BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

I need to buy a horn switch for my car, you know the ones that are in the steering wheel. I recently purchaced a horn KIT from AC Delco assuming it came with everything, but I assumed wrong... I have the actual horn (F note) and the connections and stuff for it, but need switches, I dont have any, and dont know where to get them.

This is the steering wheel I have:




I know its not the orignal one for my GTA, but its what was on there, and it works fine, and serves its purpose well.



THANKS!

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

What do you mean by "horn swith"? Do you need something to go in your steering wheel hub to let the horn go off? Because as far as I know all the horn button does is connect the horn to the power a wire that comes out of the column is connected to the bottom of the horn button and the top is alreayd grounded, so when pressed, the connection is complete and the horn goes off.... But if you want a whole diffrent "out of steering wheel" horn button, you can find those fairly easy, most Autopart stores have them, I've even seen them at walmart...

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

Im looking for one to put inside the steering wheel. I dont mind not buying the exact one that i need, as long as it fits and works. I just havent fouund one with my make/model/year attached to it, and was hoping that someone knew where to buy one...

its the "baseline" steering wheel that came on the Firebirds, i think, so i didnt think it would be hard find one that would fit...

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

What is under the current horn button? Do you have the wire sticking out through the steering column attatched to be the botton?

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

nope, i dont have squat:

ringo234

There should be a single wire coming up through the steering column that when shorted to ground completes the circuit causing the horn to blow. It appears either your wire has been removed or fallen inside the steering column. Either way you need to find it or there will be no way for your horn to work normally.

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

I know that I will need to run wires from the column, that is not the problem. Im pretty good with electrical things, and wiring stuff. I just need the actual switch that fits inside my steering wheel.

ringo234

Looking at the first picture of your wheel it looks like you already have the horn button.
Is that center cap in the picture spring loaded? That wheel likes alot like the IROC wheel and the center cap is the horn button (switch) in the IROC wheel. The wire from the horn is connected to the center button and the springs prevent it from touching ground. Once pushed the wire touches ground and the horn blows.

If that's not the case, and that's an after market steering wheel check with the manufacturer.

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

i have the "cap" that goes over the steering wheel (refering to the first pic...) but no, there is no spring behind it, and no switch either.

i know how the horn switch works, i just dont know where to buy one... does anyone know!

THANKS!

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

I had the same steering wheel on my TA (before I bought an aftermarket wheel). The cap is the button. There is no spring in the button-cap. There is two pieces of metal separated by a washer type-lip of thin rubber. Thin enough you can push the to of the botton and it would squeeze down until it touched the second piece of metal. The bottom piece of metal on the botton is suppose to be attatched to the wire (thats not there) and the top piece of metal is attatched to the steering column (which is grounded). You are missing the wire. So your problem isn't that you need a switch. You need the (+) of your botton.
I agree with Ringo, it must have fallen off or mostlikely got pushed back in the hole. If thats the case, you're going to have to pull the wheel and look for the wire. And worst case scenario, you are going to get another wire by pulling one at the boneyard...Here are some illustrations, sorry about the crudeness...

You're going to have to pull your wheel to look like this to find that (+) wire...

I'm sure there is a way to find the wire under/behind the dash, but I'm not familiar with that area...

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

THANK YOU SO FREAKIN MUCH!

That is EXACLTY the answer i needed to solve my problem!

Now, im almost positive that the wire that i need is not behind the wheel, cause I just rebuilt (effectivly) the colomn, those 4 bolts that keep it from wiggling came loose, so i had the entire thing apart, and didnt see any wire that looked out of place. but thats np, running a new wire shouldnt be an issue at all, just need to know what guage (approx) it would need to be? 18,20,22???


and what needs to be done about that wire when the wheel is turned? do u just leave enough slack behind the plate to let it turn as well, or is there something special that i need to know?

and how is the wire fixed to the plate? just a solderless connection cliped on the metal part? or something else?


THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN!
you have saved me lots of grief!

ringo234

QUOTE - HCR13]
i have the "cap" that goes over the steering wheel (refering to the first pic...) but no, there is no spring behind it, and no switch either.

i know how the horn switch works, i just dont know where to buy one... does anyone know! [/QUOTE]


What ever it is that keeps the 2 pieces of metal from touching in your drawing is a "spring". The type of spring is referred to as spring steel. If you stop pushing the button doesn't the button return to its original position. What do you think pushes it back? A spring does.

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

ok, heres my plate: (sry for pics being so big)

front, with cover



back, with cover:



clips, as mentioned before:



cover comming off:



back, cover off:




front, cover off:



side, cover off, showing no connection:




another side view, showing space:



insulated all the way around:






it appears that there is no spring needed in this setup. cause they wont touch on there own, the two metal plates will only come in contact then pressed upon... and yea, i know, i need to do some sanding to it to make sure that the connection is made, on both the clips that ground it, and the inner plate that touches to the plate that flexes when pressed upon to complete connection.


THANKS AGAIN!

dustpusher

Should be a wire with a plastic thing that goes in that hole in the pics.You twist it a bit and hook up to your steering wheel cap and push the cap back on your wheel.

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, the wire is only a couple of inches long.(I belive the wire connects to the "turning" part of the steering column, so it turns with the wheel). I remember when I replaced my steering wheel, that at the end of the wire was a little piece of plastic like mentioned above, I had to trip down the plastic piece for the shorter hub. The plastic piece was insterted into the whole, then it would twist about halfway to the right and it would lock in place. There was also a small spring behind it to keep it secure (it reminds me alot of the ballpoint pens that have the button on the end)...

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

well i went to work today:

first, i drilled a hole in the plate to attach the wire too:



then i took the steering wheel off:




then the blinker plate (dont know the technical name for it...), this one i had to take the hazard switch off to get out, along with the lever attachment, and the 3 that actually hold it in:



ran the wire through, and put the plate back on:




ran the wire through the steering wheel, attached the wheel back on, and attached the wire to the switch:








I never found where the horn was, but i already bought a replacement (the KIT i mentioned earlier), so i just mounted it where i wanted =]



its actually just under the hood clamp behind the bumper and behind the mudflap...

horn attached:




im goin to finish up the wiring tomorrow, but all the actual work is done, all i have to do is attach the wire from switch to the ground on the horn, and then run a 12v back to the fuse panal, NP. so the switch will give it the ground it needs to complete the flow, cause it will already have 12v. ill probably just end up using an in-line fuse though, ive had nothing but GOOD come from those...

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

Awesome, looking pretty good...let us know how the new horn sounds, I might replace mine...

BanjaminGTA

iTrader: (2)

Ok, so I was wiring everything as planned, and I found the old horn in the process, actually both horns.


Its kinda hard to make out, but the're there, and there's two:



They were so far up in the fender behinf the battery and another panel that I couldnt see them before... Oh well.

So I contined on and everything worked out as planned. The horn blew when I pressed the button. Life is good. I was hoping the horn would be a lower pitch (being as I got the "low tone F note" but it still sounded rather high, higher than my Infiniti at least...


BUT THEN: I thought, y not but those other TWO horns to use! So heres me plan that I will do next week sometime, to have THREE horns hooked up to the same button. I know it will work, I just need to do it...

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

awesome, I'm glad everything worked out great. 3 horns, eh? That should sound interesting and get people out of the way! I've seen air horns (from Trains) put on cars before, that insane!

ringo234

The clips that hold your button on the steering wheel serve a double duty as springs. Thet are made of spring steel, not all springs look like a coil.