Another horn problem AAz.1,9TD

[jacko1967]

Hi all I've looked through the old posts about horn problem,s to no avail.
mines working fine when used normally but it also goes off when turning now and if I press hard on the steering wheel I think its something to do with the connector on top of the column the wheel ring looks fine I've had the van 10 years now no problems but it looks like someone has had a go at it at some point any ideas iam not the best auto electrician 

[Robsey]

Maybe the sprung parts in the horn push are a bit flattened allowing the internal contacts to short out.
(Or should I say bottom out).

[jacko1967]

Thanks for the reply
The push part look,s ok . But iam not sure how much room there should be.The horn sounds when turning the wheel and the push part is hanging free on its wires a bit odd . Should the small brass contact in bottom pic be flat or raised any idea,s??

[Robsey]

The brass piece should be in contact with the ring.
Otherwise the circuit to ground would be broken.

You could unplug the horn button completely.
If the horn still sounds when you are turning, then you have a short to ground in your wiring "before" the switch.

Ordinarily, it is the contacts within the horn push, that joins the live side to the ground side.

I am still convinced that the horn push is faulty.
(Internal spacer springs are too weak to hold the internal contacts apart properly).

[Robsey]

As soon as I went to bed, the thought was -
The answer is staring us in the face.

That pvc insulation tape under that connector...
I suspect the issue lies there.

Have you looked under the pvc tape?

With the wheel removed, see if waggling or touching that contact sounds the horn.
If it does, I assume that some insulation is broken away under that contact allowing it to short to earth.

In which case the easiest repair is a new stalk switch assembly.
Aftermarket replacements are readily available.

Another thought was to squirt some hot-melt glue in there to stop the contact from touching anything in the switch assembly.

Another minor thought but less likely is that screw head height. Could it be sticking up too much because of the 'damage' hidden by the pvc tape.

[Aidan]

your contact on the column is damaged and is too short now to make good contact, it should look like this






you'll need a good used indicator stalk with the contact plate on 251 953 513 either black or brown according to your van's plastic

I had to reduce these photos to less than 100kb and stick them on brickyard personal hosting space first because I couldn't use imgur to pull them off my phone, back to old school method, yet last night I posted the extract from Bentley using imgur from same pc no problem, I have reported the issue

[Aidan]

Syncro Andy says to just solder on an extension of brass strip rather than replace the indicator unit

But new aftermarket stalks with the contact are available, Schofields have them and others probably too, not worth messing about fixing that for the money really

[jacko1967]

Thanks all for your reply,s
I thought it was the indicator stalk brass contact but not seen another to compare it with. I will look into this later today.
Cheers Danny.

[Rosie n' Jim]

I have had this identical issue for a few weeks, just fixed last weekend. Identical that is except my contact spring is good. The fault with mine was that the contact ring on the wheel could touch one of the screws securing the stalks. Horn would sound when turning at slow speed, usually mini round abouts.
The fix was to adjust the position of the ignition switch to give a little more gap. But with your short contact spring, you could lose power to the switch. Bare in mine that the contact spring is live from the horn with ignition on, the switch grounds this to complete the circuit
The Bentley states 2-4 mm gap between back of wheel and stalk assembly. Adjust this by loosening the ignition switch and sliding it down a little.

[jacko1967]

Thanks again for your reply,s club 80-90 has been invaluable in my 10 + years of ownership ,and worth my donation every year.I ordered a new indicator stalk from brickwerks £ 15 including P&P arrived next day fitted this morning been for a drive and all seems fine.
Cheers Danny..