Deployed need some help

[Ghilliesuit]

Hey all, its been a long time since i've been on the forums. I'm deployed to Korea for a year right now, and really haven't had much time to get online. (No i haven't been chasing the juicy girls, and drinking my arse off) But my wife has been maintaining my 82 C3 while I'm over here. Actually shes been maintaining it a little too much from what I hear, she's been crusing all around post lol. She's been running it at least every other day and taking it around the block in housing.

She went back to our home state for the holidays and when she got back to giver her the normal warm up and run an issue has developed. Seems the horn wants to randomly blow and get stuck in the on position. Now i thought it might be the alarm messing up, but its not. When you tap the steering wheel or slam the door it will honk, sometimes getting stuck until you jar the steering wheel.

Since I'm not there I can't take it apart and trouble shoot which part it could be. Has anyone ever this happen? I don't know if i should order a new button contact or if its something deeper. Either way i'm going to have to talk my son through how to replace it.

 

[KANE]

Ghilliesuit-

First off- HOOAH- my brother in arms!


Sounds like one or more of the pieces inside the horn assembly is touching another contact intermittently. This is a common occurrence in C3s. In fact, I've owned two C3s where the horn contacts needed some adjustment.

Mid America has a great diagram that shows all of the parts and how they fit together.



Likely- parts E, F, and Q are coming in contact with L or P because something is loose or out of alignment.


Have your son use the image above to check things. Good luck on the DMZ!

 

[Ghilliesuit]

Thanks brother, she might have to wait until i get home. It just might be outside his skill range. At least it will keep her in the garage while i'm here lol. I'd like to keep it under the 31k original miles like when i bought it. Wife took it out yesterday and it started honking like crazy, the looks she got lol.

Thanks for the help, there isn't anyone there i trust to work on my midlife crisis dream car. I got lucky this time, not on the DMZ, I changed to Air traffic control, I was a combat engineer. But that was 11yrs ago.

 

[bill81vette]

1st Thanks for serving!!!!

2nd there is a relay down near the fuse box see can pull(The voice of experience) to stop the horn altogether,till you get back to repair it...

 

[Ghilliesuit]

Any time, i enjoy what i do and proud to wear this uniform.

Not going to tell her that lol, it keeps my car at the house and not racking up miles around the post. Its rare to find an 82 with 31k original miles, and no major issues other than what occurs from sitting to long. Plus under the hood is a professional restore, only thing i need to get is new calipers, bushings and upgrade the radiator. Plus some heat shielding for the cab.

 

[bill81vette]

your vette sounds like a sweet ride!!!!
Good Luck with it and stay safe!!!!!

 

[Ghilliesuit]

yeah, wish i could bring her over (my Vett, not the wife lol j/k). But they are really dangerous drivers here and the roads would destroy the suspension system. Plus its only a year, and it keeps me out of trouble.

I'm here, she's in the states with my vett and a baseball bat. I STAY IN MY ROOM lets put it that way lol.

 

[baxsom]

I just got back from Kunsan and I did chase the juicys while drinking. At least your wife is taking care of your car. My 72 is still in a storage facility in TX while I have been back in FL for 3 months now. I cant wait to get it back.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Hey "Ghilliesuit"...thanks for serving, man!

I have a good friend who's deployed to Afghanistan. He's been at COP Subari for a year. He's married and left a wife and kids at home along with his 02 Z06.

I email with him regularly and I hear alot about how hard it is for you guys to be away from Corvettes and Wives!

As for the horn on your 82, my Wife has an 82 CE which I maintain and I own a 71. I've had the horn problem in my 71 and, often, it's the little plastic sleeve in the steering wheel hub in which the horn contact "pin" resides. If the sleeve breaks, cracks or rots and the pin grounds in the hub, the horn will sound. If the pin rattles around in the hole, the horn will sound intermittantly. There are other places in the upper end of the column where a horn grounding problem can occur.

Lastly, if the hot wire going to the horn grounds inside the column, the same problem will occur.

Best bet for a temporary fix is to have someone pull the horn fuse.

The first step is to troubleshoot the electrics and find out where the horn circuit is grounding. After you do that, then you can decide on how to repair it.