The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay '52 horn relay switch?

I've got a '52 3600 Chev that's mostly original, with the exception of the main wiring harness. I've lost the horn operation just recently, and can't seem to restore it. I've dissembled the horn area for cleaning, and ended up replacing a good length of the original wire inside the steering column - thought that was it for sure as the original wire's casing was worn where it exits the column and strands were cut. Still nothing. Looking at one of the parts books, I found a horn relay for these years, problem is, I can't find one on my truck. Is there a horn relay switch on a '52 3600? I had a similar problem with my '69 Camaro, and found only an official AC/Delco horn relay made it work.
thanks for any help!
- rick

According to the wiring diagram in my 1948-1951 Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual the '50-'51 did not have a horn relay. The '52 supplement does not have a wiring diagram which indicates there were no changes.
A hot wire runs from the + side of the ammeter to the horn. The ground wire runs to the horn button.

Thanks - that clears up that question!
- rick

The factory assembly manual shows a horn relay. Can anybody shed any further light on this subject? And as somebody mentioned above the wiring diagram does not indicate a horn relay. As my son would say: What's the deal......pickle?

The horns take a lot of juice and the wires to them on my '48 are big honkers (sorry). I'd be surprised if there isn't a relay somewhere. The little wires to your horn button are enough to throw the relay but it seems to me that they would burn up if they were used to power the horn. At least, that's the case on my '48.

The relay should be right next to the little fuse holder with the plastic cover on the drivers side of the fire-wall in the engine compartment.

rwise, even though the Factory Assembly manual reprint says 1947-1954, all the prints are for the 1954 model year. Check out the dates on them.
The 1954 does have a horn relay.

Thanks for all the great additional info - I don't remember seeing a relay next to the fuse box on the firewall, but I'll certainly look again. All the wires look good otherwise. One thing my wife mentioned last night was she was occasionally getting shocked by the steering wheel if she pushed against it to get out (?) - could it be the horn's collar is grounding itself out? I took this collar off when replacing the wire coming from it, and inadvertently chipped away some of the insulative ring (?) between the contact & the steering wheel column. The problem occurred prior to my doing this though.
- rick

Thanks cletis. So I'm assuming from your previous post that the 49 did not use a horn relay?

My 51 has a horn relay, just under the dual horns, on the firewall, passenger side. The relay is powered directly and the input comes from the horn steering wheel switch, which is a switch to ground.

I believe that the relay was powered directly from the battery terminal on the starter and that is the way I have built the new harness.

rilap,
There was a long discussion here on the bolt awhile back about getting shocked getting in and out of the stovebolts. The consensus was that it was static electricity from the seat covers and the type of cloth you wear. You may have a short, or it may just be your wifes shorts.
Ralph

Thanks Ralph, I'm sure my wife will appreciate that! HA! I was wondering if it was due to the various cracks in the steering wheel, and the fact the horn collar is wired. With a passenger's side only exterior door lock, pushing off the steering wheel to get out is a pretty common occurrence.
- rick