Early A Horn Blows on Left Turns

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dibbons

dibbons

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Not every time I turn the wheel to the left, but every once in awhile the horn blows on left turns. The right front turn signal is also acting up (thought I fixed the problem by cleaning terminals but I was mistaken). Plan on pulling the steering wheel to see what is going on there. Steering wheel is aftermarket and horn wire is not connected because the wheel center piece is missing (see photo). The horn does blow normally when I ground the horn wire to the steering column shaft.

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cudamark said:
Probably that junk wheel is the culprit.
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And the broken base plate. That holds the button on and the button grounds against the wheel. That's a nasty looking combination there.
 
Hey Dibbons. I have all the original pieces from a 65 Barracuda steering column on my kitchen table. I will never use them. Give me a shout if you want to swap that crap out.
Best Regards,
Jeff
 
Update: Pulled the steering wheel but I don't see a problem with the horn wire (see photo #1).

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Pulled apart what I could under the steering wheel. Difficult to see in the photos, but I found some greenish/blue corrosion on the circular piece that the little horn "wheel" contact rides on (photos #1, #2, #3). I cleaned that off with a small brush attachment for my Dremel tool (photo #4). Put everything back together. Don't know yet if the random horn blowing is still a problem or not (have not taken it out for a test drive yet).

The right front turn signal is still not flashing. Going to check the bulb and ground. The parking lamp on the same corner is working, but the light it put out is pretty dim.

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Update: Measuring voltage at the firewall with key on and turn signal switch applied, i find a max of nine volts (flashing) for the driver's side front turn signal terminal (which was enough to light the bulb), and I find a max of one volt (flashing( for the passenger side front turn signal temainal (which is the problem side). Not sure yet how to up the voltage on that side.
 
Sounds like a wiring connection corrosion problem there somewhere. Start at the source of power (probably right where it leaves the column would be a good place to start) and work your way to the turn signal assembly to see where the voltage drops.
 
Update: Still tracking things down. I did notice today during some more testing the plastic two-wire connector to the flasher was warm to the touch. I have no idea if that is normal or not.
 
dibbons said:
Update: Still tracking things down. I did notice today during some more testing the plastic two-wire connector to the flasher was warm to the touch. I have no idea if that is normal or not.
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It really shouldn't be warm. Not much current passing through that connector when the circuit is live. Look for corroded connectors and bad grounds. Both are very common on old cars.
 
Update: I know the wiring has seen better days, but against all odds I decided to try a new flasher. With the engine off and ignitions on this is what i found testing the turn signals: only the rear signals work now (and of course, the green arrow is not flashing due to the front bulbs not illuminating). When I began all this testing, at least one front signal was working. Now I am worse off than before!

So, because the horn was blowing sometimes on left turns, I tried the signals again with both horns disconnected, then with only low tone connected, then with only high tone horn connected. No change.

Then I decided to feel how warm the flasher was now. This time I did not touch the plastic connector, I just put my fingers around the aluminum case of the new flasher. I found it very hot to the touch. OK, I decided to give up any more testing for today (getting frustrate again).

Before I went inside the house, I decided to prime the carb and run the engine for a few minutes to circulate the oil and charge the battery a bit.

With the engine now running, i decided to quickly try the signals again. Much to my surprise, now both sides, front and rear are flashing as well as the green arrow on the dash. After idling for ten or fifteen minutes, I shut off the engine. I immediately turned the key back to the "on" position and tried the turn signals monmentariliy again. They all worked. I shut off the igniiton. I did not feel the flasher again, being the fact I assumed it was still warm from the testing done with the engine not running.

Not sure how to proceed now.
 
Update: Drove the vehicle around for about an hour today. The horn never blew on left turns. I limited use of the turn signals, but the few times I used 'em they worked OK both left and right.
 
Update: Up until now, I have been working on problems with the front turn signals. Recently, they began functioning. But another problem showsed up at the rear. Will it never end?

Forgot to mention that when I recently replaced the flasher with one I purchased at AutoZone, the green arrow dash lamp flashed about twice as fast as normal. That was fine with me because I prefer faster "flash". However, when I checked around the outside of the vehicle, I found the left rear turn signal was not flashing (although the green dash light, which normally shuts down when there is a bulb problem, kept working). Then I found the left rear brake light was not working either.

I checked the mini-lamp and it was OK. I replaced the mini-lamp anyhow and still nothing. Keep in mind the left rear parking light is working all this time. I checked voltage at the bulb socket wire inside the cavity and found 0 volts. Checked it again later and found 10 volts. Checked it a later a third time and found a little more than 12 volts. Checked it again and found back to 10 volts. All this time, re-inserting the bulb in the socket each time, I found the filament for the brake/turn signal would not work, only the parking lamp filament. I even ran two extra ground wires from the lamp socket, but still nothing. Tried things with the engine off and the engine running. Checked battery voltage: engine off 12.7 volts and running 15.11 volts.

Now I don't know if the new flasher was faster because that would be normal for that particular flasher (has an imprint on the base "max 4 bulbs) or if it flashes faster when it perceives a lamp malfunction in the system (unlike the factory system which seems to shut down the dash monitor lamp).

I'll keep trying.
 
If it were me, first thing I would do is get a solid state flasher. It will always flash the same speed no matter the load. A factory flasher speed depends on the load. Go from there....
 
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