How do you hook up the horn on a IIA?

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  • Alaskan Rover
    Low Range
    • Apr 2010
    • 54

    How do you hook up the horn on a IIA?

    Hello...I've had no horn for monthes now, and I finally want to rectify that.

    I've had a J.C. Whitney "aa-oo-gaah" type horn for years, then the horn switch went bad for whatever reason...so I hooked it up "temporarily" to a push-button switch on the dashboard.

    Not good for when you want to hit the horn in a hurry!! So I want to get it back on the steering wheel switch where it belongs.

    But by now, I can't remember for the life of me how the horn wires go to the center steering wheel horn switch. The horn switch itself works fine...I've tested it. And the horn itself of course works as well.

    BUT how in HECK does one hook-up the wires to that steering wheel switch? I first tried hooking the positive to the switch, and needed tons of extra wire that would hang down to be taken up around the steering shaft when wheel turned. Obviously not the correct solution!!

    So the negative wire must somehow be the one...does it just touch the steering colum somewhere??? and then positive from the horn just goes DIRECTLY to a positive feeder somewhere?? If the negative (ground) is hooked up to the shaft, is there enough contact for the horn to work when button depressed??

    Please HELP!!
    1970 Series IIA 88".,...the REAL Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
  • TeriAnn
    Overdrive
    • Nov 2006
    • 1087

    #2
    unswitched 12V to one side of horn. (big brown wire) Other side of horn to horn button (big brown with black stripe wire) which provides the ground path... sorta

    Better:

    Unswitched 12V to one side of horn. Other side of horn to relay, relay to good ground. Relay coil unswitched 12V one side, horn button on other side.

    Horns often sound weak because the horn button tends to provide a poor ground.
    -

    Teriann Wakeman_________
    Flagstaff, AZ.




    1960 Land Rover Dormobile, owned since 1978

    My Land Rover web site

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    • Kiloengineer
      Low Range
      • Dec 2011
      • 59

      #3
      You need the horn slip ring. This is a two-part assembly. One half of the slip ring is a copper sleeve that fits on the top of the steering column and is stationary. The hot wire attaches to this stationary sleeve. The other half of the slip ring is a cover that mounts to the steering wheel and includes a contactor that contacts to the copper sleeve as the steering wheel rotates. There should then be a wire from the rotating piece that goes to the horn button. The other wire of the horn goes to a ground on the steering wheel.

      BTW the rotating cover also serves to drive the wheel of the indicator switch.

      I think TeriAnn's idea of changing the wiring is good, but I bought a new horn and connected it up in this stock configuration and it works great.
      1968 Series IIA
      1962 Jaguar Mk 2

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