Momo steering wheel and centering rack

toolboy62 · 03-25-2007, 03:23 PM

Hi again,

today I tried to mount an old Momo steering wheel I had laying around... I had an adapter for a 944 that I'd picked up used and it bolted right on BUT... I had to bend the little finger out for the horn contact to get that to work reliably. Then I started the car and spun the wheel around a couple times and found that the horn would honk at a certain position all the time. This makes no sense to me and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It does it even with the horn button off. Anyone had this issue and figured out what was going on? I'd like to get it on there so I can work on recovering my stock wheel, it's pretty crapped up.

Also, I found that if I spin the wheel lock to lock and try to get everything symmetric that the wheel is actually about 90 degrees off of its previous position; that is, what I assume would be driving straight down the road (eyeballing the front tires; I didn't bother to test drive it) the steering wheel would be pointed 90 degrees off straight. I'm guessing that this means that my rack isn't centered properly? Should I just leave the wheel where it is and adjust the tie rods equally until it tracks straight, or is there something else I'm missing? I don't think the car has ever had an alignment while in my care, but it's been checked a couple times.

thanks,

nate

Razorback1980 · Razorback1980's Garage

I would move the wheel and leave the tie rods alone. There is a centering piece on the steering rack to help you adjust the wheel.

toolboy62 · 03-26-2007, 05:49 AM

In other words, RTFM n00b

thanks for pointing that out, I did not know that, I will check it out.

anyone got any ideas on the MOMO issue? I bought the adapter used and this is the first time I've tried to do it, but I've run MOMOs on several VW's previously and did not have this issue. I also am completely at a loss as to how this is happening as I do not see any possible point of continuity between the brass ring and the adapter, and have inspected and double inspected everything for anomalies, broken insulation, etc.

nate

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

Steering link U-joints are bad. Grounding is through them. As the shaft rotates they make and break continuity.

toolboy62 · 03-26-2007, 06:03 AM

I don't think that is the problem, but it's a good guess. What I'm actually seeing is that when I make it so that the horn will work with the button it will *also* honk without touching the button when the wheel is rotated to a certain position. It works perfectly with the stock steering wheel.

nate

Razorback1980 · Razorback1980's Garage

Something is making the wire ground. If it's like most horns, they are hot all the time and the wire in the column is a ground wire that runs down to the steering rack. Make sure that wire is not bare anywhere and grounding against something. Other that what SoCal mentioned, I can't think of anything else that would make the wire ground itself.