Short horn, and I don't mean cattle

[3crows]

In my 86 GL 4wd wagon:

Bought this a month ago and replaced the engine. The horn didn't work. Checked the fuse first thing and it's OK. The hazard lights work but the clock and the horn didn't. Tinkered around with it for awhile and ended up putting in a spare horn and it worked, well, sorta........ I tested it by shorting between the horn spade and the steering column and it worked. I connected the horn pad. Hit the pad and the horn beeped. Thought I had jumped slick until I flicked the turn signals and the damned horn beeped! Not continuously but just enough to let me know that I hadn't. Then I turned the steering wheel and got some more slight beeps. Was working on something else about 10' from the car and got another slight beep. I disconnected the battery and came running to you! I have a spare clock that I tried but it didn't work and I don't know which pins on the clock connector from the clock to use to see if the clock is bad or the wiring to it is bad or which wires in the harness plug to check to see if it's powered up. I pulled the widget for the turn signals, hazard lights and horn to steering wheel ground off and I didn't see anything that looked burnt or crusty. I might add that somewhere I read that to take the horn pad off, you just get a hold of the top and pull. Tried that but found that it required brute force, which I am more than capable of after about the third try. Things got bent. I tried straightening things out in the pad but not knowing what they're supposed to look like is a real handicap when you're trying to fix it.

It fits a bit loose now and I might have put a wow in the pad itself, though I don't think that would explain the slight beep when I was 10' away. If it's a short, I would suspect that it would be in the steering column where things are exposed and can go wrong and not in the harness itself, but.......Anyway, the horn plug has a green and a green and black (ground?) wire to it. The turn signal etc. widget also has a green wire that goes inside and a green and black wire sorta side by each that goes to the steering wheel ground lever. I'm wondering if the easiest solution would be to just ground the horn to the frame and power it up with something else or directly from the battery with a fuse to that green wire? I suspect I need to put in a relay. Or did I screw up the horn pad sufficiently enough that that could be the cause? Someone might suggest the proper method to remove a horn pad.....

[wagonist]

So from your description with having multiple wires, I'm assuming you have cruise control? They have a different clock ring & steering wheel to those without.

 

Some of the horn pads have screws holding them on from the back, so don't always believe what you read

 

But, your contacts in the horn ring have gone bad. There's supposed to be conducting grease in there to allow the contacts to slide & still conduct. because of the movement, this wears away over time.

Sorry, no advice on how to pull that apart. We didn't get cruise as an option in Aus.

I've got one of the horn rings cos I got it sent over from there.

[3crows]

Nope, no cruise control. I took the horn pad apart and straightened it out so it fits snugly on the steering wheel. I tested the horn button to make sure it was working as it should and put it all back together, started the engine and the horn went on. I unplugged the turn signal widget and started the engine and the horn went on, I changed the ignition key unit with a spare, started the engine and the horn went on. So, by process of elimination, I've concluded that there's a short somewhere in the wire harness deep down where you can't get to. The only progress I've made so far is figuring out how to remove the horn pad without bending the bejesus out of it. If you push in and up firmly you will release the two clips that hold it at the top. After the top is released, push in firmly and down. This will release the spring loaded hook pieces on the bottom. To reinstall, the two top clips go into slots in the steering wheel. Push them up and in, then down until the clips hook onto the top of the metal plate in the steering wheel, then press down and in on the bottom and it should snap in and fit snugly.

Shorts and wiring seems to be a problem for solving for everyone. If I can fix it, I'll post it.

[aba4430]

Thread revival - I need to fix the horn on my 87 Brat. Presently, if I press the horn pad it will on occasion blast the horn. I know the horns are OK. However, pressing the horn pad @5 times, it will blast one time, qualitatively. So I have a contact problem. Question, how do I safely remove the horn pad from the steering wheel without breaking it? I do have two screws on the back side of the wheel. I want to clean and lube the contacts as a first shot. The pad has never been removed before. TIA.

Edited June 20, 2020 by aba4430