Horn button stopped working and now it shocks me!

[Millercorey]

I know...another horn thread.

-Background-

• 71 wagon
• New painless wiring harness
• New Steering Wheel Mark 7 Woody 3 Spoke/Slots 14 Inch with horn button (see picture)
• New Turn Signal Switch 66-73

Installed new harness and steering wheel. After, horn worked fine for about a year, and then I went to honk at someone I knew on a walk and heard nothing. Kept pushing it on the drive home and got one faint squeak, but then nothing.

Troubleshooting steps I've done

• Hooked horn directly to the battery and verified it's working correctly
• Connected both brass posts on turn signal switch and got it to blow
• When I touch the LEFT wire in the picture to the steering column nut, horn blows
• When I wire up the button and put everything together, I've gotten nothing or a horn blow plus a shock in my hand!

Another important point - I replaced the turn signal switch well after I did the wiring and new steering wheel install. The copper contacts on the old switch were really rough, and they would grind and skip on the copper plate of the new steering wheel. I replaced the whole switch just in case so I had new fresh copper pins.


I'm actually not 100% sure how this horn button is actually supposed to work. When the button is depressed, those 3 screws lift up. Is it supposed to touch that tab on the one connector to complete the circuit or something?

So here's my theory, I think I've got a bad ground where that 2nd wire isn't doing it's job, so either the horn button is buggered in some way, or that copper plate is too chewed up and it's not making contact with that copper pin.

Thoughts?

 

[m_m70]

I would say your copper plate is toast........

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a replacement plate available without buying the whole adapter (like 75 bucks each). I'm on my third (and last) adapter for my lecarra wheel. It's the same as the Mark wheel adapter you have.

The quality just sucks and that's all there is to it. A shame that with a wheel that's a couple hundred and a adapter nearly 100 that the horn contact plates are just crap. Almost like it was copper gasket spray!

I don't have the link handy but another member on here did a mod with some thicker copper sheet. I'll take a look for it......

 

[gr8scott]

I don't have the link handy but another member on here did a mod with some thicker copper sheet. I'll take a look for it......

That was me...I refused to pay $75 for a new adapter. Mine's a '74 so it's the single trace version. It's do-able with the
double trace version, but you'd have to be careful to not connect the two traces. It's not pretty, but it works. I figured
why buy a new adapter only to have it wear out again?

Here's what I used to make the "donut" https://www.amazon.com/Integrity-Beads-CUSHT24-Copper-Gauge/dp/B00IX415N6/

 

[gr8scott]

Oh and yes, your horn button completes the circuit. Here's the wiring diagram for a '72. The horn button, or "horn switch" is in grid G28. Just click to zoom in.

http://seabiscuit68.tripod.com/images/72_combined_v1.gif

 

[gr8scott]

On a side note, I did manage to get a Bronco turn signal turn-off cam to work with my Lecarra steering wheel adapter. I did have to cut
quite a bit of height off of it as it was too tall to begin with. It is made of spring steel so what remains just snaps over the adapter hub and
doesn't move at all. There's a o-ring under it to isolate it from the copper. Since this picture was taken, I've cut off one of the "nubs"
and centered the remaining one. Works so much better than the roll pins.

 

[jckkys]

The after market wheels come with copper contacts that are nothing but copper foil. The ones from Grant are easily replaced, but I just did the same as Scott. The 24ga. copper sheet is many times thicker than the copper foil. It will last far longer.
The role pins are more likely to break the switch canceling cam than the bumps on the steering wheel canceling cam. I think it's the larger radius and lack of a seam on role pins that make it a smoother surface.

 

[m_m70]

On a side note, I did manage to get a Bronco turn signal turn-off cam to work with my Lecarra steering wheel adapter. I did have to cut
quite a bit of height off of it as it was too tall to begin with. It is made of spring steel so what remains just snaps over the adapter hub and
doesn't move at all. There's a o-ring under it to isolate it from the copper. Since this picture was taken, I've cut off one of the "nubs"
and centered the remaining one. Works so much better than the roll pins.

Nice! I just had mine off this morning checking to see if one of the ears broke off the turn signal switch as only left turns cancel now for some reason. Nothing broken so going to try cutting down the cam and ditching the roll pins.

 

[Millercorey]

Does anyone know if the connector on the back of that horn button is supposed to be center over that screw so it touches when the button is depressed? I didn’t think mine were touching when it was working, but then I started second guessing myself

 

[okie4570]

You could have a lot of fun with that, don't be so eager to fix it yet lol

 

[gr8scott]

Does anyone know if the connector on the back of that horn button is supposed to be center over that screw so it touches when the button is depressed? I didn’t think mine were touching when it was working, but then I started second guessing myself

Not sure about that, but I do know that the horn button completes the circuit between the two copper traces. Got a multi-meter?
See if there is continuity between the two spade connectors when the horn button is pressed. If not, see if there is continuity
between the two nubs surrounded with black when the horn button is pressed. Kind of looks like the skinny parts of those spade
connectors should be touching the two nubs surrounded by black, but I could be wrong.

Truth be told though, both your copper traces are completely worn through. That adapter needs to be replaced or fixed.

 

[DirtDonk]

Do any of you lubricate your contact points?
I always used some kind of di-electric grease or something (it's been a long time so I don't remember) but I don't remember if mine was lubed from the factory or not.
I just know that even my stock one would wear out more quickly after the first time, so I would take the wheel off, smooth out the contact posts on the switch and lube it up before putting it back together.
Just made sense to me, so I did it.

Seems to me then that if you're not using some kind of lubricant, especially on those thin sheets of the aftermarket adapters, it might be a way to increase their life expectancy at least a little.

Paul

 

[m_m70]

hey Paul

Yup, I use dielectric grease. always have.

The adapters I gone through last around 4 to 5k miles and that's with a 1.8 steering box ratio. I've polished the turn signal switch contacts but that really hasn't helped so in my case just a bad, cheap design (copper foil) with no fix other than replacing the whole adapter.

Already have the copper sheet to mod when this adapter inevitably fails....again.

 

[gr8scott]

Yup same here, dielectric grease. I did the mod back in 2016, some 20K+ miles ago.

 

[DirtDonk]

Looks like someone's going to have to come up with a thick copper sheet then, to "glue" on to the existing adapters when they fail.
Two styles, one for the early dual trace and one for the late single trace.

Could even be machined out of aluminum I would think. It only has to be conductive and thicker. Nothing exotic unless the old dissimilar metals thing crops up in a situation like this.
Might be an issue I suppose, with those copper (or are they brass?) horn posts being in constant contact with the rings.

Paul

 

[Millercorey]

Is there a write up walking through how to apply a new copper sheet?

 

[DirtDonk]

I just realized the dissimilar metals concern doesn't fly. The original Ford steering wheels used steel traces!
They may have been stainless, or may have been plated with something, but they were definitely not bare copper or brass.
That might be why the originals never wore out.

Now if someone can stamp out some rings from polished stainless steel, or chrome plated copper, we might have something.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

If someone has their steering wheel off and handy, take a magnet to it and see if the rings are stainless.

Paul

 

[gr8scott]

Is there a write up walking through how to apply a new copper sheet?

No, but here's how I did mine.

I cut the center hole with a hole saw. Don't remember what size, just measure across to figure it out.

I then measured 1 inch from the hole and drew a circle all the way around. Then I carefully cut it with shears. Now I had my "donut", or ring.

Place the ring on the adapter and trace the inside and outside with a magic marker. Try not to block the roll pin holes if you plan to use them.

Remove the ring, now you see where it sits on the adapter. I then placed pieces of solder where the ring would sit all the way
around. I then placed the ring on the solder and hit it with a torch, going around in circles until the solder melted. Done.

 

[Millercorey]

Okay so you just solder it on top of the chewed up sheet like you would solder copper pipe?

 

[gr8scott]

Okay so you just solder it on top of the chewed up sheet like you would solder copper pipe?

In a nutshell, yup.