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> From: jonathan hesby > > Hey all, I was doing the front brakes on my 69 fastback when > while working on the driverside front I noticed a wire that was > coming down steering column(the colapsable part on outside) I was > wondering if this is a ground(that is what im assuming) and if so > what for, just to mention it my horn is giving me hell > becausewhen I hook it up, it goes of when i turn the key, I > figured this was because of it was grounding out on the mounting > point, but when I isolated thew horn from the body it wouldnt go > of at all(ie when I was hitting the horn button). Could this wire > that looks like a ground that is no longer conected be the reason > why my horn isnt working. AS ALWAYS THANKS FOR THE HELP > Jonathan Jonathon, That wire IS for the horn, but why your horn blows with it disconnected and only when the key is on is puzzling. I can tell you this, though: the wire is supposed to be connected there (steering box side of the coupling) because the rubber insulator gets in the way of providing a good ground for the horn switch. Possibly someone before you couldn't find that wire and tried to provide a ground for the horn switch by some other means (probably through the ignition switch), and that 'repair' is grounding out when it shouldn't be. You will probably need to take the horn ring assembly, ignition switch clamshell, and maybe the steering wheel off to figure it out. Here is a little bit of 'interpreted schematic diagram' that hopefully isn't too confusing. Electricity, or electric current, only flows in a completed circuit - so I will describe what happens when you push the button: starting at the battery negative terminal, that current flows through the frame to the front axle (via ground strap because it is insulated too), through the steering box to your 'mystery wire', and then up that wire to the spring switch in the horn ring assembly, which you have compressed. After the switch, the current continues on to the horn through the brown wire, through the horn, BEEP!, then through the black/yellow wire to the fuse box, and through the 16 amp (red) fuse to the always-hot terminal, which should be third from right. From there, it is effectively a straight shot (red wire) to the battery, completing the circuit. I think the hard part for you is going to be finding where the extra ground is coming from, but in all likelihood you should be able to tell as soon as you get the horn ring assembly apart. People have a way of improperly 'fixing' things in a very obvious manner. Then again, it could be a pinched wire or maybe something caught in the horn switch itself, which would make the horn blow all the time. Maybe in an attempt to fix it, the hot-side wire was moved to a switched-power fuse, which could also explain why it works when the 'mystery' wire is connected and the ignition switch is on. That got way too long, but I couldn't help it... I told my fingers to stop but they just wouldn't! I hope that did more help than harm. If not, email me direct and maybe I can explain it better or walk you through via instant message or over the phone. Damn I hate when that happens, Freddie Lochner http://devoted.to/my69notch 69 Notch 66 Fasty P.S. - nice job with the hood ------------------------------------------------------------------- Search old messages on the Web! Visit http://www.vwtype3.org/list/