[T3] Horn Issue

[Max Welton]

> Did you disconnect the wire at the bottom? Disconnecting it at the top
> won't help.

Yes, as shown in the picture. The wire is therefore eliminated from
the suspect pool.

I've ordered a fresh insulator from ISP.

Max

On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 8:07 AM Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:
>
> On 31 Jan 2026 at 16:41, Max Welton wrote:
>
> > I measured ~71 ohms between the shaft and the chassis. OK, maybe the
> > wire is chaffed inside the tube. Disconnect the wire and test again.
>
> Did you disconnect the wire at the bottom? Disconnecting it at the top won't
> help.
>
> > Still 71 ohms. I would not have suspected the disk itself. It's just
> > rubber, right?
>
> Right, the coupling is just rubber and fabric. Should be a perfectly good
> insulator for much more than 6 or 12 V. The next thing to check would be the
> red wire from the horn into the steering column. Could it be pinched
> somewhere? If there's an inline connector in that red wire somewhere under
> the dash, take it apart and check the resistance on each side, to see if the
> problem is in the column or somewhere that the red wire works its way thru
> the body from the horn to the dash.
>
> Somehow, that wire needs to connect to the outer race of the ball bearing
> the the steering shaft rotates in. That bearing sits in a plastic insulator at the
> top of the steering column, under the TS switch, keeping the bearing isolated
> from the steering column and chassis. The bearing makes the connection
> from the red wire to the steering shaft. I've heard of that insulator crumbling
> after so many years.
>
> Unless you can find somewhere that the red wire is pinched, that insulator
> would be my next suspect. I don't know if anyone has replacements for that
> insulator. You might be able to get away with several wraps of electrical
> tape, or some large diameter heat shrink tubing.
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
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