How does the horn work?

[zeiss150]

hey Z people! I bought a stearing wheel on ebay several years ago I restored it and put in on my Z ... it looks great. The horn has never worked. I replaced an old momo stearing wheel with the Z wheel and the horn didn't work on that either. The z wheel didn't have any wires coming out of it from the horn button. The only thing that I noticed was two metal rings that are on the horn button that if you were to push the horn the metal rings would contact and then the horn would work.... right? But where are the wires? I still have my origanal 240Z horns and they work just fine, I just don't know how to get it to work with my horn button. I can't tell you how many times i've wanted to honk at stupid drivers and I can't, HELP!

Matt

[MikeW]

On my 1972 there appears to be a red wire with a black stripe coming out of the harness that goes to the turn signal assembly. It's hard to tell from the wiring diagram but since there's a relay that operates the horns I'm guessing that grounding the wire I mentioned actuates the relay. To verify, with the ignition off I just measured 12 volts from the red/black wire to ground. When I ran a wire from there to ground the horns blew. It just took me about 10 minutes figuring out how to resize a photo on this new Mac Mini. Oh well, hopefully the attached picture will help.

[EScanlon]

Matt;

Check to see if there is a brass "arm" that sticks up off of the turn signal mount and brushes against the underside of the steering wheel. Without that there is no electrical contact with the steering wheel.

E

[DRBall]

Cool and timely work guy's .I have the same problem.....And was going to post a question...And now I do not...

[zeiss150]

Awesome photo Mike. So there is on wire from the wheel to the collum. there is a brass "brush" that makes constant contact with the wheel... ill Have to look for it. If I can't figure it out ill let you know.

Matt

[EScanlon]

MikeW's picture shows the Red/Black wire going to the Brass Arm I was referring to.

In the attached picture I magnified and lightened a portion of his picture and you can just make out the curve of the arm.

That arm just brushes against the underside of the steering wheel, which then has a wire going through the hub to the horn button.

E

[ktm]

The arm makes constant contact with the bottom of the steering wheel hub. Under the horn pad you can see where the ground wire attaches to the spring loaded hub. The wire connects the steering wheel hub to the spring loaded hub. When you press the spring loaded hub down, it makes contact with the steering when hub and completes the circuit. The horn then goes honk.

To test and see if your horn is working properly (assuming you have the brush and the wire), touch the wire against the metal steering wheel hub. The circuit will be complete and the horn should honk.

I just replaced my (in VERY good condition) stock steering wheel with an aftermarket wheel. I am still debating whether or not I want to hold on to the mounting hardware. I know I could get a good price for the entire setup as it is in very good condition, but the packrat in me wants to hold onto it.

[zeiss150]

Hey guys. I looked and I don't have the "brush". I can deal with that but I have an other problem. I tested the horn by grounding it and the relay clicks on, but it stays on. so I'm wondering why. Do I have the wires mixed up on the relay is there somthing wrong with the horns, is the relay bad? I tried unpluging the horns and with them unpluged when I ground the red/black wire the relay clicks on and off. Where am i going wrong here. which wire goes where on the relay there are 3 connection posts labled B H S, and there are green, green/red, and green/black wires. right now I have green=H green/black=B, and green/red=S, is that right?

I also check the connection at the horn button, I grounded the red/black wire on the back side of the stearing wheel and when I push the horn the relay clicks on and off (as long as the horns are unpluged.)

Thanks guys!

Matt-

[EScanlon]

Fast explanation of the B H S initials:

B = Battery

H = Horn

S = Switch

The Green wire is the one that INTERNALLY (in the Relay) is switched but connects to the HORN. H on the Relay.

The Green/Black is the one that connects to the steering wheel, to allow the Horn Button at the wheel to finish the circuit to ground. This in essence is the SWITCH or S on the Relay.

The Green/Red is the power, and it comes directly from the Fuse Box, (4th fuse down on the Left side, 10A), and it connects to the Battery B on the Relay.

Some of the old time American cars had a "stutter" relay, which when actuated would actually stutter on and off allowing the horns to blow. The Z's does not. What this means is that you can provide 12VDC directly to the Green Wire at the Relay and the horns should sound. This should tell you if the horns need rebuilding or not.

If they do not sound, the problem could be that the connections to them are corroded and need cleaning, OR that they need to be taken apart and cleaned inside.

Once you get the horns working, then you can address the missing contact arm coming off the turn signal assembly.

But let's see if you get sound first.

FWIW

E

[zeiss150]

IT WORKS!!!!!! once I got the relay wired right the horns worked great! now all I need to do is make a little brass, (or some other flexable conductive metal) "brush" and connect the red/black wire to that and I will have a horn that works when you push the button. I could have used that about 10 times today:mad: stupid drivers.

Anyone have any tips on makeing a brush?

Thanks for all of your help guys! great relay explanation E.

Matt-

[ktm]

The brush can be made from copper or any other flexible, conductive metal solid wire. Just get a guage that is easy to bend but stiff enough to hold its shape. That should work in the interim until you track down a replacement part (if you care to do so).

[EScanlon]

Here's a picture of one.

The Base is about 1/4" wide and it's length is right about 1-1/2". It does have a curve which you'll see in the attached photo.

E