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Tips
Tips

BE Horn: No Honk

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198686d

Jedi Trainee
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Otherwise healthy 61 BE. Lucas wiring replaced prior to my ownership. Horn honks about once out of every 10/15 attempts.

It has original horn & Moto Lito steering wheel with horn at center.

What is easiest to check 1st, 2nd, etc....before having to remove engine.

thanks,

dave
 
Prob horn center button is not makeing proper contact.

What is prob with tranny? Only checking is does it work or not.
 
On my old 66 Sprite, the horn refused to work until I physically clamped a wire to the steering column and grounded the other end to some part of the frame. It was the goofiest thing, since I was certain that the steering column made contact with the frame elsewhere...
 
Thanks......will check whether center horn button is making contact. Actually, when I asked what to check 1st, 2nd, etc., I was referring to horn, not tranny. I'm knocking on wood as I send this reply.

thanks,

dave
 
Kim: Thanks. Hope I don't have to resort to that fix on the BE. But, I might, so I appreciate your reply.

dave
 
If you think about it, the steering rack makes contact with the frame/body at two mounts that are supposed to have paper gaskets that would electrically insulate the rack. You say, Wait!, what about the ball joints. Still insulated by rubber unless they're totally shot. What about the steering column? Also electrically insulated if in good shape. So, a grounding wire from the rack to the body is a good insurance policy for honking.

Glen
 
Also is a wire from the brass ring under the steering wheel that is connedted to the dash with a screw. The plunger part makes contact with that ring and the plate from the middle of the horn button which grounds to the stearing shaft.
 
That poor suffering contact in the horn button and contact ring carries a peak current of about 12 amps (about 6 amps average) when you push the horn button. This causes a lot of burning in the horn button and the contact ring. One of the best ways to fix this (after you've cleaned all the contacts) is to install a horn relay. This reduces the current in the contacts significantly, so no more burning, and small imperfections in the contact don't affect the horn operation so much.
 
Glen:

Your analysis makes a great deal of sense. Only problem is that I am ignorant about most things electrical. I'm old, but I haven't learned much about that entire sprectrum of things. So, if you want, tell me exactly what to do as if I were 12 even though I'm several decades away from that.

thanks in advance,
dave
 
Jack:

Your advice is my weekend project. Notice the retired USAF identifier. My dad just passed away this year...retired Lt. Col. USAF. Stated as navigator on B-17 in WWII. Based in England...many...many...missions to Deutchland. Shot down by anti-airgraft over Ger., bailed out with two other crew before airchraft's midair explosion. Only one alive of crew when he hit the groundin Hollarnd. Have photos from the Dutch family who rescued him in the field with plane burning in background........lost his boots upon the chute opening...in snow. never could feel his feet well.

sorry about the rambling......I miss him

dave
 
Understand the missing part. Yep.

Do you have an OHM meter and know how to use it?
 
1) Check you fuses and that the other electrical equipment running on the same fuse works. I found the cheap fuses tend give me endless hassles. The better quality fuses are soldered on the end cap. The cheap ones use a spot weld principle and when you draw high current the spot weld is undone.

2) Check the horns, if you put 12V directly on it - (after disconnecting the wires) take 2 wires, each from the battery and touch the connections. do they work? if not this is most likely the problem
As a note If one of the connections is earthed you probably have a relay in the circuit.

3) Check if you have any voltage (should be 12V) when the button is pressed on the horn connection (in engine bay), i.e. those on the actual horns.

4) Check that you don't already have a relay in the circuit. if so check if the relay clicks when horn is pressed, if so check that the supply voltage is correct .

5) Remove the wire between the horn brush and the harness.( below dashboard from the cowling there should be single wire connected via bullets into the harness Earth the harness point and check if the horns work, if so you know it's the brush or horn button. if the horns do not work , the problem is not with the button but could be in the wiring , relay etc.
You can add a normal touch to make button (door bell button) under the dashboard as short term solution for a horn button problem. earth the one side and connect the other side to the harness

6) Check the horn button, the horn button has two exposed metal bits. the one connection on the bottom touches the spring brush setup and the other connection is a wire one side of the cap that touches the steering wheel and keeps the horn button in place. use your ohm meter and check that you have a zero resistance between these 2 points when you press the button.

7) Check steering connections, i.e. recently on a refurbished steering wheel I noticed that the paint was so thick that this spring did not actually touch any metal.

8) Ad a relay, critical!
 
That little plastic piece under the horn button with the two brass ends can cause lot of problems. It has a spring separating the two brass pieces and there is a braided wire holing those pieces together. What happens is that those braided wires break down over the years a few strands at a time from the flexing and as you lose wire you gain resistance and voltage drop. After many years there are only a few strands left and the voltage drop across these few strands makes the voltage up at the horn contact button under load drop down to 3volts or so and it acts like contacts on an old flashlight, working sometimes and sometimes not and not depending on how the wire inside the palstic piece bends when pressed. I found this out through trial and error on mine. I unsoldered one of the brass ends and took it apart and found the only about 3 strands were left. I took the wire off an old starter brush and cut it down and soldered it in and this make it work nice.
 
You know I think I said the pigtail from the slipring on the stearing plinth went to a screw ie ground. Wrong. it goes to the wireing as hot.
 
John:

Really appreciate the detail and step-by-step process you offered. Hopefully, will be able to tackle this weekend.

dave
 
Kim:

Very good advice...it makes sense. Will check this weekend.

Probably a question that will expose just how uninformed I am about all of this, but how does one remove the center horn push button on the Moto Lito steering wheel?

thanks,

dave
 
No clue, never had to do that. Yep get a multimeter. Harbor Freight about 7 bucks. It will be fine.
 
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