• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Something is screwy here

Share this page

T

Tinster

Guest
Guest
Offline
I tried to dry fit the various pieces I purchased to
beep my horns. Something is very screwy somewhere.

My horn button snaps into a rubber disk which in turn snaps
onto a raised circular ring on the steering wheel support
head. My horn button itself will not fit into or snap onto
this ring. The rubber disk readily snaps onto it.

I installed the spring push brush inside the empty hub.

I installed the 3 prong part onto my twin spade horn button.

I installed the horn button and rubber surround piece.
Nothing touches anything from horn button to insides. The
three prong piece extends no more that 1/2" into the empty
steering wheel hub hole.

Something is screwy. What's wrong?? Something is Pedro-ized
but I don't know what.

Thanks,

d

SteeringHole.jpg


SteeringHole2.jpg




steeringHole3.jpg


button.jpg
 
That bit of "unknown function" needs to be bolted onto the end of the steering shaft. This is the clip which holds the horn button in place. Take off that 1 1/16" nut which holds the steering wheel on, put the unknown functional bit on to the end of the shaft with the little notch lined up so that the pencil thingy will go back in. Now replace the nut so that the steering wheel doesn't come off.
what it really hard to tell from the picture is if the depth of the steering wheel to the steering wheel is going to work out properly. On a "normal" setup the springy contact matches up against a contact on the bottom of the switch part whereas you have two spades on the bottom.
Now, seeing as your steering wheel obviously isn't stock it looks like you need to engineer a solution here. If the spring bit is in fact the correct length (ie matches up with the depth of the hole on the steering wheel, I would solder a wire to it and hook that up to one of the spades and a second wire to the contact which you already have in the steering wheel.
 
Yis got it. The horn push is a self-contained switch. You will need to rig up the ground on one spade, the contact from that plastic "pencil" thingie in the column to the other.

EDIT: The single contact push grounds thru the retainer spring. Not sure about the two connector at all now!
 
Yisrael/Doc

IF I install that 3 prong thing beneath the large nut,
it will be at least 1 to 1.5 inches below the horn
button. It will be sitting in a void touching nothing.
It certainly won't be supporting the horn button.

My horn button is held in place by the spring on the side
into the rubber surround piece.

I bought this new horn button and other pieces from the
Big Three. So I'm perplexed it is different from other TR6
buttons.

Also, I thought my steering wheel was stock for a 1969 model year.

Still confused but now that I know the hub's buggered up
and not me being stupid; I'll design a fix. (Being the
creative fellow I am!)
 
Advance apologies for the blurry pix: it was DARK in there and using a point-n-shoot thingus, but:
 
Three prong clip held on with wheel retaining nut, connect wire(S), snap push in place. Rubber surround would go on last, as a "dress-up" safety thing.

But it seems your wheel and the hub are of two different types. The one here is a single contact to the springy pencil thingie, the three-prong clip makes the ground to complete the circuit. This is the same basic set-up as Spitfire, GT-6 and Herald of the mid and late '60's, BTW.
 
If I can jump on Dale's thread here I have a question.

Is the three prong clip on all TR6's, or just earlier ones?

I have had an intermittent horn problem myself that I haven't been able to figure out as of yet.

My "earth strap" appears OK, but when I changed steering wheels last summer on my '76, there was no three pronged clip inside my hub. By the way, I had the same problem before I changed steering wheels.

You have to really play around with my button to get it to work. If the 3 prong clip makes the ground to complete the circuit, then this is probably why I have been scratching my head on this one for a while. Unfortunately, I have a new button (which I believe is larger than the stock one) and boss adapter for a moto/lita wheel, so I'm not sure if the 3 prong plug is going to work now, if in fact I do need one.

Thanks,
Roger
 
Roger, if you've got the same hub/horn push I posted pix of, it grounds thru that retainer spring thingus. I just "ohmed" it to check. You MAY be experiencing a wear of the plastic spring/pencil "brush" gizmo. I've seen 'em wear to the point they no longer make good contact.
 
Dale, until you pull the steering wheel and install the contact ring, your horns will never blow with the horn push.
Jeff
 
Hey Doc,

Now that you mention it, one end of the brush did appear to be worn.

Since they are relatively inexpensive, I'll measure mine up and order another one and give it a try.

I guess I better look into ordering one of the 3 prong retainers too.

Thanks,
Roger
 
I kinda think the three prong gizmo is nothing but an alignment tool to be sure the brush end hits the contact on the push correctly. But if you're ordering bits, it'd be prudent to get it, too. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
For info: I do not have a three prong piece in my '71 TR6.
 
Dale,

Since your horn button fits in the rubber part of the steering wheel you will not need the three pronged spring thingy. You will need to run a wire from one of the spade lugs on the horn button to the metal of the steering wheel. You need to check to see if there is a ground between the steering wheel and the chassis of the car. This wire will provide a ground to the switch in the horn button. You than need to establish an electrical connection between the other spade lug connection on the horn button and the springy thingy. You need to make sure the springy thingy is pressing against the brass ring that you need to install in the steering column bowl after you take the steering wheel off. The brass ring connects to the purple wire that you now touch to the gear shift lever.
 
Is it possible to do this? Install the 3 prong clip as in the picture the Dr. provided. Then put the horn buttom in place so that one of the spades is in contact with the horn brush AND so that the tension spring on the button is in contact with one of the 3 prongs ("new part of unknown function").
From the 2nd picture you provided Dale, it looks like an approx. 90 degree clockwise rotation of the horn button would make these points of contact
NEVERMIND. I just read your post on the other thread. Does not apply to horn button with 2 spades.
 
dale, Sorry if this was said,couldn't handle all the back and forth, the 3 prong clip goes under the nut that holds the wheel.
Clip does not snap into rubber surround. It make contact with the inner circumference of the wheel to complete the circuit.
 
Back
Top