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Help with Horn beeping while turning

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Old Apr 11, 2010 | 11:47 PM
  #1  
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Default Help with Horn beeping while turning

I recently rebuilt my steering column. Well when I turn the steering wheel hard (either way) the horn starts going off. For now I disconnected the horns. (At least I know they work)

Any suggestions on areas or tolerances to re-check?

Thanks,
RK
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 12:25 AM
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Default Pins on back of Horn contact/cup assembly on C-1?

I had the same thing happen one time when I took the horn button, the horn assembly & steering wheel off my '62. There were 2 pins on the back of the horn contact & cup assembly that needed to be positioned correctly (at about 10 & 2 oclock) in order to stop the intermittent honking when I turned. It's been 6 months or so so I don't remember exactly what it looked like, but I do remember the correct installation was obvious, I just hadn't looked when I re-installed it the first time.

Your Avatar makes me think you have a C-2, which may be different than my C-1, so it could be something else like a wiring issue in the column.
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 09:35 AM
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Default Horn problem

I have a '64, I took my whole steering column out to check everything, [ installed a new lower bearing, etc.]
I went out for a test drive afterward, when pulling out into traffic on a secondary road , while turning my head around to look at oncoming traffic , I was actually [ unintentionally] pulling -UP- on the steering wheel and the horn would blow.
When I reassembled everything I left the spring too loose on the bottom of the steering column, [the spring puts a load on the bottom bearing] which allowed the steering wheel to pull up, in turn the horn contact made a complete circuit.
I compressed the spring more [ next to the bottom bearing]. End of problem.
Don't know if this is your problem or not.
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 10:56 AM
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Dave it could also be that the rag joint is the problem.

Dave
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 11:51 AM
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I had this problem after a complete replacement of the column and it was caused by the steering wheel housing contacting the column sleeve when I turned the wheel left. It was the upper bearing being not quite straight. I include a photo of the area that I refer to. You can see the missing paint from where it was scraping. Make sure the gap is consistent all the way around whilst turning the wheel...



I need to repaint this, yikes!
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by lovevettes
I have a '64, I took my whole steering column out to check everything, [ installed a new lower bearing, etc.]
I went out for a test drive afterward, when pulling out into traffic on a secondary road , while turning my head around to look at oncoming traffic , I was actually [ unintentionally] pulling -UP- on the steering wheel and the horn would blow.
When I reassembled everything I left the spring too loose on the bottom of the steering column, [the spring puts a load on the bottom bearing] which allowed the steering wheel to pull up, in turn the horn contact made a complete circuit.
I compressed the spring more [ next to the bottom bearing]. End of problem.
Don't know if this is your problem or not.
Ya know, I believe mine might be a bit loose. I really didn't know exactly where to set it. I will check it and see if it fixes.

Thanks,
RK
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 12:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Hitch
Dave it could also be that the rag joint is the problem.

Dave
Dave, I believe my rag joint is OK, but not sure how to really tell. I finally got her running rather well yesterday, and was heading out to get some gas, when she shut down (Out Of Fuel). Once I put some fresh gas in, I just brought her home and parked. Needing to fix a few other little items I noticed in the 8-9 miles road test around the neighborhood.

So what do I check with the rag joint?

David
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 12:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Tintin
I had this problem after a complete replacement of the column and it was caused by the steering wheel housing contacting the column sleeve when I turned the wheel left. It was the upper bearing being not quite straight. I include a photo of the area that I refer to. You can see the missing paint from where it was scraping. Make sure the gap is consistent all the way around whilst turning the wheel...
I need to repaint this, yikes!
Ah, I like pictures. This is certainly something else I can check.
Thanks
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 02:27 PM
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I had the same issue when I rebuilt the column on my ’66. My problem was that the electrical contacts on the turn signal switch were loose/misaligned (I can’t remember exactly what it was but it was a simple fix). Undo your rag joint and upper clamp and slide the steering shaft up a bit. Check out the connections around the signal switch and canceling cam. They should make contact when you slide the shaft down again (if it’s aligned right)….mine was obvious.

Joe
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by RoadKing96
Ya know, I believe mine might be a bit loose. I really didn't know exactly where to set it. I will check it and see if it fixes.

Thanks,
RK
Dave, I believe the spring should have about .015 space between the coils.
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 08:19 PM
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Originally Posted by RoadKing96
Dave, I believe my rag joint is OK, but not sure how to really tell. I finally got her running rather well yesterday, and was heading out to get some gas, when she shut down (Out Of Fuel). Once I put some fresh gas in, I just brought her home and parked. Needing to fix a few other little items I noticed in the 8-9 miles road test around the neighborhood.

So what do I check with the rag joint?

David
Dave,

Yaaay.....you got her running. And driving too! Wahoo! Your really making progress. I expect you'll get her sorted out in time for Lake Wheeler. Yes?

Regards,
Fred
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 09:08 PM
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Originally Posted by vettefred
Dave,

Yaaay.....you got her running. And driving too! Wahoo! Your really making progress. I expect you'll get her sorted out in time for Lake Wheeler. Yes?

Regards,
Fred
I hope he's ready for the First Grill 57 of the year this Saturday! Dave let me know if you want another set of eyes on this project.
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 10:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Hitch
I hope he's ready for the First Grill 57 of the year this Saturday! Dave let me know if you want another set of eyes on this project.
Dave, I was out working on her some today. Didn't look into horn issue, as I was trying to set the carb up to 'fast idle' and adjust the idle mixture screws for max rpms,, etc....

The great news was that I took advice from someone, set it to zero and sure enough, my timing light started working.

I have a doc appointment in the morning, but by the afternoon I'm going to be trying to see if I can set up the timing 'correctly'. I briefly looked at it today and it just appears, from everything I can tell at this moment, that the mechanical advance springs in the distributor are a bit strong. You are always welcome to stop by. In fact I think George is wanting to look at your seat belts you have for sale. Not sure I'd trust my vehicle to travel as far as your house just yet. Swing on by tomorrow afternoon if you aren't to busy with work. I can always use an extra pair of eyes and knowledge.
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Old Apr 12, 2010 | 10:17 PM
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Originally Posted by vettefred
Dave,

Yaaay.....you got her running. And driving too! Wahoo! Your really making progress. I expect you'll get her sorted out in time for Lake Wheeler. Yes?

Regards,
Fred
I ended up trying to start and she wasn't sparking at all, so I started over from ground zero. Long story short, I re-adjusted the distributor back to where it was originally (one tooth). I set her to where it looked correct. Finally after rebuilding the Carter AFB she fired right up. I was smiling big time as she sounded sooo good. She actually is running pretty well, but needs just a bit more tweaking. I'm doing a little bit each day.

I'm slowly taking her out further and further from home, as it's been almost 13 years since she's been started / driven.

Unfortunately we're heading out of town the weekend of Lake Wheeler. But this coming weekend might see her at Grill 57.....

Maybe see you there,
David
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by lovevettes
I have a '64, I took my whole steering column out to check everything, [ installed a new lower bearing, etc.]
I went out for a test drive afterward, when pulling out into traffic on a secondary road , while turning my head around to look at oncoming traffic , I was actually [ unintentionally] pulling -UP- on the steering wheel and the horn would blow.
When I reassembled everything I left the spring too loose on the bottom of the steering column, [the spring puts a load on the bottom bearing] which allowed the steering wheel to pull up, in turn the horn contact made a complete circuit.
I compressed the spring more [ next to the bottom bearing]. End of problem.
Don't know if this is your problem or not.
had the same thing on my 64. have someone pull on the steering wheel while you watch the column under the hood. TIGHTEN THE BEARING SPRING!!!!
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 08:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Tintin
I had this problem after a complete replacement of the column and it was caused by the steering wheel housing contacting the column sleeve when I turned the wheel left. It was the upper bearing being not quite straight. I include a photo of the area that I refer to. You can see the missing paint from where it was scraping. Make sure the gap is consistent all the way around whilst turning the wheel...
I checked the gap and it is consistent all the way around.....
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 08:45 PM
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Originally Posted by 65 vette dude
Dave, I believe the spring should have about .015 space between the coils.
65 vette dude, how do I compress spring to the point of having on .015 space between coils? That seems that I need to basically compress the spring real close to full before locking it down. Thanks
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Old Apr 13, 2010 | 08:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 64tux
had the same thing on my 64. have someone pull on the steering wheel while you watch the column under the hood. TIGHTEN THE BEARING SPRING!!!!
Had a friend pulling up on the steering wheel today. I loosened up the bolt that holds the bottom bearing spring in place. There was a bit more space and.....

Bottom line is that I now have no horn, so something is a miss, but that's OK. Instead I took her out for a ride, got some gas and many smiles......I'll do some meter readings tomorrow and see what it looks like under the steering wheel and around the horn button.....

Thanks y'all,
RK
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