No horn on the 66 Barracuda

[Syleng1]

Interesting one here.
My 66 early a has no horn. If I ground the relay they work. I have ohm checked the black wire to the horn button- no resistance- good wire and good contact. The main steering shaft is isolated from ground. Anyone see this before?
The ground stops at the Borgeson u-joint after my Borgeson steering box.(using a fluke 88 meter)
Weird right? I thought about drilling a sheet metal screw thru the column so it touches the shaft… kinda crappy but could may contact. Very odd. Wondering if anyone else experienced this and their fix. Sorry no photos. Camera is acting up on my
Phone.
Syleng1

 

[67Dart273]

I am not familiar with the workings of the earlier horn buttons. You KNOW where the problem is, and evidently what is wrong. If you are certain that the shaft is the ground path, maybe you could construct a spring loaded brush to contact the column. Otherwise, choose a way to dash mount a horn button.

 

[Dana67Dart]

Looking at a 66 horn button it look like a 67 up .

I suspect part of the horn button contact is supposed to be grounded and only when the contact leans to one side does it actually make a path to ground to honk the horn

On 67 there is a jumper from the column to chassis ground. Maybe yours is missing

I doubt that the ground path should be using the steering shaft or steering gear.

 

[Dana67Dart]

While this is for an A100 it might shed some insights.
Want a working horn button in a 1966 Dodge van? Fix this little brass wheel.

 

[cudamark]

The B and C bodies with a rag joint used a jumper wire to go around the joint. Try hose clamping one temporarily to see if that's the issue.

 

[Syleng1]

The B and C bodies with a rag joint used a jumper wire to go around the joint. Try hose clamping one temporarily to see if that's the issue.

Ahhh! That is a great idea. The shaft should ground thru the joint but a “wrap around” should work nice. Now to try to make it look like it belongs there.
I tried to ground the shaft with a ground clamp to battery and the horn worked perfectly. Thank you.
Syleng1

 

[66Glassback]

I just replaced the turn signal switch in my 1966 Barracuda. My horn was not working as well so I figured I would look into this also. When I pulled the horn button off, to my surprise there was a tuna can there. The previous owner must have used it just to put the horn button back on. I was wondering if anyone has a diagram of what is supposed to be there so I can get the proper parts to put it back together and have my horn back.

 

[cudamark]

Some of the parts will depend on which steering wheel you have. Post some photos.

 

[66Glassback]

Here are some pictures. Not sure what part I'm going to need to replace that tuna fish can. I can't get over that.

 

[RustyRatRod]

The upper steering shaft has a bearing. That bearing has a rubber insulator that it sits in. Those rubber insulators always have a metal staple in them. That's to ground the steering shaft and make the horn work. Sometimes, the small staple dislodges and falls out and you lose that ground.