Not Too Horny

[50 Dodge Lug Nut]

OK, folks, now that I have your attention, here is a situation with the horn in my Dodge.

Pressing the horn ring at either 12:00 or 3:00 o’clock will sound the horn. It works quite well and is very loud.

Pressing the ring at any other position yields nothing. No sound.

Looking at the horn ring with the decro horn cover plate removed shows nothing unusual. When grasped and turned, the ring does shift to the left or right approximately 1/8” on its mounting but it does “bottom out” when pressed.

Also the ring does not appear out of round or bent when viewed with a straight edge (I used a framing square) or level. It is in-line and fairly equi-distant from the steering wheel throughout its circumference.

Grasping the wire with a pair of needle nose pliers and trying to move it around while beeping the horn does nothing.

Any suggestions or ideas as to what’s wrong here. OR, is this normal? Is it possible that’s the way it should blow?

Thanks for your help.

Frank

[greg g]

Basically you are completing the ground circuit, so if it works in one place it should work in any position. Can you look under the ring and assure there is good contact to the wire? Nor corrosion. I believe there should be some sort of contact piece soldered to the end of the wire that comes up the steering column. It there was a short in the wire it would ground to the external column, ad the horn would blow constantly.

I think some one just posted the parst book exploded drawing of the system. In anycase you are looking for a continous ground from any point on the ring.

[50 Dodge Lug Nut]

Basically you are completing the ground circuit, so if it works in one place it should work in any position. Can you look under the ring and assure there is good contact to the wire? Nor corrosion. I believe there should be some sort of contact piece soldered to the end of the wire that comes up the steering column. It there was a short in the wire it would ground to the external column, ad the horn would blow constantly.

I think some one just posted the parst book exploded drawing of the system. In anycase you are looking for a continous ground from any point on the ring.

Greg,

Thanks for your ideas and comments.

Without having removed the ring, of course can't tell too much. But the wire with the little soldered button looks to be in good shape, there is no corrosion that I can see, again without having taken anything apart. Plus looking at the diagram in my parts book or repair manual, everything seems to be in order. I will pull the ring, contact plate and retainer Friday. I was hoping to find that always elusive "easy answer" before tearing into it.

Thanks again,

Frank

[richards47deluxe]

I had the same problem. Check your horn ring again and make sure it is not bent. Mine looked fine also but when I compared it with one i purchased on eBay, it was indeed bent. I replaced the horn ring and now it works fine.

just my dos centavos.........beep beep:cool:

[BobT-47P15]

I don't know if the horn center on a Dodge and Plymoth are the same,

but here are a couple things pertaining to a 46-48 Plymouth, special

deluxe horn system.

First, a picture of the T bracket and the position of the spring.....

And, the exploded view from the parts manual.

Hope this is helpful.

[50 Dodge Lug Nut]

I had the same problem. Check your horn ring again and make sure it is not bent. Mine looked fine also but when I compared it with one i purchased on eBay, it was indeed bent. I replaced the horn ring and now it works fine.

just my dos centavos.........beep beep:cool:

Richards47---

OUTSTANDING idea.

You're right in that what you see may not be what you think you got. I'll pull the ring tomorrow and check it for flatness and go from there.

Bob T ---

Thanks for your pic & diagram. The Dodge D-34 horn assembly pictured in my manual is similar to yours with the major exception being the mounting Tee featured in yours versus a 6 or 7 sided mounting bracket with 4 lugs that is used in the D-33 & D-34 models. Other minor differences are there as well.

Thanks for your help too.

Frank

Edited February 10, 2011 by 50 Dodge Lug Nut
Add another reply & comment to the thread