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posted on January 17th, 2005 at 10:55 AM
Horn ring removal...
hi.. the horn on my type 3 doesn't work..
so i thought i'd pull off the horn ring and have a look.. but i'm too scared to try getting it off.. a couple of years ago i broke one trying to get
it off the beetle i had..
whats the safest way to pull it off, to avoid any damage?
also, the steering wheel on it isn't original.. being a '72 its meant to have a superbug 4 spoke style wheel (:puke) but its been replaced with the
earlier style wheel with the horn ring (:kiss)
would this be why the horn is dodgy?
PurpleT3
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posted on January 17th, 2005 at 11:29 AM
My 72 has the earlier style two spoke steering wheel as well, so I'm not sure which wheel is correct. Either way it doesn't matter as they both
work basically the same way. The +ve side is the contacts on the back of the steering wheel and the -ve is the steering column itself, connected to
the body through the ground strap across the steering coupler. First check that the horn is connected. It should be attached to the pass side front
bumper bracket. Now check that you have current. Take a bit of wire with bare ends and stick one end between the steering wheel & column and the
other end against the body (or any good ground). If the horn sounds (ignition must be on), you have power so it's an earth fault. Next get under
the car and check that there is a wire or strap of some sort going across the rubber steering coupler. If not, that's your problem, you'll have to
put one in. If there is, give it a wiggle and make sure it's well connected at both ends. Still no joy, now move onto the steering wheel.
To remove the wheel, start off by carefully prying off the black cap in the center of the wheel (og had Wolfburg crest on it). Now with a big socket
(around 27mm I think) undo the steering wheel nut. With a bit of wiggling and pulling you should be able to remove the wheel. First look at the back
of the wheel, there should be a copper ring with a black plastic backing, these are quite thin so they wear out quite easily. Make sure it is intact
all the way round. If not new ones or good second hand ones are readily available. Look at the end of the steering column, you should see two copper
tabs sticking up from the indicator switch. Make sure they are both intact and sticking up to make contact with the ring on the back of the wheel,
they are also often worn out. Unfortunately, the only way to replace these is to install a whole new indicator switch.
By horn ring I assume you mean the chrome thing on the front of the wheel. It is attached by three spring loaded screws. With the center cap off you
should be able to see these screws. Undo them carefully whilst holding the horn ring down, the springs will make it want to pop out. Undo all the
screws, and the horn ring should be pushed out by the springs. Be prepared to catch the screws, springs and the plastic insulating plugs. Give it
all a clean up, and put the horn ring back in but don't tighten the screws all the way, just enough to hold the ring on. Now put the wheel back on
the column, making sure the contacts on the column are touching the ring on the back of the wheel. Now turn the ignition on and start tightening the
screws, eventually the horn will sound so back the screw off half a turn or so, repeat for all screws
Ain't nothin' like the wind in your hair.
jo_tas
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posted on January 17th, 2005 at 11:34 AM
awesome! thanks for all the detail!
"hi ho, hi ho... its off to fix volkswagens we go..."
jo_tas
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posted on January 17th, 2005 at 03:51 PM
Grr.. well after all that it turned out the horn itself was busted.. so we pulled one off a wreck we have here and test hooked it up.. it worked.. so
i bolted it back up.. and it seems somewhere in between testing it and bolting it up the horn wire/s snapped somewhere
