To honk or not to honk...

[Lisa P]

The previous driver of the '48 Kaiser Special that I am working on said that the horn became stuck one time as he was cruising around town trying to impress his future wife.  Since then (1967 or so) the critters had chewed the wire off right at the bottom of the steering box, but I was able to splice it and thread the wire back through.  I checked out the infamous sponge rubber doughnut and it still feels spongy.  However, the "guts" of my horn blowing mechanism in the steering wheel look nothing like the diagram posted by Fid in an earlier discussion about horn rings and such.  Under the button with the "K" on it is the brass or copper colored plate that has the wire for the horn coming through it and below that is the sponge doughnut.  Am I missing anything?  If not, how the heck does this work?  I have continuity from the horn ring to the end of the wire that goes to the relay terminal...help please!

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Lisa,

Have you checked the horns themselves?  Over time the contacts inside corrode or otherwise stop working.  I had this problem with my 1951 Business Coupe and the 1952 deLuxe.

Walk the checklist back from the horn.  Do the horns honk when you tap them with a jumper cable from the battery?  Do they honk when you tap the relay in with a jumper?  What is the condition of the prongs on the plate in the steering wheel? 

[Lisa P]

Yes, the horns do honk when I use a jumper to the battery.  The contacts inside were slightly corroded and I disassembled them and cleaned the contacts.  I am unsure of the relay (it is the three terminal variety) and will check that tonight.  The prongs on the plate in the steering wheel look fine but I am not sure what their function is.  Like I said, I have continuity from the horn ring to the end of the wire that gets hooked up to the relay even when I am not pushing or pulling on the horn ring, is that right?  Basically, when the horn ring is pushed, what is supposed to happen?  I may be thinking of this all wrong, but I thought that when the horn ring was pushed, and only then, would there be continuity to the wire at the relay end.  I shall attempt to hook this all up tonight to see what happens, as always I am terrified of shocks even if it's only 6 volts! 

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Lisa, you are correct about not having continunity down the line until (and only during) the time the horn button is pushed (do you have a horn ring as well, or just the button?). 

[Lisa P]

It has the horn ring and the horn button.  The horn button (with the buffalo) does not move in when I push on it, it only spins a bit. 

Here's a better question, inside the steering wheel, what is the other end of the wire that goes to the horn relay supposed to contact?  (I can hear Mr. Kaiser rolling over in his grave now because I can't figure this one out) *sigh*  Thanks again for your help.

[Logan]

This might be obvious, but do you have the key in the "on" position?  I'm not sure about 48, but for 53 at least you need your ignition switch on.  Also, have you checked the relay?  Mine was bad and I ordered a new one and same thing.  It turns out, they had sold me a bad relay.  Finally I got it to honk.

[Lisa P]

Logan, thanks for the reply.  I tried with the key in both positions.  The relay is there but it is either a three terminal relay or someone may have broken off the 4th relay.  What stumps me is the horn ring and horn button at the steering wheel.  I have owned older vehicles with horn rings and horn buttons before and with those, I could either push the button in or push the ring and the horn would blow.  On my Kaiser, the button in the center of the steering wheel does not depress when I push on it, is it supposed to?  I'll keep at it and buy one of the 4 terminal relays.