Hello,
Does anyone have any pictures of what I should see when I pull my 69 Cutlass steering wheel. I also would like to know what is involved with changing the contact pin for the horn. I pulled the horn pad and it seems like the previous owner removed the pin. I would just like to have what I need on hand before I pull the wheel. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Rick

 

What steering wheel do you have now, and are you changing it?

 

Most of the parts needed to make the horn work are available aftermarket. Check the suppliers for any GM A body parts for these pieces. There should be diagrams for the parts and where they go. A factory CSM will be helpful.

 

Since we don't yet know which wheel the OP is talking about, the CSM may or may not be helpful. The 1970-up four spoke won't be in a 1969 CSM, for example.

 

Thanks for the reply Joe. I have what I believe is the original wheel and am not changing it at this time. The second pic is my wheel and the first is one I found on a different thread.

 

OK, your horn pad will have a pigtail coming off of it with a wire that looks something like this. It may be integral to the pad instead of having a spade connector like this, and it may have two wires instead of one, but the eyelet, spring, and plastic retainer should be the same.



When you pull the steering wheel, you'll see the white plastic tube from the cancel cam that the eyelet and retainer goes into. (ignore the red arrow in this photo)

 

OK thanks. I'll pull the pad and check but I don't remember any wire attached to the pad when I pulled it before. More to come!

 

Joe,
Before I destroy something right off the bat, can you tell me if the plastic clip in the lower center of the picture is suppose to pull right out like the ones at 3 and 9 o'clock did? The clip in the lower center of the pic seems to be holding the whole assembly in. I tried gently prying on it but it won't pop out.

 

Ok I figured it out and the wheel is off. Does everything look ok to you here? I see the pin but no wire.

 

OK, my mistake, sorry for the bad info. That pin in the cancel cam should be touching the die cast contact plate when the wheel is installed, and from your photo it appears that it does. The white plastic insulators hold that die cast plate away from the metal in the wheel itself. When you press on the horn pad, that plate should touch the metal in the wheel, closing the circuit to ground and operating the horn. What is the problem, exactly?

 

I have no horn when I press the pad. I did wire a temporary ground switch inside the car that runs to the relay and the horn blows fine. I just now checked continuity between the contact at the bottom of the spring inside the plastic tube and the lead under the hood that goes to the relay but got nothing. Should I have continuity when I do that?

 

Yes. That eyelet should be electrically connected to the black wire under the hood at all times. Could be the cancel cam, the turn signal switch, or any of the wire from there to the horn relay. The next thing to check is continuity from the eyelet to the connector at the base of the steering column.

 

Is there a diagram with the steering column wires available?
Not sure if it's related but I don't have a key buzzer or emergency flasher either. Just turn signals.

 

All of those functions are in the same harness from the turn signal switch that runs down the column, so yeah, they are related. The wiring diagram is in the Chassis Service Manual, Chapter 12.

 

I you put a wire from the steering shaft to the horn contact, it should blow. If not then you might be missing the jumper strap at the rag joint.

 

That's another of the many possible failure modes, but a good one to point out. None of the replacement rag joints I've seen recently have this jumper anymore.

 

Thanks Joe! I've got some work to do. (If the Grandkids let me)