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BN2 center horn button assembly

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Bruce Bowker

Bruce Bowker

Obi Wan
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I think I recall reading somewhere how to stop these from rattling. I assumed there was some sort of bushing but that seems not to be the case.

I can move mine back and forth about 1/8 inch and on a mildly bumpy road it rattles a lot. Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
There should be a spring behind the button. I don't see how it could rattle if the spring is in place. See item 13 on page 66 of the latest Moss catalogue or go to their web site.
 
Bill - I did not explain this well enough. It is not just the horn button. It is the entire control unit. It can move left to right so to speak, about 1/8 inch. It is as if the entire assembly is lose in the steering tube.
 
There is a thick felt seal that would also keep it from moving around like that. It wraps around the stator tube about a half inch into the column. Maybe yours has disappeared.
 
I had the same problem and it was a missing felt seal around the stator tube.
 
Yep, it's either the felt seal is missing or the nut that secures the tube with the olive as it exits the steering box is loose. You'd lose oil from the steering box too if that were the case.
 
Thanks all. Felt seal sounds like the problem. I will check.
 
Next question. How does that assembly get removed? Does one pull up on it and the stator tube slides up? Are there screws or bolts holding it? I assume I only need to slide it out a few inches to put in felt.
 
If you have an adjustable wheel I am sure you could just pull it up a few inches once the set screws are loosened, but if you have a non-adjustable I think you have to loosen the olive at the gear box as well to pull up the stator.
 
Non-adjustable. Thanks for the help.

Bruce
 
Bruce,

there is no felt seal around the trafficator tube. There is a small barrel shaped spring around the trafficator tube that keeps the tube from rattling against the steering column. On the bottom, the trafficator tube is held steady by a nut and olive. After loosening the nut and olive, you can pull out the complete assembly - horn push, indicator and tube, out of the steering column -dont forget to disconnect the electric cables at the steering box end. No grub screws to untighten etc.
On my BN2 the trafficator can not be moved after observing that all of the above is in place and tightened.

regards

Thomas
 
When you remove the stator tube assembly, BEFORE you start to pull it out of the steering column tube, attach a heavy string to the loose wires ( after you have disconnected everything) so that the string is left in the tube to make it easier to pull back through when you go to put it back in. I would wrap electrical tape around the loose ends prior to pulling it out and make sure you keep the diameter of the wires small enough to pull through. The electrical ends are staggered in length if I recall so you can keep the diameter down. There are other ways to do it but if you do not need to take the stator tube assembly away from the car, think this one is easier to reinsert it later. String can be as long as you want, just don't pull it all the way out.
Regards,
Mike
 
Mike and Thomas - thanks for the additional information. In looking at Moss Motors' breakdown I don't see what seems to be a spring. Obviously there is one because when I am on a mildly bumpy road the trafficator really rattles back and forth. You can see it shaking and noisy.

Regardless, or if any English teachers reading this, irregardless, once the entire tube is pulled out does this spring just slide up the tube from the bottom and then all is slide back in? Sorry to be so thick in trying to understand this.

OK! From the other thread of the same title (sorry about that) I see the spring now. Question is where to get one assuming mine is either missing or really bad or there must be something else that can be used.

Bruce
 
Hopefully the photo that I put up on the other thread with the same name has been helpful. When removing the stator tube I wrap the cables tightly with electrical tape. This also protects them from getting oily as they come through the steering box. I have never thought to use the string method as Mike suggests, but its not a bad idea.
 
Your picture answered all my questions and thanks very much. Although I doubt I will find that barrel spring I have some ideas and suggestions from people what to do.

I am sure this is asking too much but does anyone know the outside diameter of the stator tube and the inside diameter of the steering tube?

Thanks all for your help.
 
G'day Bruce,
The stator tube is three eighths of an inch in diameter, which is about 10mm. The tubular or barrell spring is one & five sixteenths inches long & the outside diameter, where it is inside the steering column is nine sixteenths of an inch (about 14mm).
Don't forget that when you slacken the locking nut on the front of the steering box, there is a 'compression' fitting (sometimes referred to as an 'olive') on the stator tube. When the nut is tightened, it compresses the fitting. That is what stops the stator tube from rotating.
I'd be interested to hear your solution, seeing that the barrel spring is unobtainable.
Cheers,
Alwyn
 
Once again thank you very much for all this help. I feel confident now I can take the entire thing apart and solve the problem. If that "olive" is a compression fitting, I assume it has to be cut off and replaced?

Bruce
 
The olive is (should be) a slip-on fitting. It's not really like a compression fitting that's used in plumbing. It's brass so in theory it shouldn't "freeze" on to the steel stator tube but you may need to carefully cut it off (think X-acto saw) and replace it.
 
The olive should be split; you should be able to carefully pry it off, esp. if you can locate the split. I'd be very careful with sharp tools--if you nick the stator tube it may not seal. I've reused olives without any problems.
 
Bob, are you saying that the olive should be cut to enable removal, or that it has a split in it when a new part? I can say from experience that a split olive will not compress enough to grip the stator tube and prevent it rotating with the steering wheel. Perhaps my car was incorrectly repaired some time in the past, before my ownership but as I have had the car since the sixties, I kind of doubt it.
There are two types of compression fitting. The type used on the stator tube is shaped like a barrel with a curved outer shape.
 
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