The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay horn trouble shoot

last night at 1a.m. during a small snow storm my wife woke me and told me the horn on my truck was blowing. (it was).i ran out and pulled the wires from the horn relay and went back to sleep. this morning i took a quick look at it and when i put the wires back on it ,it started blowing again. i then removed the wire that goes to the horn and attached the other two . when i push the horn button i hear a click. i would like to know the order of what to check next. this is a 1955.1 3600 that was rewired five years ago. horn worked the whole time(original horn 6v? but converted to 12v). three months ago i removed the steering wheel for a repair and paint job and every thing went back together as planed but there was one thing that has me thinking of a cause for a short. there was a small piece of what looked like an o-ring dried up in the horn compartment of the wheel. it may be from the back side of the round plate the horn button attaches to. (i'm sorry but i don't know the name of some of these parts) thanks ,brian

Brian,

You might be referring to the insulator-layer in the horn button retainer?
There is an insulator layer in it.

truck horn contact parts and steering wheel assembly

The way the horn works is a hot wire is always connected to the horn.
The horn mounting insulates/isolates the horn from ground (no honking).
The horn button creates the ground that causes the horn to honk.

The insulator in horn button might be bad/gone, and/or the horn button spring/return-mechanism is worn away and you have "continuity" (honking).

Maybe someone else will correct/clarify or debunk my suggestions?

The hot to the horn relay is hot all the time, the horn button supplies the ground. If you are hearing the relay click when you push the horn button, the relay could be internally shorted so it is supplying hot to the horns all the time.

disconnect the wire from the steering column to the horn relay, then re-connect the wire that goes from the relay to the horn and see if it is still stuck on. If it is, then tap the relay with a screwdriver handle or something to see if it will break free and stop. If that works, replace the relay.

If the horn does not honk then connect the wire back up from the steering column to the relay, if it starts honking, then pull the steering wheel cover and horn plate and find out what is going on in there.

thanks tim and mike. tim that is the part . ill take a look tomorrow and post my results

put everything back together and everything seems normal. i'm going to replace the relay ( it must have been shorting out or stuck)