Ground on steering column is flaky

[lcvaldetaro]

The horn on my 74 ghia works intermittently.

I spend some time today with a multi-meter and narrow it to teh steering column. As you probably know, there is a wire that goes in the middle of the steering column, and that wire is fine. When you hit the horn button, that wire is then connected to the metal on the steering column and that closes the circuit that activates the horn.

A couple of years ago I replaced the steering because I was having too much play in my steering.

Initially everything was fine, but eventually the horn stopped. The problem is that sometimes there is no ground on the steering column. If you turn the steering wheel, the ground appears, then disappears....

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[FJCamper]

Hi lcvaldetaro,

Is your steering column ground wire (internal to the tube) connection to the chassis ground near the steering box in good condition?

FJC

[lcvaldetaro]

FJC,

I will check and reply back!

Thanks,

Luiz

[Greg Rickard]

Related somewhat to Luiz's problem, my '71 Ghia's horn beeps when the front suspension compresses. This occurs at low speed when pulling into a driveway and there is body roll along with suspension compression.

Otherwise, the horn works as it should.

I have replaced the firewall / steering column rubber seal, replaced the steering coupler rubber donut thingie, verified (with a multimeter) that the steering column is grounded to the chassis, and looked for other possibilities.

It leads me to conclude that the steering column is grounding out somewhere when the front suspension is being exercised.

Any thoughts?

[FJCamper]

Hi Greg,

Check the wires coming off the dual horns themselves. The wires are low and may be pinched or one of them grounding as there is body, not just suspension, movement.

FJC

[Marc]

Take one more look at that ground loop at the ragjoint. It has to be connected to a bolt that's in the box's flange on one end and to a bolt that's in the shaft's flange on the other (90° apart). If you managed to hook it up to two bolts which are 180° apart it's only going along for the ride...

[Greg Rickard]

Hi Greg,

Check the wires coming off the dual horns themselves. The wires are low and may be pinched or one of them grounding as there is body, not just suspension, movement.

FJC

Thanks for the suggestion...that is one area that I did not think about checking!