Two Buck
SILVER Star
Today's project was to get my horn working again. I had read somewhere here on Mud that a .22 casing would do if you didn't have a new horn pin, so I went by the local shooting range this morning and picked up some brass.
Got home and got to it. First step: remove the three screws on the back side of the steering wheel (vaguely in the areas the arrows point to below), lift up the steering wheel trim on the front, and remove the 19mm nut in the middle (circled). As other threads here have warned, don't take the nut all the way off, just loosen it and then yank the wheel straight back. Do it with the nut off and you'll end up with a face-full of steering wheel. Once the wheel is loose, remove the nut and steering wheel.
You'll need a .22 casing and the spring from a pen. The spring goes inside the casing, which will fit over the horn pin.
I trimmed the spring to fit. The spring was almost as long as the casing, which seemed too much. I wasn't sure how much spring I'd need, so I cut down about 1/3 of it so I'd have a larger piece left over if I needed it. (I didn't.)
While I had the steering wheel off, I cleaned up the contacts under each horn button with some fine sandpaper. I cleaned the underside of the "receiver" part of the contact (circled) and also cleaned the button contact point the arrow is pointing to underneath that strip of silver metal. I don't know that it was necessary, but it was kind of gunked up and I figured it couldn't hurt. There's one of these at each point the screws comes through from the back end.
Here's the .22 casing with the spring inside, going onto the horn pin.
...and the finished product. (A lot out of focus. Oops.) Steering wheel back on, nut back on, screws back in, and you're good to go.
(Make sure you note the steering wheel's position when you take it off and match it when it goes back on -- mine is off by a few degrees now.
Oh well, something to work on tonight.)
End result? A horn that works. Just in time, too, because some nipplehead pulled right out in front of me an hour after I finished the job. The horn was exactly what was needed at that moment -- unfortunately, I didn't use it. I'm so used to not having a horn that I just jammed on the brakes, swerved, and gave her a really dirty look as I went by.
I'm looking forward to getting back in the habit of using the horn. Saluting someone
carries a lot more weight when you get their attention first and make sure they're looking at you.
Got home and got to it. First step: remove the three screws on the back side of the steering wheel (vaguely in the areas the arrows point to below), lift up the steering wheel trim on the front, and remove the 19mm nut in the middle (circled). As other threads here have warned, don't take the nut all the way off, just loosen it and then yank the wheel straight back. Do it with the nut off and you'll end up with a face-full of steering wheel. Once the wheel is loose, remove the nut and steering wheel.
You'll need a .22 casing and the spring from a pen. The spring goes inside the casing, which will fit over the horn pin.
I trimmed the spring to fit. The spring was almost as long as the casing, which seemed too much. I wasn't sure how much spring I'd need, so I cut down about 1/3 of it so I'd have a larger piece left over if I needed it. (I didn't.)
While I had the steering wheel off, I cleaned up the contacts under each horn button with some fine sandpaper. I cleaned the underside of the "receiver" part of the contact (circled) and also cleaned the button contact point the arrow is pointing to underneath that strip of silver metal. I don't know that it was necessary, but it was kind of gunked up and I figured it couldn't hurt. There's one of these at each point the screws comes through from the back end.
Here's the .22 casing with the spring inside, going onto the horn pin.
...and the finished product. (A lot out of focus. Oops.) Steering wheel back on, nut back on, screws back in, and you're good to go.
(Make sure you note the steering wheel's position when you take it off and match it when it goes back on -- mine is off by a few degrees now.
Oh well, something to work on tonight.)
End result? A horn that works. Just in time, too, because some nipplehead pulled right out in front of me an hour after I finished the job. The horn was exactly what was needed at that moment -- unfortunately, I didn't use it. I'm so used to not having a horn that I just jammed on the brakes, swerved, and gave her a really dirty look as I went by.
I'm looking forward to getting back in the habit of using the horn. Saluting someone
carries a lot more weight when you get their attention first and make sure they're looking at you.
job. You won't even have time to finish your beer.
