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Boring Horn Question

VAroute66

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
66
Location
Virginia
Corvette
'66 Roadster
I had to remove the steering column of my '66 to remove the clutch/brake pedal box and replace a cracked clutch arm. When I reinstalled the steering column, the horn did not work. I did look at previous threads but am still a little confused. I have the following questions:

a. How does the horn circuit work? Does the 20 gauge black wire that is part of the horn/signals harness connect to the horn button assembly and when the horn button is depressed, complete the circuit to ground? Where is this ground?

b. In a previous thread, the following statement was made:

"The horn button gets its ground (to trigger the horn relay coil) through the steering shaft, through the rag joint, to the steering gear; if you don't show continuity from the upper flange to the lower flange, the horn won't work."

Is the rag joint the flexible coupling at the steering gear, and where is this ground?

c. In another thread, someone referred to a ground that connects the top of the steering column to the lower. I do not think I have this. What is this?

d. Is there anything special about the puller I need to remove the steering hub?

Any suggestions. Thank you in advance.


V/R


Dan
 
I had to remove the steering column of my '66 to remove the clutch/brake pedal box and replace a cracked clutch arm. When I reinstalled the steering column, the horn did not work. I did look at previous threads but am still a little confused. I have the following questions:

a. How does the horn circuit work? Does the 20 gauge black wire that is part of the horn/signals harness connect to the horn button assembly and when the horn button is depressed, complete the circuit to ground? Where is this ground?

b. In a previous thread, the following statement was made:

"The horn button gets its ground (to trigger the horn relay coil) through the steering shaft, through the rag joint, to the steering gear; if you don't show continuity from the upper flange to the lower flange, the horn won't work."

Is the rag joint the flexible coupling at the steering gear, and where is this ground?

c. In another thread, someone referred to a ground that connects the top of the steering column to the lower. I do not think I have this. What is this?

d. Is there anything special about the puller I need to remove the steering hub?

Any suggestions. Thank you in advance.


V/R


Dan

a) and b) are correct. When you push the horn button, the contact assembly connects the "leg" on the contact assembly (which is in contact with the spring-loaded brush in the steering wheel hub that rides on the surface of the canceling cam) to the steering wheel hub, which is grounded to the frame (and thus, back to the battery) through the steering shaft, rag joint, and steering gear. There's an internal copper strap inside the rag joint connecting the upper flange to the lower flange to provide an electrical path through the rag joint. '71 and later rag joints and service replacements use a steel screen inside the "rag" carcass material instead of a separate copper strap to provide continuity.

Any auto parts store will have a steering wheel puller for less than $10.00; it will have several pairs of bolts with different threads to screw into the tapped holes in the hub - just use the pair whose threads match the holes in the hub. Before you pull the wheel, note that there is an index mark chiseled in the end of the steering shaft (which should be at 12 o'clock with the wheels pointed straight ahead), and it should be aligned with a similar index mark on the hub; if the two marks aren't aligned, the turn signals won't cancel properly.

:beer
 
JohnZ,

Thanks for your knowledgeable response. Now I understand that the button acts as brush and the cancelling cam is like a slip ring to transmit voltage. I am going to assume my horns are OK since they worked before and follow the signal through to the harness that connects to the signal/horn harness. If I ground the 20gage black wire my horns should sound. Then I will check the signal across the harness at the other end of the connection to see if that connection is a problem, and then check to see that I did not mess up something inside the column. Thanks again.

Respectfully,
Dan
 
JohnZ,

Thanks. I traced it, and it was the slip ring that I knocked out when I took the steering column out. I plugged it back in, and it worked fine.

V/R

Dan
 

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