is it possible then to pull the steering wheel back far enough to get access to the horn brush?

[Florian]

So I would loosen the two clamps marked in this picture:



Then I should get the rag joint out and be able to move the steering wheel back, right?