Horn button gives a shock sometimes???

[cwmoss]

I am no electrician by any means so I need some advice. Right after I bought my car the horn would honk every once in a while when I was turning the steering wheel. I unplugged it and said I would try and figure this out later. This past weekend I decided it was time to see why it was doing this. I plugged it back in and when I pushed the horn button, it honked and gave me a shock. What's going on? I am going to replace my turn signal switch because the part of it where the turn signal lever attaches, is cracked, and the lever has a little wobble. Could the switch be bad and shorting out , giving me the shock? From what I can determine, it has a 1972 Chev truck tilt steering column, with a Lecarra wheel.
Thanks,
Daryl

[r66ss]

I am no electrician by any means so I need some advice. Right after I bought my car the horn would honk every once in a while when I was turning the steering wheel. I unplugged it and said I would try and figure this out later. This past weekend I decided it was time to see why it was doing this. I plugged it back in and when I pushed the horn button, it honked and gave me a shock. What's going on? I am going to replace my turn signal switch because the part of it where the turn signal lever attaches, is cracked, and the lever has a little wobble. Could the switch be bad and shorting out , giving me the shock? From what I can determine, it has a 1972 Chev truck tilt steering column, with a Lecarra wheel.
Thanks,
Daryl

Daryl,

with out seeing and looking at column, Id suspect maybe a short, or like u mentioned , Have you actually taken apart wheel yet, you might see something thats not right, Im sure some one else will chim in and offer something.

[ChuckG]

On all (I believe) horn systems, pushing the horn button completes the "ground" connection, thus completing the circuit.

Sounds like something is amiss within the column in the ground wire.

SO...when you push the button, YOU become the ground connection, thus the shock. :D

Chuck

[Rick_L]

I think ChuckG has it right.

If you have a rag joint at the bottom of the column, it may be isolating the column shaft from being grounded, at least with minimum resistance. Looks like sometimes you have less resistance than the steering column has to the body or frame.

Some factory rag joints have a sheet metal clip across the rag joint, electrically connecting the two sides separated by the rubber. This allows the rag joint to ground the column shaft to the steering box. You'd also think the column shaft would ground to the column housing through the upper bearing, but maybe the grease in the bearing gives that some resistance, and the column housing may not be grounded well to the body either. So a ground from the column housing to the body somewhere would be a good idea too.

Whether you feel a shock or not may also depend on what you're touching in the car. In other words how you are grounded.

This same stuff could prevent your horn from honking at all too.

[carls 56]

hi darly! you are completing the circuit. i think you have a wire with the insulation is cracked and bare wire touching somewhere in the horn area. .......................oh yeah, don't be touching it while your wet ;)

[Typhoontx]

Your probably getting a voltage kick back from the horn relay due the horn
button and contact assy missing some pieces or worn insulating parts, 12 volts usually can only produce a "tingle" ( depends on your skin resistance ) If your getting very short duration zap as you start to let off the horn, it is a inductive kick back voltage spike from the relay when its de-energized is somehow making its way to the horn ring/button.

Regards, Robert

[cwmoss]

Thanks for all of your replies. I will be replacing my turn signal switch very soon. When I do that, I will take a closer look at the internals, and like you all have said, there probably is a wire that is cracked. I will also add a ground under the dash from the column to the body. I will also take a look at the "rag joint" and see if it has a "connection" from one side to the other. I am going to do these things one at a time, so I can narrow it down to the cause of my problem. I knew you guys would have some ideas, this is such a great site.
Thanks,
Daryl

[gregs55150]

That would make a good practical joke to play on someone.
I think that everyone is right when they say you are becoming the ground.
I got hit off a Miller welder/generator when hooking up the ground to a roll-off dumpster I was repairing,beleive me I was shocked.The company that installed the crane on this Ford L7000 somehow revamped the grounding system on the truck from what I was told and it grounded through me.My hand was numb and tingly for an hour.
GOOD LUCK .GREG

[acardon]

From what I can determine, it has a 1972 Chev truck tilt steering column, with a Lecarra wheel.
Thanks,
Daryl

I don't think you have a grounding problem with the column or rag joint, or the horn wouldn't work. I think Robert (Typhoontx) is on the right track. The horn button should be insulated from the 12 volts from the horn relay.
On a stock steering column/horn, the horn ring is insulated by the notched plastic piece under the ring and the 3 legged plastic piece on top of the horn ring. The belleville spring and button contact are the only parts that have 12 volts on them.
With the Lecarra wheel, I believe there should be a insulated (phonolic) part that the horn cap snaps onto, to insulate the cap from voltage.

[Rick_L]

Don, excellent observation.

And, the more I thought about the ground strap stuff I posted about - it IS something you may need to make the horn work - but the insulation you mention is what's need to keep the voltage from the operator.

[wrenchbend1]

I have to go with Robert and Don on this one, I wonder if someone may have improvised a relay into the horn circuit to power up those vintage horn units that absolutely love power. I have done so because the relay that i had melted and corroded the connections , i just cut it out and got a heavy duty relay and got er done. If you dont use a shunted relay ( I belive its called ) the negative that is being used as a trigger can spike voltage and be quite the shocking experience! almost like an ignition coil.
happy hunting !!!
wrenchbend1

[cwmoss]

Well guys, I just finished installing the new turn signal switch. The old one was the original to the column, out of a 1972 Chevy 1/2 ton pu. The wires were old and hard, and the cam was cracked, letting the lever wobble. One wire was cracked. I hit the horn a couple times and got the same little shock. I am now going to install grounding straps and then if that doesn't solve the problem, I am going to check the relay and do the "shunted" relay suggestion.
Is a heavy duty relay a "shunted realy"?? What should I ask for at the parts house??
Back to the shop for now.
Daryl

[acardon]

I believe the problem is with the horn button itself. The horn button should NOT have voltage on it, no matter what kind of relay or ground straps you have. Look at the way the horn button attaches to the steering wheel hub. There should be an insulator between the horn button and the voltage contact going through the steering wheel. You should not measure any voltage on the horn button. If so, it's not insulated properly.