horn issue....short??

[bugedd]

I have an aftermarket horn with relay, and a Moto Lita wheel for starters. I also have a worn out car. Driving around the other day, as steering in a parking lot, the horn went off by itself. Strange. So I disconnected a wire at the relay until today when I could look into it. Now, with the horn push off the car, relay hooked back up, I went to sit in the car and held my weight a bit on the steering wheel, and the horn went off. I let pressure off, and it turned off. I pushed back down vertically on the steering wheel and the horn went off again. So it would appear I have some really strange new way of activating my horn. There is play on the steering shaft, so is there a bushing or something between the shaft and housing that could be shot, making it short out when I push down vertically on the wheel?

 

[nomad]

Bushing's are felt and are replaceable but alway's have some play in them. Your horn contact ring is in the plastic housing around the column and I can't think why that should occur. Some disassembly likely will be required.

Kurt.

 

[dklawson]

I have not worked on a Bugeye but it should follow the same Lucas wiring schemes of other cars from that period. You will have to weigh my comments and adjust them to include the relay you have added.

One side of the horn(s) should have a purple wire that always has 12v on it. The other horn terminal should have a purple/black wire on it. That wire is routed somehow to a slip ring on the steering column. When you push the horn button the purple/black wire is connected to earth to complete the circuit. The fact that you can move the wheel/column to get the horn to sound suggests a possible problem with the slip ring.

On some LBC steering columns the slip ring is a fingered sleeve around the diameter of the column. There is supposed to be an insulator between the slip ring and the colun itself. It could be that the insulator has become damaged and fallen out on your car (if that is the type of slip ring you have).

Also see this old thread here:
https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf...ing-new-Mota-Lita-horn-push-into-my-MG-Midget

 

[macsprite]

I've had the same thing on a Bugeye I have with a Moto Lita wheel and hub. A couple of things to check: with the weight on the wheel, the steering column shaft may be touching the brass horn ring on the steering wheel dash cone or plinth, completing the circuit and sounding the horn. Check this during rotation of the wheel as the dash cone may not be centered. Certainly if the old felt bush is compressed it could also cause movement in the shaft. These are inexpensive from Vic British. The 2nd thing to check is if the spring loaded horn sender is shorting on the hub, which I think was my issue. I added some heat shrink tubing (or electrical tape) to hold this sender tight in the position in teh hole in the hub.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Lew

 

[bugedd]

thanks for the input. The felt bushings are pretty shot anyhow, so I'm going to tear the column apart and rebuild it and go from there.