Personal Problem

[Herb22]

I found and restored a wooden personal wheel from a 70's spider. When I install it in my '89 spider the horn won't stop. Can't tell if I reassembled the wheel wrong or if there is a problem with putting an old wheel in a later car? Advice?

The stock wheel/horn works fine. My guess is that I am missing an insulating washer or reassembled the personal wheel incorrectly. Kind of frustrating. What could be more simple than a horn. Push the button ground the circuit. Noise comes out.

[Tifosi]

Check the wire that runs down the center of the steering column for shorts.

It ties the horn buttons to the engine bay harness in the area under your brake master cylinder.

If it's knicked and scuffing the column or an edge, (particularly where it exits the steering gearbox), the horns will howl all day.

If that doesn't bring it, the issue is likely in the horn buttons/hub proper, or elsewhere down the harness.


Query:

Isn't the 89 a splined column whereas the earlier versions were keyed?

How did you adapt?

[silverspider]

LOL on thread name.

[GraniteAlfa]

If a Personal wheel is like a Hellebore wheel... then I don't think you can hook up the horn properly.

See this thread for my experience.

Hellebore wood steering wheel install.

[Tifosi]

Ahhh I see.

So it's more of an old Ford style with the pickup groove rather than the wire down the column. (I see it's keyed not splined too )

Bummage.

About all I could think to do would be to unhook the wire that goes to the plunger thingy and tie that to the single wire on the wheel.

No, wait, that wouldn't work either as the wire would get torn up trying to wrap around the column......

If the horn wire still connects under the MS, then mabe unhooking the factory wire there and adding in a column wire to connect to the wheel wire would bring it. (it's a bit dificult to work these things out without being hands on )

[ghnl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverspider LOL on thread name.

[Art Vandelay]

I have installed a Momo wheel on my S3, and my solution was to simply duplicate the horn wiring of the earlier Spider's. I ran a green 14ga, wire down through the center of the steering column (so it goes into the engine bay), and then back through the firewall and to the horn relay in the fuse box. Really, the only difference is the location of the horn relays, as in the early Spiders it's located on the left inner fender near the master cylinders. Just leave a nice coil of wire (wind it like a spring) at the top of the column (under the horn button, too) so it has some area to flex, just as in the earlier Spiders.

[Herb22]

It slipped right on after removing the 89 steering wheel and hub. (The 89 wheel is very flat the personal wheel is highly dished.) The only problem I am having is the horn. Does anyone have a diagram on how all the Steering wheel parts go together? I think I'm missing a spacer or something so that the steering wheel automatically goes to ground. The 89 wheel/horn works fine.

[Herb22]

Thanks. I try.

[Art Vandelay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herb22 It slipped right on after removing the 89 steering wheel and hub. (The 89 wheel is very flat the personal wheel is highly dished.) The only problem I am having is the horn. Does anyone have a diagram on how all the Steering wheel parts go together? I think I'm missing a spacer or something so that the steering wheel automatically goes to ground. The 89 wheel/horn works fine.

[Herb22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay Did you remove the original spring-mounted horn contact from the steering column? If not, that's your grounding issue. With the original wheel, that contact works together with the brass ring on the back side of the wheel. The older Personal wheel (or Momo, Nardi, etc), needs to be hard-wired as I previously described, by running a wire down through the center of the column and to the horn relay.