Got the horn - all the time... Seriously!

[MartinHaven]

I have recently bought a 2.5 V8, which seems to be working perfectly in almost every respect.

Having driven it for a week or so, I decided to adjust the steering wheel, to bring it a little further from the dash (it was all the way forward.)

The horn immediately started sounding, continually.

By wriggling the wheel about, I managed to reduce that to just when I was turning the wheel while parking, manoeuvring at low speeds etc...

So far, I have had the inner column out and replace the old bushes with new polythene (?) ones at the top and bottom. The horn wire inside the column looked like it wasn't 50 years old, so I left that.

The re-bushed volume now moves much less - but the extending element is still a little loose and I can still sound the horn by pressing on the bottom of the steering-wheel rim (or by trying to park etc etc...)

So, how do I stop the upper part of the inner column earthing out when it moves?

I have spotted a little thing on my Daimler Service book diagram called a Stop Rubber (or similar) and managed to order a couple from Martin Robey but neither they, nor the folks at SNG Barrett had apparently ever come across this before.

Really? Do I have a freak steering-column?

Naturally, I don't really want to disconnect the horn permanently but the joy of burbling around is slightly compromised by the car shouting LOOK AT ME!!!!, if I try to park it, or even on tight turns...

Help?

Anyone got any other bright ideas?

Apart from changing the old felt for new material, the column is as it was - and seems to be complete, barring the rubber stop thing..

[Martec]

Hi Martin,

Not sure if I can help, but as no-one else has offered I'll give you some background information on Jaguar systems which will hopefully be the same as Daimler.

I assume you have the original black bakerlitre wheel with a chrome horn rim that you just push to sound the horn. As my Jaguar had an aftermarket wheel and centre horn push, I don't know the details of yours.

Basically the 12volt power is feed to the two windtone horns (green wire), and the earth wire (purple with a black trace) is feed to the terminal at the base of the steering column. This is a skid onto an insulated band on the inner column. From this band a cable is feed up the inner steering column to the horn push (which everyone you have) and when the horn push is applied then it makes a contact with earth, the circuit is made and the horn sounds.

By kicking the lower contact it is making an earth and sounding. I vaguely remember having to be very careful when assembling the two parts as it was easily possible to bend the skid.

Something else to consider is the rubber bush 'THING' at the base of the steering column, when this deteriorates the entire column will pull the alloy segments out of the rubber and you have just disconnected your steering!!! (cr8P arrangement).

Not surprisingly I modified this with a Hardy spicer joint from an XJ (probably XJ40).

I hope the information will help you with your multimeter.

Brian

[MartinHaven]

Update - horn no longer sounding all the time.

Decided to disassemble the steering column again. First step is to undo the pinch-bolt under the bonnet... it was immediately clear that the new lower bush from the steering column had slid straight out, down the inner shaft, as it was resting on the pinch-bolt coupling.

How did that happen? Oh well, that's why the wheel still moves so much, and clearly why the horn is sounding, as the inner column is earthing on the outer.

Inner column removed again (getting good at it now!) and lower bush re-inserted, ensuring locating lugs were very definitely in their cut-outs.

Re-insert inner column, having rebuilt that with a new stop button - a metal thing to stop you pulling the inner column all the way out, when you adjust for reach (and therefore not my hoped-for 'magic cure'.)

Re-fitted wheel. Turned on ignition... no horn. Pushed wheel rim. No horn! HOORAY. Hauled vigorously on wheel. NO HORN.

Job done.

Re-assembled wheel, fitted horn ring, upper cover piece, with centre Daimler push-boss. Turned on ignition. PERMANENT HORN!!!

Removed wheel upper cover piece. Turned on ignition. NO HORN.

Re-fitted cover piece. Loosely attached. No horn. Tighten screws right up - HORN!

The wheel was left incomplete after last week's attempts, so the initial problem was indeed the bushes between inner and outer column. However, I was a little stumped, when properly fitting the new bushes seemed to have fixed my problem, only for it to re-appear just when everything was back together and I was ready to take the old girl for a drive.

The subsequent problem is that the wheel covering piece can actually be screwed in tight enough to ensure that the horn-push centre of the boss (A Jaguar logo, I assume, in XK-engined Mk IIs) is in permanent contact with the centre piece of the horn-ring, as if you're leaning on it the whole while.

Slackening off the screws slightly, means I now have rattle-free steering (a bonus) plus I can sound the horn WHEN I DECIDE TO and at no other time.


In celebration, I took my fettling buddy and my son to the pub for supper.

It rained.

Time to buy a new boot seal...