The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Horn Wiring Question

Does a '52 AD use a relay in the horn wiring?

Thanks,

Dave

Good question Dave. I can't find a wiring diagram for a '52 so all I know for sure is that the '50 and '51 DID NOT use a relay but the '53 does.

My '52 does not appear to to ever have had a relay but while diagnosing the problem of why my horn wouldn't work I discovered that the contact bushing was fried. I replaced the bushing and it immediately fried again. This leads me to believe that it may have had a relay at one time. Where is the relay in your '53 located?

Thanks!

Relay is on the firewall. The wiring diagram for the '51 shows a hot lead (right off the ammeter) going to one terminal on the horn, the other terminal going straight to the contact on the steering post. Your horn could be shorted. Take a jumper and momentarily (very quickly!!) ground the horn lead under the hood. The horn should honk and you will probably see a little sparking. If you get a big spark and no honk, you'll need to repair, or replace the horn.

Thanks Waldo,
My '52 is wired like the '51 wiring diagram. The horn is "hot" at all times and is grounded thru the column to complete the circuit just like you stated in your post. The '53 wiring diagram indicates that the horn is grounded at the base and only becomes "hot" when fed by the relay. My horn works fine when grounded with a seperate wire to ground but will not work when grounded thru the column/button so apparently there is some sort of problem with the wire inside the column or possibly with the junk (Chinese)contactors I seem to be getting from the parts suppliers. At any rate, when wired like the '51 diagram all it does is turn the contactor spring to smoke when the horn button is pushed. I've temporarily installed a seperate button and the horn now works fine so I guess I'll live with it like that for a while until i figure out what is going on.
Thanks again,
Dave

Those Chinese contacts are prolly rated at low current, assuming a relay is in play. It takes REAL contacts to honk a Stovebolt horn!! You could always add a relay to your circuit and wire it per the '53 scheme.

I don't know how the horn contact ever was used to carry the full current of the horn. My 51 has the relay on the firewall and the relay supply comes directly from the starter feed. I would suggest buying the relay and installing it. If you haven't tested your horn separately, a stuck contact inside the horn will burn out the horn and maybe the supply circuit too.

I agree, I don't know how that little spring can carry the load. Apparently it can't! I think the correct fix is to add the relay, like you said.

Thanks,
Dave