Hi Guys, Problem with the horn on my Series 1 400i. It's been working ok, then became intermittent : you pushed on the cavallino, sometimes the horn would sound, sometimes not. I did the troubleshooting, starting with the compressor, tested ok, then the wiring, no voltage at the plug once the button was pushed. Got a new relay but that didn't work either. While the relay board was open so I could hear the clicking, I tried with both the old and new one, and once again it was intermittent, the relay clicked, voltage was indicated on my voltmeter, but not everytime the switch was pushed. Finally decided to have a look at the back of the switch. I carefully took the steering wheel off with the Allen screws, and the switch went with it and I expected a wire to be attached to something in the car, but it was loose! There is a connector at the back of the switch, then about two inches of black wire, then a bit where the insulation is peeled off, but I can't see where it's all supposed to connect! Anyone got pictures of this area of the car, or can point me to a thread. Could be it's similar to the early 308 setup. Thanks Eric
I have a similar issue in that the horn is loose (though mine works fine). The trim ring spins freely and the button can just pop out with no resistance. Should this be clipping in some how?
Working from memory here... The wire is riveted onto to a fibreboard ring, with a brass track on the underside which is contacted by a plunger. Mine was replaced with a way too thick wire, which put too much torque onto the already dodgy solder job, which had parted ways. I made a new, very thin wire (it only needs to carry switching current), and soldered it onto the remnant of the rivet. There should be a spring clip in the side of the housing. It needs to contact the hub, or your horn won't work, so yours must be there. You could probably put a bigger kink in it with some fine pliers.
There is also a carbon brush that transfers the current from the horn button to the wiring harness. Don't forget to check that.
I saw the spring clip in side and thought that was what should be holding it in. The horn works- just not retained very well. I'll try as you suggested. Just paranoid about breaking it. Thanks for the feedback!
