[63glacierblue]

Hi, all,

My horn hasn't functioned correctly since I bought the car. When I hit the ring, I could hear the relay click, but no honk, except for one or two times when I got a soft honk out of one of the horns. I replaced the horn relay today, and now I have nothing, not even a click.

However, I currently have the steering wheel off because I'm replacing the turn signal cam. I pressed the metal horn contact with a screwdriver, but I got nothing.

I'm hoping that maybe when I get the steering wheel put back on it will work, but can anyone suggest anything in the meantime?

Thanks!

 

[63ford406]

Hook a jumper wire from the battery + to each horn. If they honk then it's something else. And you'll have to trouble shoot more.

 

[64GALAXIE514]

Could also be the wire on the rag joint, mine use to mess up a lot and could never put a finger on it. Might be a good time to replace the rag joint too!

 

[63glacierblue]

Thanks for your help, guys.

I've seen other people mention the rag joint. Where exactly is that located?

 

[Death Touch]

At least you are not getting shocked! Sorry couldnt resist.

 

[ocsid]

Hi 63glacierblue, This is the rag joint. The rag joint is actually the reinforced rubber connector between the top and bottom of the steering column.

The yellow wire you see is the one you need to make sure has a good connection at both sides of the "rag joint". It is the earth strap from the top to bottom of the steering column. Yellow is not the original colour of the wire, it is just what I chose to replace mine with.

Hope this is of some help to you.

larry

 

[ShotRod64]

At least you are not getting shocked! Sorry couldnt resist.

LOL true!!

 

[63glacierblue]

Thanks, ocsid--very helpful!

 

[ocsid]

Thanks 63glacierblue, Glad to be of help.

While you have the steering wheel off, just make sure you have a nice clean contact at the point inside the horn ring itself, and if i remember correctly, i gave the little springy thingy a tiny bit of a stretch. If you do all that and you can hear the relay "clicking", then all of that part should be OK, But if the horns still aren't working let me know, and i will tell you what i did to both my horns to get them working,

I only recently went through this whole procedure myself, and both my horns are now working perfectly

larry

 

[63glacierblue]

Larry--

I put the wheel back on last night, and now I've got nothing. No clicking, no nothing. I had cleaned the contacts while I had the wheel off, so I'm going to check the rag joint next.

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

If it's not the rag joint ground strap, you probably got the power to the relay on the wrong prong...

 

[gurney7040]

Had a similar issue with my 64. You could hear relay click when hitting horn ring. Chased this for quite awhile. Turned out my car is 64, was converted to alternator from generator using 65 alternator harness wired to 64 harness. I always have my car on a trickle charger as I dont drive it much so it always starts , I have a good battery. Turned out it was wired wrong, alternator wasnt charging(dead), regulator dead. Fixed wiring harness so alternator charged and regulator working. Horns now working as well and haven't put car on the charger in a month.

 

[ocsid]

Hi 63glacierblue,

Any luck yet,

larry

 

[Schitzengiggs]

Every time I've come across a dead horn and I had current to the horn, the horn came to life with a turn of the little adjusting screw on the horn.

First post here, by the way. Yay!

 

[ShotRod64]

Every time I've come across a dead horn and I had current to the horn, the horn came to life with a turn of the little adjusting screw on the horn.

First post here, by the way. Yay!

Congrats on your first post and welcome to the forum Schitzengiggs, love the nick lol

Glacier, did you try just running a wire to the horns to see if they even work? Sometimes they just get stuck from sitting and no use or which is probably what the issue was when giggs would adjust the screw on his. You can take them apart even and clean them up pretty easily also.

 

[63glacierblue]

Hi, all,

I ran a wire from the battery + to the horns last night--they are dead. The rag joint looks pretty dirty and corroded, so I'll clean that up anyway.

Is it worth attempting to clean up those horns, or should I just get repros or head to the junkyard? I seem to recall that those were common Ford parts for many years.

Thanks for all your help

 

[ocsid]

Hi 63glacierblue

I was at that point where you're at, i was about to buy a couple of horns from ebay, when i decided to try and get mine working first, I have become, even to my own surprise, very obssessive about keeping as many original parts on my car as possible, even down to simple nuts and bolts,

SO, i disconnected and removed the horns from the car, unclipped and removed the covers, i gave the vibratey things a clean up and a light tap to try and free them up, No,Go, i then completely submersed both horns in WD40 for 24Hrs, I then cleaned them up and blew them out with compressed air and made sure they were completely dry, i connected the LOW horn directly to the Battery, it gave a little bit of a Bleet, then started working properly, The HIGH wasn't as easy, i re-soaked it for another 24Hrs, and then went down the same process, it also attempted to work, but wouldn't burst into "full Song" NOW, i decided to give it a few quick bursts with 24 Volts, 2 batteries connected together, and Bingo it worked, i then sprayed some more WD40 into the vibrating plate area, then completely blew out and dried it out

Before re-assembling the horns, i made sure they were clean and dry from the WD40, Both horns are now back on the car and working perfectly,

If you want to try this and feel you need to go to the 24 Volt, but need more info on the 24 Volt hook up, let me know, and i will pass it onto you

Good Luck, larry

 

[63glacierblue]

Hi, Larry,

I'm going to try to fix them myself--thanks for the tips. I, too, am trying to keep it as original as possible. I did take one of the horns off the other day and heard something rattling around inside, so hopefully that's not too terrible a sign. I'll keep you posted.

 

[ocsid]

Yep, No Worries 63glacierblue, Do that.

larry

 

[63glacierblue]

Horns are now working when I connect them to the battery. Just adjusted the screw and cleaned out some dirt and a small wasp's nest. Still not working when I press the rim though. No click from the relay either. I took a closer look at the rag joint and I don't even see a wire. Could someone have removed it? I will try to attach a pic later. What gauge of wire should I use to replace it?