Horn only works with key off and out of the ignition

[blucille]

83 sc, I know many have reported strange horn behavior with a bad steering shaft bearing, my car has a new, metal bearing.

The horn works fine with the key off and key not fully inserted in the ignition switch. As soon as the key is installed all the way, or turned to any position, no more honking.

Can anyone give me a description of which pins on the relay should have power, ground, etc, and any other things to look for. The car is somewhat modified, motor swap, but for the most part, it's stock 83 wiring.

[Uwon]

PP has a wiring diagram for the '78 in the tech articles section which is pretty much the same as my '86. So it should be applicable to your '83. Helps if you print out on a color printer and paste it together. Far better than the Bentley manual.
Good luck.
Johan

[john walker's workshop]

The steering lock contacts the steering shaft and grounds it. It's supposed to ground through the u-joints, but sometimes doesn't.

[blucille]

so a quick test would be to add a temporary ground test cable between the steering column and the chassis? I'll give that a try and report back

[blucille]

John,

you always impress....

yup, a jumper between the horn button and ground, and it worked a charm, so I need to see where I can pick up a ground spot to the column to restore function to the horn.

[john walker's workshop]

I've made a "brush" that rubs on the steering shaft out in the front trunk. Just a strip of sheet metal and a screw through one end to keep it in place. The springier the better.