horn button parts..46 ford ,what am i missing?

[Lowsquire]

Hello all,

I have a 46 sedan delivery in the shop, and Ive not fixed a horn button on one before, so Im not sure what is supposed to be there, and havent had much luck finding a diagram of the parts involved.

What I have..
-stock steering wheel.
-the centre chrome piece that you twist to attach to the wheel.
-a spring about three inches long and just over an inch across
-a plastic centre medallion that has ford script on it, the 'button' piece
-a thin chrome ring that surrounds the plastic button with three tabs.

I have a wire coming out the centre of the column that operates the horn when grounded to the big chrome centre piece, it has no terminal on it.
there is nothing in what i have that you can attach the wire to.. and no way to work out what makes contact with what to operate the horn.

Im guessing there is a metal backing plate piece that has a contact or terminal on it that sits under the plastic centre button? and surely that big spring cant be between the button and the chrome piece..way to big and too much force?

anyway, if someone could explain or point me to a diagram of what im missing here i would apprecaite it no end!

thanks in advance!
Ben

[FLA48]

Ben, If it is like my 48, on the back side of the chrome ring ( the center piece you twist..) there is a tab at about the 3:30 position on the ring. If the screw is missing, you may be overlooking the attach point. The wire feeds through the center is the spring and attaches to the tab. There is also a rubber bushing that fits inside the assembly that is available from several suppliers. Hope this helps.

[woodypecker]

Hopefully there is a picture attached that shows the side of the horn ring of a 41 that goes towards the column with the spring between the ring and the column. three screws to choose from. there are three slots on other side to insert 3 tabs into. Hope this helps.

[Lowsquire]

Thanks guys, that helps a little, im still not sure of the current path? where is the contact made and broken? if i attach the wire to the chrome part, (The back of which is shown in woodpeckers photo)it will be grounded (and blaring!) all the time right?

[FLA48]

Ben. It will not be grounded if you use the required rubber bushing. The wire does not connect to any of the three screws that are obvious in the photo, but the one that is almost hidden on the left side of woodypecker's photo.
Frank

[Lowsquire]

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Okay, this is starting to frustrate me.

I have the parts in the below photo.

Question 1 - what goes under the plastic horn button? if i install it with the chrome ring by pushing the tabs through the chrome outer piece, its just loose and sloppy in there.

Question 2 - what goes between the chrome ring and the piece with the three spring steel mounting ears? this is obviously where contact is made and broken, as it is held together by three insulated screws, indicating that these two pieces are seperated until the horn is pressed. is it another spring? a rubber piece?

What is the gap between these two pieces supposed to be?

is the horn operated by pushing just the plastic piece in the centre? or pushing the whole chrome thing, plastic piece included, down? if its just the plastic button, im totally lost again as to how to make this work.. as there isnt an obvious way that contact is made between the two parts ?

Im sure most of this problem comes from the chrome ring piece, as this looks like a repro piece, and it definitely doesnt have the contact point for the wire attached. I can fix this issue, but its likely the wrong depth/shape/profile and is causing my mind to fall apart. Im usually amazingly good at fixing this type of problem..this one has me stumped.

[Lowsquire]

here are the photos.

please help. Im losing my mind over here.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Here's instructions.

1. Place the plastic horn button on the top side of the chrome disc.

2. place the chrome ring around the button lining up the tabs with the slots in the disc and bend over tabs ( be sure to work out which way the button goes before you bend tabs over so emblem on button is right way up when the steering is pointed straight ahead.

3. need to obtain a rubber insulator ring (eg from likes of C&G ford spares or whoever you use for spares). Take the remaining part with the big hole in the centre and screw it to the back of the chrome disc with button. The rubber insulator is placed between these 2 parts.

4. Flip it over and you will see a bean shaped hole. Through this there should be a tab visible with a thread in for a screw. This is what the horn wire attaches to. You need to put an electrical connector on the end of the wire so you can screw it to the button.

5. Before you screw it to the button place the big spring over the wire and pull it through.

6. press down on the button compress the spring and lock the tabs on the back of the button into the slots on the steering wheel ( right twist).

7. Test the horn.

hope this helps

GB

[meric42]

The above instructions are correct for the super deluxe horn ring version but the deluxe horn button assy is quite different in its assembly and operation.

I will look out my NOS horn buttons tonight and post pictures tomorrow. That is if nobody else beats me to it in the meantime.

Cheers,

Meric.

[Lowsquire]

Thanks everyone, but there is no making what i have here work.I run a business and i have now spent four hours trying to figure this out, and cant charge a customer $300 + to install a horn button!!
I will tell the owner to obtain an original complete horn button assembly and then make it all work. the chrome piece i have is obviously wrong in a few critical dimensions..maybe its for another year wheel. the other part i cant locate on any ford part site is whatever goes between the three eared piece and the chrome piece.I have the soft foam outer insulator, but there must be another bit that isnt reproduced.
Ive had it with this thing.

[46woodie]

your putting it together correctly. When you bolt the horn wire to the center ring it is NOT grounded. BUT when you push the center chrome piece it touches the wire to the metal part IN the steering wheel.THIS shorts out (completes circuit) and causes horns to work. When you attach the chrome center piece be sure the piece the wire is bolted to on the chrome ring can come in contact with the metal piece in the steering wheel when you push down. You are not making contact there or your problem is on the other end.

[46woodie]

post a pic of the back of your horn ring if you want and inside center of steering wheel.It'll be easier to explain.

[meric42]

It is a deluxe horn button, NOT a super deluxe horn ring and they are wired completely differently. I will post pictures as soon as I can.