ehaigh

I have a 86 c4 coupe. over the last year or more, i have been rebuilding it. i had removed the horns because they did not function. the horns were removed for 6 months or more. after disassembly of the tilt telescopic steering column to tighten the bolts for the mounting bracket and re assembly, the battery would go dead once in a while. i disassembled the steering column to check my work and found no irregularities. i thought it might be the courtesy lamps. however, after installing new horns that functioned properly, a couple of weeks passed and after the car was sitting 2 hours or more after being run, the horns started to blow continuously. i reached for the keys that were in the ignition switch to disarm the theft deterrent system. as soon as the key was removed from the ignition switch, the horns shut off. i am assuming that when the horns were removed, the horn relay would engage, killing the battery. could the key buzzer circuit be engaging the horn relay. i have disassembled repaired and assembled over 30 tilt columns without problems. the theft deterrent system functions properly. also, a new ignition switch was installed during the assembly of the steering column.

rat123

Hi
When you disassembled the telescopic telescopic steering did you remove spring. I just put a new steering wheel on and my horn would not shut off and I found my horn contact retainer was broken in piece. After replacing this my horn worked like normal. This retainer doesn't allow spring to hit horn contacts

ehaigh

I believe everything seemed ok, but im pushing 70 years old and memory not what it used to be. i do not specifically do not remember installing the spring for key buzzer switch nor the hex pin ignition switch retainer. the puzzling thing is that the car sat for at least 2 hours un toutched when the horn started blowing. and why did stop blowing when i removed the key from the ignition. that key buzzer double contact shares the same rotating contact that the horn uses. i will disassemble and inspect.. thank you for your response and i believe you are correct

rat123

Hi
Mine did the samething
I had to disconnect my battery
to stop it

ehaigh

thanks for your response. its comforting that im not alone

rat123

Hi
I just replaced my horn contact retainer and problem went away

ehaigh

which part exactly is the horn contact retainer. is it the contact in the steering wheel horn button

ehaigh

i looked up horn contact retainer and i put in a new one. the original one shattered upon removal. i thought it was the large c clip retainer, and assembled the column without the contact retainer and the horn relay stayed engaged and the battery went dead. that was before i installed the horns

rat123

Here is the horn retainer

ehaigh

under my membership info there is a thanks entry. i do not know how it operates. i have thanked most members that have tried to help me yet under the thanks only 1 is listed. I'm not very computer literate, do not read well due to a reading disability. i don't spell or type well also. 99 percent of what i have learned in my life has been from observing and asking. for all that i am very grateful. i want to be able to properly thank all that reply. i just have to know how. thanks ed