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TR6 Horn problem with TR6

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Brosky

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
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My wife and I went out for a cruise tonight and I discovered that the horn(s) are not working while driving. Not really a good thing in a very low, small car.

I have new relays in the car and I believe the grounds are good mechanically and electrically, so this confuses me a bit.

My horn will work fine with the key off. The relay is wired properly according to the Masters book. When I turn the key on, the horn will not work. If I probe the Purple/Black wire with a test light with the key off, the horn sounds.

I have power coming from the Purple wire(s) in to the relay both with the key on and off, so I know it's getting power in both cases. This is probably something simple, but I'm kind of brain dead this weekend and can't get it together.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
I would check the ground in the front valance under the grill. When I restored my car, after three months on the road, that ground failed affecting the horns. Treat it with an anti-corrosive preservative. Good time to do the same with all the butt connectors to the lamps and horns.
 
Doug, both the body shop and the engine shop did all of the grounds including the steering column when it was apart, so I think I'm covered there. If I didn't have a good ground there, the horn wouldn't work with the key off. Or would it?
 
I know why, I went through the EXACT same thing on my car.

The steering column has a rubber coupling near to the firewall inside the engine compartment. It's supposed to have a thin wire connecting the lower part of the column to the upper part to continue the ground. Mine had the wire, and on a quick inspection it looked fine. On closer inspection, the wire was bolted to the lower section, looped around and bolted up to the other side of the lower section; essentially breaking the ground. But it still worked with the key off. Why? The steering wheel lock bolt completed the ground with the chassis, but when the key was inserted and the steering column unlocked, the bolt withdrawals and thus breaking the ground.

Also, make sure that a ground wire at the base of the steering column is connected.

Hope this helps!
 
Dang, Shannon,
You could have writen a mystery novella with those clues. How in the world did you find that one out without spotting the steering column ground out of place? I would still be carrying an air horn around.....


Bill
 
Heh.. that was a week of cursing!! I actually stumbled upon it by accident. I was desperate, trying everything that I could to see when and how to reproduce the problem. Sometimes shear dumb luck is on your side.

I was so proud of myself, that I ran in the house and told my wife... she didn't care...
 
My wife doesn't care either. Until I spend some money! She still doesn't know the amount for the diff.
 
[ QUOTE ]


I was so proud of myself, that I ran in the house and told my wife... she didn't care...

[/ QUOTE ]

Geez, been there, done that. I like it when they put a forced grin on their face, like you are a little boy that just found a toad frog. That's ok, payback is a ......

Bill
 
Thanks Shannon! I'll fix it over the weekend.

I'm really glad this forum is back up again.

BTW, my wife does care. After all of the money that I've spent, she really only cares about the horn. She hasn't seen latest box from TRF yet, but that's another story for another post.
 
[ QUOTE ]
She still doesn't know the amount for the diff.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds vaguely familiar.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Nice to meet you btw, and in case you're curious, my son forgot the state again.
 
[ QUOTE ]


BTW, my wife does care. After all of the money that I've spent,

[/ QUOTE ]

The real expense of some of the bigger ticket items we tend to purchase is the fact that often a new chair or couch is attached to the price tag. She seems to think that it is only fair. I wonder if American Collector could add those items in my car insurance, perhaps a "home furnishings umbrella", if you will....





Bill
 
Bill, I don't even talk about the ham radio gear that I've got sitting in boxes doing nothing now. One of these days I should ebay that stuff, but I keep thinking that I'll get interested again. I only remembered it because I just paid the special insurance that I have for it.
 
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