Horns Sounds When I turn the Steering Wheel...

The wire runs inside the steering hub and down the column. Somewhere in there it has scraped against the metal enough to wear the insulation off the wire. I would bet money that if you pull the wheel and hub (need a steering wheel puller and the right sized ring nut socket to get the hub off) you will easily find the spot that is worn. I'm sure it's up near the top where the wire moves a lot when you steer. You might also start by again pulling the horn button and then pull a bit of the wire up through the gap in the wheel to see if it's just an inch or two down. you ought to be able to get another inch or so of wire up into the horn area to inspect, then push it back down.

Birdman

 

I had this problem and it drove me nuts for a while too.

In my case, it seems I had taken the steering wheel off using the special socket. When I remounted the steering wheel, I pinched the horn wire with the securing nut and the damage went unnoticed. There is very little clearance for this wire when torquing down the securing not and it is hidden below the special socket. It was this insulation defect that would occasionally allow the exposed wire to touch ground and blow the horn, usually at the most embarassing times, like when in a parking lot trying to look cool. The solution was a bit of shrink tubing. You could also replace the wire. Check it out.

Bill

 

Greg,

I see you've had one of those embarassing moments too.

The wheel assembly wasn't real tight on my 78 GTS, but I still had to use a puller to break it free of the shaft. I used a modest sized 3-leg puller and grabbed the wheel right next to the hub in 3-spots. It wasn't a real good grip but it was enough. I protected the steering wheel finish with a couple of layers of electrical tape. A real steering wheel puller would be better. You might not need any puller at all, but I did.

By the way, be sure to check the condition of the lug and the female spade clip on the back side of he horn button. It may be rotating and making ground after installation.

Bill

Bill

 

I am working with a different problem. But you don't want to pull on the horn wire because it is hooked up to a communtator in the turn signal assembly. So you may have a problem where either the wire from the commutator to the horn button is shorting or there is a short in the column to the connector. my problem is that my horn doesn't work when I turn clockwise from center. It works counterclockwise. Also when I pull my hub I can see that the steering shaft is off center from the commutator assembly. So I am tring to see if this is adjustable or if I need to replace the upper steering shaft. In order to do this I need to pull the turn signal assembly and I am a little concerned about doing that. So when I get up the nerve I'll do it.

 

Steve,

I'm not sure what you mean by the wire is hooked to a commutator in the turn signal assembly, but I don't believe you need to change or replace the upper steering shaft. After all it's just a shaft. If you need to reindex it, there is a splined coupling near the rack that can be released and reinstalled to reindex the upper shaft. I believe this coupling can be accessed from from the top by removing the panel, in the spare tire area, or from an access panel in the front left (port) wheel well. A pinch bolt on the shaft coupling would have to be removed, the steering shaft pulled clear and indexed, and the coupling remated with the steering shaft. If you go this route, you will likely have to realign the front suspension to restore proper steering wheel orientation.

Bill

 

Bill when you pull the hub and look at the wire from the horn button you will see it goes to a communtator. All car horns work this way. You do not twist the wire. It attaches to a brass ring that turn with the steering wheel. On the fixed steering housing is a "brass brush" which maintains contact and is fixed. The upper part of my steering column is a little bent so the brass brush looses contact when I turn it clockwise. I need to see if I can recenter the turnsignal/communtator to the upper steering shaft. This has nothing to do with pulling the lower steering shaft. So I need a little help from someone who has knowledge on how to pull the turnsignal assemble .

 

Hi Steve,
I had the same problem in my '78 308. Look at http://www.parrotbyte.com/kbc/ferrari/308/Horn.htm to see where I found the problem to be.
Regards, Kerry

 

Kerry , PERFECT . This is just what I wanted to see. Question can you leave the turnsignal assembly in place and just remove the communtator to add the brass extension. I assume there is a way to remove the c-clip and hold tension on the arms so they don't come apart. Super job on documenting this and I'll run a print and add it to my service book. THANKS

 

OK Steve. Now I understand your situation. The commutator is a slip ring contact. Didn't know your shaft was bent.

Good luck,
Billl

 

Removing the C-clips and associated plate won't release the arms. But if you fiddle around long enough, you can bump an arm and everything comes loose. If you just put the C-clips back on the shafts after removing the plate, that will keep an accidental bump from being a disaster.

I never removed the commutator, simply soldered the extension in place.

I get some noise as I turn the wheel, so add a little lubrication to the back of the disk where the commutator touches as you put it back together.

Regards, Kerry

 

I completely forgot about the communicator! Been a while since I had mine apart.

In my case, the hub was on REALLY tight and I nearly broke the steering wheel puller getting it off. The hub sits on a tapered shaft and when you torque that ring nut down, BOY does it jam the hub on there!

Hope you found your problem. When I did mine, I actually replaced the wire coming through to the horn button with a smaller wire so it would have more space around the ring nut tool. (The horn button operates the horn via a relay, so a large guage wire is not required).

Birdman

 

Kerry -

Great site! I've added your 308 page to my Ferrari bookmarks.

When I was taking apart my center console as part of my redye, I accidentally separated the read defroster control switch from the lower housing. I have all of the parts (I believe), but am not quite sure how it all goes back together. Any hints?

Tifosi on -
mark

 

Steve,
The commutator is inside a plastic ring that snaps on to the end of a the cylinder at the center of the switch. There are 3 wide plastic tabs that you have to depress while gently prying the commutator ring over them.

The brass ring the horn wire is attached to is inside the plastic ring.

I've repaired quite a few switches & never encountered one that had the commutator contact broken the way Kerry encountered, it's pretty unusual.

I guess you could probably pull the commutator off with the switch in place, but it's down inside the bell shaped cover, so access is fairly tight. I just pull the switch.

On the 308, once you've got the wheel hub out, it's very easy to remove the switch assembly. It's just held in with a pair of either phillips head screws, or hex head bolts (have seen it both ways). Once you have the 2 fasteners out, you just remove the cosmetic plate on the bottom of the steering column & unplug the connectors & you have it out.

I'd look first to make sure the tabs on the commutator ring are positioned into the slots in the wheel hub. As Kerry mentioned, it's possible to put the hub back on with one of them misspositioned & get the symptoms you're having.

Kerry,
BTW, your headlight sw contacts did go out yesterday AM.

 

Thanks Verell . I checked when I put it back together the other day and the 2 tangs were lined up with the hub so the commutator was rotating correctly. I do notice that the splined shaft is not concetric to the commutator ring. Now that I've seen the pictures and got a better understanding of how it comes out I'll give it a go next weekend to get it working. Thanks to all for the advice.

 

I don't think mine broke, 80K plus miles, the end just wore off.

Thanks for getting the contacts in the mail. Though putting the stalk back in is about the last thing to get done on the 330, I hope to finish it this week.

Look at http://www.parrotbyte.com/kbc/ferrari/308/HeaterControls.htm#FanSwitch. The defroster switch should be the same as the fan switch. You need all of the parts shown in the last picture (click on it for a full screen version). Once you have all of them, it's pretty obvious. The spring goes around the lever end with the plastic tip on the end of the spring. The copper piece fits into the base. As the switch (lever) moves, it pushes the copper piece down onto the contacts to make the connection. The real problem is that the base is just peened to the top and it's hard to get it on tight again.

Regards, Kerry

 

That cracks me up,I had the same problem. When I left the ferrari dealer for servicing mine went off when I made a right turn.The mechanic was waving at me thinking I was honking at him.It did it three or four times again,but only on right turns then just stopped.....I have no clue.