914 Horn strange behavior

[ack_tm]

Finally got my 914 back on the road after two years!

Most everything works well, and now I'm trying to get the horn going.

Pressing the horn pad will engage the horns, but only when the turn signal stalk is held in the high-beam toggle position (e.g. flick and hold the turn signal stalk towards the driver).

Otherwise by pressing the horn pad only, the horns do not make a sound.

Any ideas out there from the wonderful 914 community?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

What year? There were a couple of different circuits used to activate the horn on a 914.

The early cars used a separate button up at the top of the column. The horn pad pushed the button, which completed the circuit grounding the horn. I think the button grounds directly to the steering column, but I'm not quite sure.

The later cars had a metal part on the back side of the horn pad which would touch the steering column when the pad was pressed, grounding the wire that attached to the metal part. That completed the circuit through the horn relay, sending power to the horn.

It sounds like there is something keeping the steering column from being a ground unless the stalk is held back.

--DD

[ack_tm]

I have a 1973 914-4 2.0L.

[Nostril Cheese]

Try taking the wheel off and check the spring contacts behind it. You may need to do some careful bending.