C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

[Donald H.]

I wonder if the assembly line worker had so many problems when assembling a C1!!!!

I took my 60 out for a short drive in the neighborhood yesterday after the first starup the day before. When I turn the wheel, the horn honks. I did a search and it seems to be a somewhat common problem. But I didn't really find anyone with a solution.

I am assuming it has to be at the steering wheel end. The horn works by making a ground circuit. The circuit is made when the horn button is pushed and it creates a contact through the horn contact assembly and the horn contact brush which completes a circuit between the steering column and the outer ring of the upper steering column bearing.

I think the problem has to be in one of the above items, i.e. horn contact assembly, horn contact brush or upper steering column bearing.

I don't think it could be anything like the horn relay since it only happens when the steering wheel is turned.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks,

Don

[Erich C.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

Maybe the insulation on the horn wire connected to the column bearing has deteriorated or has worn through from rubbing on the steering shaft. A quick check before doing any disassembly would be to remove the curved wire cover ( one screw ) and "jiggle" the wire to see if the horn goes off. Moving the wire around might even provide a temporary fix.
Erich

[Donald H.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

Maybe the insulation on the horn wire connected to the column bearing has deteriorated or has worn through from rubbing on the steering shaft. A quick check before doing any disassembly would be to remove the curved wire cover ( one screw ) and "jiggle" the wire to see if the horn goes off. Moving the wire around might even provide a temporary fix.
Erich

Thanks Erich, good suggestions and I will check the wire. I suspect it is fine as this is a new upper bearing and assembly. But you never know, I could have damaged it putting it together.

Don

[Mike M.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

check and make sure all those tiny ball bearings in the upper steering shaft bushing assembly are correctly located within their race. mike

[Joe M.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

I had the problem after all new wiring, switch, bearing were installed. I could not figure out where the short was occurring and it was embarrassing so I disconnected the hot wire from the horn relay for a couple of months; then reconnected and the horns are back to honking only when I want them too. I got lucky for once on an issue I could not correct by formal means.

[David H.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

I just dealt with this issue on my '62. Brand new upper bushing and bearing from Paragon. Got it all together and it was fine till you turned the steering wheel left or right. Horn would blow when turning it. Found that I could also make it blow by pushing up or down on the steering wheel. Narrowed it down to the bearing so I put my 50 year old one back in and it worked perfectly. Called Paragon to return the new one and they told me they had issues with those, that the solder joint on the upper end of the wire on some was too large causing a short when turning the wheel. I reconditioned my old one and sent the new one back for credit.

[Donald H.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

Thanks all. I put the front up on jack stands so I could turn the wheels freely. I can turn it lock to lock and not honking. I'll try some more troubleshooting tomorrow. Maybe pull and push on the column to see if it could be the solder joint on the upper bearing as David experienced.

At least I know it can be solved.

Don

[Donald H.]

Re: C1 (1960) horn honks when I turn the steering wheel

I found the problem. Update of solution provided just in case anyone else has this issue with a C1.

I finally got back to my inadvertent honking horn issue. It had gotten worse so I was forced to figure it out. I was pretty sure it was in the upper steering column area around the steering wheel, horn contact, etc. It ended up being the upper steering column bearing. I was not expecting the problem to be where it was as the bearing was a new replacement part that was installed during the restoration and the car has less that 100 miles since I finished the restoration in April/May.

The first picture attached shows the bearing I removed on the left and another new replacement bearing on the right. If you notice the area where the blue arrow points, the inner bearing race assembly is almost touching the brass outer ring that has the horn ground wire attached. What I found was the the inner race was loose enough in it mount that very little force on the steering wheel would cause it to touch the horn ground ring and honk. Not sure why it was so loose given that it is relatively new. Comparing it to the new replacement also shows a little difference in the inner bearing race lip that seems to be curled better than the older one. The inner race in the new bearing is also much tighter in it mount.

I assume that there is only one manufacturer of this part that all the suppliers sell, so I guess I just got a bad one to begin with.

Note in the second picture that I went a little further and used my dremel to grind away of the brass indention where the horn ground wire attaches to give a little more clearance from the bearing.

Steering column upper bearing.jpgSteering column upper bearing 2.jpg