NC-car-guy Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Here's a riddle... If I honk the horn in my 57 while touching anything else metal, I get a shock from the horn ring. Horn works but gives me a zap. Anyone experienced this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 7 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said: Here's a riddle... If I honk the horn in my 57 while touching anything else metal, I get a shock from the horn ring. Horn works but gives me a zap. Anyone experienced this? I have not by it appears you maybe the ground wire! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 18 minutes ago, avgwarhawk said: I have not by it appears you maybe the ground wire! Wondering if just dirty contacts could cause it to ground through me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 24 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said: Wondering if just dirty contacts could cause it to ground through me too. Does the steering column have a ground wire? If so, check the connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 My '58 Buick had that exact issue. Turned out to be the isolating gasket on the horn wire in the column. Years ago I had wiring short under the hood and it melted that rubber/plastic insulator some and once in awhile got a shock while hitting it with my arm on the metal window frame. Take the horn ring off and remove the horn bracket to see if that is your issue. Doug 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 May I ask, Is this a shock that occurs all the time? And does the horn blow if you are not touching any metal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 Just now, JohnD1956 said: May I ask, Is this a shock that occurs all the time? And does the horn blow if you are not touching any metal? Only shocks when the horn blows. And yes the horn will blow without me touching anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 to me this sounds like a problem in the horn relay switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 15 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said: Only shocks when the horn blows. And yes the horn will blow without me touching anything else. Not to belabor the point but describes exactly what mine did and only when resting my arm on the door frame and pressing the horn ring otherwise touching the ring gave no shock with just touching the ring. Once I put a rubber piece around the wire at the contact area in the column the shock disappeared. I never looked further down the column to see where it came through but yours might have worn the wire covering off there? Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 (Worse in damp/humid weather?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 20 hours ago, NTX5467 said: (Worse in damp/humid weather?) Unknown. Haven't noticed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smartin Posted April 9, 2021 Share Posted April 9, 2021 I think Dei is onto it...at least that is what I would check first. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 35 minutes ago, Smartin said: I think Dei is onto it...at least that is what I would check first. Yea. Plan to check next week. I'll report back on findings. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph P. Indusi Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 (edited) The horn internals consist of an electromagnet near a thin steel diaphragm. The horn blows when the electromagnet goes on and off rapidly that flexes the diaphragm to create the sound waves. To cause the electromagnet to go on and off rapidly (basically vibrate) there is a set of points that make and break and the armature of one point is pulled off when the electromagnet is on creating a strong magnetic field. When the points open the magnetic field collapses and the points then close again repeating this cycle many times a second. Now the electromagnet is basically an iron core surrounded by many turns of copper wire. The coils of copper wire are an inductance and when the current is suddenly cut off the there is an inductive kick, or high voltage created as the magnetic field suddenly collapses. This voltage can be much higher than the 12 volts supplied to the horn and this is high enough to be felt as a shock. You can put fingers from each hand across the battery terminals and not feel a shock because your skin resistance is too high to cause an appreciable current flow. An ignition coil is similar except there is a second coil of wire with many more turns of copper wire surrounding the inner coil of fewer turns. The second outer coil of wire provides the high voltage to fire the spark plugs. Joe, BCA 33493 Edited April 24, 2021 by Joseph P. Indusi spelling (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted July 19, 2021 Author Share Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) Still haven't fixed this. Been driving too much. Now when I turn a lot at slow speed (parking) the horn beeps sporadically. Im sure the people today where thrilled when I was parallel parking... Beep.....beep. Beep beep Edited July 19, 2021 by NC-car-guy (see edit history) 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick man Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 .... Disconnect the horns at the front radiator area ... Do an ohms test along the wiring loom from steering wheel hub to horn relay to horns ... just might come up with some shocking new insights ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
364nailhead Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Mine is mess too. Frickin horn went off downtown where I live. I just kept waving at everyone.. Lol, until I pulled off the side and reached down on the steering column and disconnected it... 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
364nailhead Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 Although, mine is not shocking me.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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