Hello again , Hope all is well with everyone. I have had an issue with the horn not working on my 58, I have taken the steering wheel off and slightly sanded the end of the brass contact spring fitting and the contacts on the horn buttons to see if this would help, yes and no, If i turn the wheel half way around the horn will work but if its in the middle so wheels are straight it won't ? I'm not sure how long the round copper stud that touches the steering column is supposed to be ? it doesn't look that worn., Should i go for a after market horn button on the side of the column, Has anyone had this kind of issue ? Many Thanks, Ray. I'll post some pics, Sorry.

 

 

What about the condition of the " ring " that the horn contact button rides on?
The one in the top of the steering column .
A damaged , corroded or mis -installed contact ring could cause the problem you describe .

 

This is the steering column ring, Does it look ok to you folks? Cheers.

 

Have you tried loosing or changing how tight the steering wheel nut is? I'm not up on 58's but on a 55 the rubber grommet on the bottom is the insulator for the ground. If the tension is to much or to little you can get intermittent working of the horn depending on where the steering wheel is making contact. Just a shot in the dark.... Tedd

 

Thanks for the replies, I will check out the torque setting for the nut, Hopefully it will be in the workshop manual, Not sure if the wheel had been off before and not set right? I did tighten the nut up as far as it would go, maybe i need to back it off ? Cheers.

 

Hello there Tedd, Was just wondering if you know where the breather is for my jetaway , seems i have a little trans fluid coming out of the trans filler tube and wanted to check the breather wasn't clogged, Many thanks, Ray.

 

Ray are you sure the fluid is coming from the the filler tube? A common leak spot is the speedometer connection. I don't think there is a o ring or any seal there on a Jetaway and often they will leak after all these years. Makes a mess and is hard to find after fluid drips and is blown all over the trans...... Just a thought....Tedd

 

Hi Tedd ,I ended up
making a small washer to slip inside and over the speedo assembly ,It works really well,only a couple of drops come out now ,when I had the transmission rebuilt I managed to find a NOS speedo assembly.it worked great for about three months then started leaking , I figured it was just it’s age ,I have the old one that I got an retired engineer friend of mine to install a custom oil seal in it ,but not had a chance to put it in . I rang my transmission guy and he seems to think it could be the breather . Mind you the last time I drove the car it was about 35 degrees here and could have just been so hot! Yesterday I checked level after running for ten minutes and it was perfect !

 

A little ATF goes a long way on the garage floor, I have my car paper trained at all times. That leak at the speedometer as I understand it is caused because the machining of the transmission case is worn or out of speck and there isn't a good seal. I don't think it leaks as you drive but will dump a load on the garage floor when the engine is off so you won't see a large drop in the trans dipstick but it sure will leave a nice puddle on your floor as a reminder.

There is a real fix for this that is used in the aircraft industry that requires machining a grove for a O ring but I haven't mustered up the ambition to have him do this as yet. Hope your fix last a while.....Tedd

 

Piperman , here is an illustration of the '58 steering wheel ;

 

Many thanks for the pictures Charlie, Yes mine is the deluxe wheel, I have gone through all connections etc and lightly sanded and cleaned them inside the wheel , Just at a loss as to why the horn only works intermittently ? as i said i replaced the relay with a new one as well. I have an auto sparky coming round this week to take a look , if all else fails i'll get him to install a button on the column or such, Thanks again. Stay safe all !!!!

 

Hello again, Hope everyone is safe and well.On the horn issue it seems that the insulator plastic that sits in between the horn contact and the positive connector strip inside the steering wheel was missing in action hence the horn sounding when i pressed down on the centre of the steering wheel as it would earth out down at the steering shaft coupling. We made up a little insulator and fitted it in and Bingo horn works great!!!, Nothing worse than having some clown pull out in front of you and not be able to blast the horn at them, I must say these old horns pack a punch for sound !!I;m sure the new relay helped as well. Many thanks again Charlie for the diagram and your input, Much appreciated, Ray

 

Glad you were able to fix it properly .